Fifty years ago the Killucan club was first affiliated to the Westmeath County Board and a year later they entered their first team in a championship, when their minor side lined out in the now distinctive saffron jerseys. Since then five adult titles have been added to the roll of honour and club stalwart Des Briody tells Maroon and White how the club has developed during that time. This year sees the club begin development work on the land that they have secured a 99-year lease on from the County Council. It shows the strides that are being made on and off the field by the club. In the past few years Killucan have come to the fore as an underage club with a number of their teams being successful at their respective age groups. Although they finished the 2004 campaign without any silverware, Des reveals that they were more than happy with the performances of all teams playing under the club banner. "The majority of the teams did well in their respective championships," said Des. "Our minor side probably did best as the reached the final of the championship, but unfortunately lost to Castledaly in the decider. A number of that team has already made the breakthrough to the intermediate side. All our teams are considerably strong, even though we are joined with St Paul's and Delvin at some grades." The intermediate campaign got off to a slow start as Killucan could only manage a draw against a Tang side that have being struggling to maintain their status in the ranks for the past few years. However, there is not much separating any team at this level points out Des. "There are 14 teams in the intermediate championship and at least half of those sides are genuine contenders for the title. We got off to a very slow start, which made it difficult for us and put added pressure on the lads right from the beginning of the campaign. The majority of our lads are inexperienced at this level, but last year's championship should help bring them on and who knows what could happen this year," added Des. Following the draw with Tang, Castletown Finea/Coole/Whitehall were the opponents in a match that Killucan needed to win to get their year back on track. But the phrase 'goals win matches' was never more in evidence as Finea fired in four to help them to a 4-6 to 1-10 win. The Joristown outfit began the match brightly but by half time they trailed by a goal. The second half saw Killucan trail by six points within a minute of the restart, but the Saffrons managed to claw the deficit back and the sides were level when Conor Jordan scored a cracking goal with ten minutes remaining. It looked as if Killucan were about to get their first win of the campaign when Padraig Leavy fired over a point, but Finea hit back with two goals to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. One point from two matches left Killucan near the bottom of the table, although time was on their side as the play offs were still very much a reality. Westmeath's historic run to a first Leinster senior football title meant that all championships were put on hold for up to six weeks. It was the beginning of September before Killucan were in action again and they seemed to benefit from the long lay off. Maryland were the next opponents and Killucan put in their best performance of the year so far to record a three point win over the South Westmeath side. The Killucan forwards clocked up an impressive tally of 1-13 in reply to Maryland's 1-10. The win over the Drumraney outfit gave the Saffrons a huge boost and one that they badly needed as the championship was now in full swing. Des said: "We badly needed the win over Maryland, if we had lost that one then our interest in the championship would have been more or less over. The long break was tough on the lads but it seemed to pay off. We knew that the championship would be ran off fairly quickly once Westmeath's year was over." The win over Maryland was followed shortly by their second brace of points in the championship when Ballynacargy were accounted for by 4-7 to 1-8. The Killucan forwards continued their good scoring form to help the side move up the group table with five points from four matches. Shandonagh were the next opponents and the two sides have had many a close battle in recent years. This encounter was to be no different as only a point separated the sides at the end with Shandonagh coming out on top. The light Blues stormed into a three point lead and it wasn't until the 22nd minute that Killucan opened their account when Paul Briody fired over a point with his left boot. Full forward Paul Greville then found the range before Shandonagh stretched their lead to two by half time. Killucan got on top in the second half and looked more than a capable match for their opponents, however their failure to find Greville with the ball was to prove costly. The introduction of the veteran Brendan McKeogh had a major impact on the game as he used all his experience to haul back Shandonagh's lead. Midway through the second half, Killucan trailed by five points and had yet to register a score, but a blistering seven minutes spell brought them right back into contention as they kicked four points, two from Greville and one a piece for Shaw and McKeogh. Shandonagh responded with a point and this was to be their last score of the match as the Saffrons went in search of at least a draw. Although they narrowed the gap to a point when substitute Brian Smith pointed late on, it was not to be as Killucan fell to their second defeat of the campaign. Championship matches were coming thick and fast at this stage and a fortnight later they would face Caulry with their place in the knock out stages not yet secured. Killucan needed two win from their last two matches to have any chance of making the quarter-finals. Caulry were slight favourites entering the match and they led by 1-3 to 0-2 at half time. The second half saw Killucan trail for most of the thirty minutes as they played catch up. Paul Greville and Brian Smith narrowed the gap after the interval but Caulry seemed capable of replying to whatever their opponents could throw at them. With ten minutes remaining the talented Greville scored a goal to bring the sides level for the first time in the match. The sides exchanged points before Caulry gained the advantage and lead by two as the match entered injury time. A mazy run by half back Francis Boyle saw the youngster feed the ball to John Shaw and the full forward dispatched the ball to the net to put Killucan in the lead for the final time. Caulry had two efforts to draw level but missed both and it was to be the Joristown outfit's day. The win left Killucan needing a win against Kilbeggan Shamrocks in their last group game to ensure a place in the quarter-finals, although the North Westmeath side had to hope that Shamrocks lost to Shandonagh. Killucan did what they had to do against Kilbeggan and recorded a four point win and when Shandonagh defeated the South Westmeath side, it opened the door for Dermot Brady's side to go through to the last eight where they would meet an emerging Bunbrosna side. The first half of the match proved to be a very subdued affair as both sides looked nervous. But it was Bunbrosna who held the advantage at half time. Killucan's return of just one point from the opening 30 minutes speaks volumes of how they played during that period, although the Bun only replied with four points. It was the third quarter of the match before Killucan hit top gear as the narrowed the deficit to two points before they were hit with a devastating blow when Bunbrosna scored their first goal of the match to put five points between the sides. It looked as if Killucan were dead and buried but they clawed their way back and when David Bryan fount the net with ten minutes remaining the sides were level. Three minutes later and Bunbrosna scored their second goal and although Killucan kept battling away, it was the end of the road as their opponents held on to earn a place in the semi finals. The character and determination shown by the young Killucan players was something that was looked upon with a positive attitude by all concerned. "That was the first time in 45 years that Bunbrosna beat us at adult level," revealed Des. "The slow start did not help our chances but the experience will do the younger players the world of good. Every year we feel that we have a chance of winning the championship. Hopefully the younger lads on the team can develop before the more experienced players move on," he added. Following Dermot Brady's appointment as manager of the Westmeath minor footballers, Killucan have brought in former Westmeath hurler Eamon Gallagher as trainer for this year's campaign and there is no doubt that the Saffrons have the players capable of making a long awaited return to the senior grade. As part of their jubilee year the club also plan to hold a dinner dance where the minor team of '56 will be honoured and who knows, maybe the intermediate championship cup will also be on the table. Tweet

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