A senior club as recently as 2002, Ballynacargy found themselves fighting for their intermediate survival last year. Needless to say, corner back Derek Wallace is hoping for a major improvement in the coming season. Regarded as potential intermediate champions at the outset of 2004, Ballynacargy never looked like living up to that billing and such was their indifferent form that they found themselves in a relegation dogfight at the end of the season. But much to the relief of their supporters, Bal' preserved their intermediate status with a play-off victory over Tang, who subsequently beat Ballinagore to also stay up. However, there was still no getting away from the fact that the year was a major disappointment for all associated with the Longford-border club. "It was a bad year and I think we let ourselves down to a certain extent," says experienced Ballynacargy corner back Derek Wallace. "Our aim at the start of the year was to qualify for the knock-out stages and possibly go on to reach the final. But despite our trainer Gerry Nohilly putting in a huge effort, a lot of the players didn't give the required commitment. It was the same few that were turning up for training all the time and you can't expect to win anything when that is going on," he adds. Wallace, who is the holder of two intermediate championship medals (1996 and '99) and one junior (1995), believes Ballynacargy were guilty of underestimating teams in last year's campaign. "We didn't take the thing seriously enough. We lost to teams like Castletown-Finea and Killucan who we would normally beat. I think the intermediate championship is a lot more competitive than it used to be. Whereas a few years ago you could take some of the teams for granted and get away with it, you can't do that anymore. All the teams are capable of beating one another on their day," he opines. The tone for the year was set when Ballynacargy lost their opening championship game to Kilbeggan Shamrocks by 2-6 to 3-5 at St. Loman's. Bal' conceded two goals in the first eight minutes but fought back to trail by 1-2 to 2-3 at the interval with Michael Loran accounting for their goal from the penalty spot. Disaster struck again early in the second half when former county minor Liam O'Reilly was sent off, but the 14 men showed great character to hit back with a goal from Ger Heduvan and move into a 2-5 to 2-3 lead with a quarter of an hour remaining. However, Kilbeggan responded with their third goal two minutes later and despite also having a player sent off, went on to record a narrow win. Gerry Nohilly's charges suffered their second successive defeat to Maryland on July 10. Favoured by the breeze, Bal' started brightly with Anthony Maher and Mark Murphy notching early points. But Maryland went on to lead by 1-4 to 0-6 at the interval and sealed a 2-10 to 0-10 victory with a second goal midway through the second half. A first championship win was achieved on August 22 when a late Ger Heduvan goal saw Ballynacargy overcome Caulry by 1-8 to 0-9. Another defeat beckoned when Bal' fell one point behind with four minutes left, but Heduvan's 57th minute goal ensured them of a much-needed victory. With the wind to their backs, Ballynacargy played some excellent football in the opening half and helped by points from Heduvan, Gary Wallace, Dwayne Maher and Mark Murphy, took a 0-7 to 0-2 advantage into the break. But dominating from midfield, Caulry bounced back in impressive fashion on the restart and five points on the trot brought them level by the 46th minute. Amazingly, it took all of 22 minutes for Ballynacargy to score their first point of the half - a Dwayne Maher free - which edged them back in front with eight minutes remaining. However, two quick Caulry points put them in a winning position for the first time and Bal' looked consigned to a third championship loss until Heduvan scored the match-winning goal. Ballynacargy's hopes of reaching the knock-out stages were effectively ended within the space of three days in early September. A thrilling draw with Shandonagh was followed by their heaviest defeat of the campaign to Killucan. Against Shandonagh, Bal' were denied victory when Gerry Fitzgerald scored a last gasp point to earn the men in blue a 1-13 each draw. In one of the best games of the championship, Ballynacargy recovered from a 0-4 to 0-6 interval deficit to lead by 0-11 to 0-7 midway through the second half. Shandonagh fought back to level before a goal from corner back Willie Murtagh in the 58th minute looked to have given Ballynacargy victory. But a late goal from Alan Hickey and an even later point from Fitzgerald secured a share of the spoils for Shandonagh. Ballynacargy got off to a dream start against Killucan when Mark Murphy scored an early goal. But Killucan replied with goals from Paul Greville and John Shaw to lead by 2-3 to 1-4 at the interval and they went on to dominate the second half with further goals from Greville and James Nugent propelling them a decisive 4-7 to 1-8 victory. With morale at a low ebb, Ballynacargy succumbed to Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall by 2-14 to 2-11 in their penultimate group match on September 18. Much of the damage was inflicted in the opening half when goals from Ryan Plunkett and Martin Egan helped the winners to a 2-9 to 0-5 lead. A cracking goal from Declan McGuinness within 30 seconds of the restart kick-started a spirited Ballynacargy revival which saw them reduce the deficit to just a point, 2-11 to 2-12. However, two late points from Eric Sullivan left a goal between the sides at the finish. Ballynacargy completed their programme of group matches with a 1-13 to 0-9 victory over Tang, but it wasn't enough to keep them out of relegation trouble as they needed to beat the same opposition again to be sure of their intermediate survival. In the play-off, Bal' again had the upper hand and duly prevailed on a 2-8 to 0-7 scoreline. Gerry Nohilly's side were favoured by a strong breeze in the first half and they began in blistering fashion as two pointed frees by Dwayne Maher gave them a 0-3 to 0-1 lead after 10 minutes. Two further frees by Maher, and an excellent point from Gary Wallace, pushed Bal' five clear by the 21st minute. Tang, who were minus the injured Paul Conway, reduced the arrears with their second point before Maher scored a goal and a point in quick concession to leave Ballynacargy perched on a 1-7 to 0-2 lead at the interval. Fortune smiled on Bal' again in the early stages of the second half when Ger Heduvan pounced on an error by the Tang 'keeper to score their second goal and give them an unassailable lead. And despite managing just one further score from a Gary Wallace free in the 43rd minute, the blue and golds were emphatic seven-point winners. "To be involved in a relegation play-off was a big shock to us. We had to roll up our sleeves and get stuck in," recalls Wallace. "We got a big fright and hopefully that will spur us on to putting in a bigger effort this year. We got a major wake-up call and I don't want to find ourselves in the same situation again this year." On a brighter note, Ballynacargy comfortably retained their All-County League Division 2 status and were one of just two teams (Killucan being the other) to beat eventual winners Milltownpass. Wallace, whose brothers Mark, Jason and Gary are also integral members of the Ballynacargy team, is hoping that veterans such as Declan Farrell and Willie Maguire will commit themselves for another year. "There's talk of Declan, Willie and Paddy Jordan retiring but, like everyone else in Ballynacargy, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they will play on for another year. "Declan and Willie missed a lot of last year as did Anthony Maher and Liam O'Reilly. We need to have everyone at our disposal if we are to have designs on winning the intermediate championship," he concludes. The Ballynacargy team which defeated Tang in their IFC relegation play-off was: Richard Price; Derek Wallace, Andrew Heduvan, Willie Maguire; Griffin Kearney, Paddy Jordan, Willie Murtagh; Declan Farrell, Mark Wallace; Michael Loran, Declan McGuinness, Ger Heduvan; Dwayne Maher, Mark Murphy, Gary Wallace. Subs used: Jason Wallace and Darren Wallace. Tweet

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