Despite being a senior club as recently as 1999, Ballymore were not among the favourites for intermediate football glory at the outset of last year. But, as has so often been the case in the past, they proved their doubters wrong. Write them off at your peril! That would seem to apply to Ballymore who once again showed why they can never be underestimated by capturing the intermediate football title for a fourth time last year. A gutsy 1-4 to 0-6 victory over favourites Rosemount in a final which was ruined as a spectacle by the incessant rainfall crowned a wonderful year for one of the county's best supported clubs. It was Ballymore's second intermediate success in five years and was achieved with no little amount of skill, courage and character. Despite their recent experience of senior football and their appearance in the 2000 intermediate final which they lost to Kilbeggan Shamrocks, Ballymore were not among the favourites for championship glory at the outset of last year. One of the reasons why they had been so widely written off was due to their poor showing in 2002. It was also felt that the loss of star midfielder David Hughes (he's now playing with Cooley Kickhams in Louth) would prove to be too much of a handicap. But Ballymore have made a habit of upsetting the odds and in 2003 that was clear for all to see. Under the management of Joe Mulvihill, who also led the Longford under 21s to a Leinster final appearance last year, they qualified from a difficult group to reach the knock-out stages. Their renowned battling qualities then came to the fore as they recorded three consecutive one-point victories to bring the Peter Geraghty Memorial Cup back to familiar territory. The green and golds opened their championship campaign at Castletown-Geoghegan on April 26 when they had to pull out all the stops to earn a 2-4 to 1-7 draw with Ballinagore. Ballymore enjoyed the better of the first half exchanges with goals from Denis Eivers and Derek Molloy (penalty) helping them to a three-point lead at the break. But the second half proved to be a major struggle for Ballymore, so much so that they registered just a single point in the whole period. Despite coming under fierce pressure, however, they held on for a share of the spoils. Ballymore's poor early season form continued when they were decisively beaten by neighbours Maryland at Drumraney five weeks later. The writing was on the wall from an early stage with Maryland racing into a 2-2 to 0-1 lead after just 10 minutes. In the second half, Ballymore were thrown a lifeline when a wonderful five-man move culminated in Pat Lynch blasting the ball to the net. Further scores from Anthony Kearney and Derek Cuffe left just three points between the sides but a late penalty left Maryland comfortable winners by 3-7 to 1-7. With just one league point from a possible four, Joe Mulvihill's side were already facing an uphill task to qualify for the knock-out stages. But, within the space of five days in late June, their fortunes improved dramatically. A 2-7 to 0-10 victory over Kilbeggan Shamrocks at Moate was followed by another crucial win over Ballynacargy. Against Ballynacargy, Ballymore trailed by 0-3 to 0-4 at the break, but within a minute of the restart, they had taken the lead thanks to quick-fire points from Anthony Kearney and Stephen Rooney. And while Ballynacargy hit back to lead by 0-7 to 0-5 after 10 minutes of the half, they were restricted to a solitary point from a free in the remaining 20 minutes as Ballymore stormed to a 0-12 to 0-8 victory. The win over Ballynacargy was significant as only four weeks earlier, Ballymore had lost to the same opposition in Division 2 of the All-County League by 1-13 to 0-5. However, their championship hopes suffered another setback when they suffered a second defeat at the hands of Rosemount on July 8. After trailing by seven points early in the second half, the green and golds hauled themselves back into contention courtesy of a brilliant individual goal from former Rhode player Damien Scally. With 10 minutes remaining, the deficit was just three points, but Rosemount finished the stronger to seal a 1-14 to 2-5 win. The odds were now firmly stacked against Ballymore reaching the latter stages, but victories over Caulry and Mullingar Shamrocks were enough to earn them a play-off with Kilbeggan Shamrocks to determine which team would progress to the quarter-finals. They defeated newly-promoted Caulry by 0-11 to 0-8 and followed that up with a 0-14 to 0-5 triumph over Mullingar Shamrocks. The town side were on level terms at half-time, but Ballymore found an extra gear on the restart to pull away for a resounding victory. With so much at stake, the play-off with Kilbeggan was always going to be close and so it proved. Ballymore had been upset by Kilbeggan's decision to walk off the pitch when the appointed referee failed to show up for the original fixture and bearing that in mind, it wasn't hard for Joe Mulvihill to motivate his players. Ballymore made their presence felt almost immediately and held a 0-5 to 0-2 lead at the interval. Kilbeggan came more into the game in the second half, but Ballymore battled manfully and deservedly held on for a 0-8 to 0-7 victory. The quarter-final against Killucan at Ballinagore on August 31 proved to be another heart-stopping affair with Ballymore shading the outcome on a 0-12 to 0-11 scoreline. That set the scene for a semi-final showdown with Shandonagh who, until then, had been the only team to have remained unbeaten in the championship. Shandonagh began brightly with early points from Gerry Fitzgerald and Alan Hickey, but with Derek Cuffe, Pat Lynch and Louis Meares in fine scoring form, Ballymore battled back to lead by 0-6 to 0-3 at the break. On the resumption, Cuffe and Lynch added further scores to push the green and golds into a 0-8 to 0-3 lead. However, Shandonagh were far from finished and when Andy Fox netted a penalty in the 43rd minute, they were right back in it. By the 54th minute, the Kilpatrick men had drawn level, but Ballymore had the final say when the impressive Pat Lynch fisted a late point to give his side a dramatic 0-9 to 1-5 victory. Despite the inclement weather, the final attracted a huge crowd to Cusack Park on October 5. Rosemount, having comfortably accounted for Ballymore in the group stages, entered the game as favourites, but Joe Mulvihill's charges displayed buckets of resolve to win with the minimum to spare. The dreadful conditions made good football impossible and spectators had to wait until the 10th minute for the opening score - a goal by Ballymore half forward Dermot Farrell. Farrell had run onto a pass from Anthony Kearney who had intercepted a poor clearance from Thomas King before blasting a powerful shot past Rosemount 'keeper Pat Fox. Des Collins eventually got Rosemount off the mark in the 19th minute, but his point was quickly cancelled out by a similar score from Louis Meares. In the closing five minutes of the half, Rosemount outscored Ballymore by 0-2 to 0-1 to reduce the deficit to 1-2 to 0-3. Within five minutes of the restart, the black and ambers had restored parity thanks to unanswered points from Cathal Keane and Damien Kelly. Then, after a long scoring lull, Rosemount hit the front for the first time when David Mullen pointed. But with their backs clearly to the wall, Ballymore dug deep and after Derek Cuffe levelled matters from a free, Declan Scally set up midfielder Derek Molloy for what proved to be the winning point in the second minute of injury-time. Ballymore joy was unconfined at Peter Daly's final whistle as their fanatical supporters swarmed onto the pitch to congratulate their battling heroes. A short time later, the Peter Geraghty Cup, honouring a Ballymore man and a former President of Westmeath GAA, was presented to the victors' captain Denis Eivers. Senior football now beckons for Ballymore and everyone associated with the proud club will sincerely hope that their stay in the top flight will be considerably longer than when they were last promoted. The Ballymore team which secured intermediate championships honours was: Ciaran McCormack; Barry McDermott, Pat Connaughton, Damien Fanning; Vinnie Cox, Denis Eivers, Bobby McDermott; Derek Molloy, Paddy Martin; Louis Meares, Damien Scally, Dermot Farrell; Anthony Kearney, Pat Lynch, Derek Cuffe. Subs used: Brian McCabe, Niall Finnerty and Connie McKnight. Tweet

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