For many followers of football, St Malachy's winning the 2001 intermediate championship came as a major surprise against a hotly tipped Rosemount side. However, the Castletown-Geoghegan based club have made their critics eat their words since then and here we look at their progress in 2003. Traditionally known as a hurling area, Castletown-Geoghegan has produced teams playing at the highest level in both codes with the footballers showing that they can match they best in the county. Although St Malachy's will not be regarded as one of the favourites for the 2004 championship, they have made great strides in building a side that with a few more years experience could well contest the senior championship. Their only success this year came when their second string side won the Division six league title. For many this may not be a major honour but it does prove that St Malachy's have strength in depth and with their underage teams providing a steady flow of players filtering through the ranks, it seems almost certain they club will be occupying a spot in the senior championship for some time to come. In last year's campaign, Malachy's were in the same group as Castledaly, Tubberclair, Mullingar Shamrocks, The Down's and St Mary's with town side Shamrocks being their first opponents. Annually, Mullingar Shamrocks are one of the favourites for the SFC title no matter what their form has been like the previous year, with such a large area to choose from and their underage sides dominating their respective grades over the years, it is easy to see why they were overwhelming favourites against the rural side. Shamrocks got off to the perfect start and led by 0-4 to 0-0 after only seven minutes but Malachy's reply was the best possible response they could have hoped for as Alan Mangan played a quick free to Ronan Whelan and he raced clear of the Shamrocks defence to round the goalkeeper and tap into an empty net. Ten minutes later and the underdogs had their second goal when a long free by Mangan was gathered by Johnny Corcoran and as he made strides towards goal, he was fouled in the small rectangle. County star Mangan had no problem is dispatching the ball to the net and he soon followed that up by pointing a free. St Malachy's then seemed to fall asleep temporarily as their opponents scored 1-4 without reply to give them a 1-8 to 2-1 lead at half-time despite being second best for most of the half. With a strong wind behind their backs, Malachy's threw everything at Shamrocks but a point from the impressive Mangan was all they had to show for their efforts with the town team also firing over a point to keep four between the sides. Uncharacteristically, Mangan missed three scoreable frees while Mullingar tagged on another point to leave five between the sides with 13 minutes left. Ian Corrigan narrowed the gap with an excellent point from some distance out but the crucial score came when Whelan was played through once again by Mangan and the corner forward made no mistake in dispatching the ball to the back of the Shamrocks' net. With only a point between the sides Mullingar looked to have secured the win when they stretched the lead to two with time almost up but man-of-the-match Mangan converted two frees to give his side a share of the spoils on a 1-11 to 3-5 scoreline. The 2002 SFC runner's up Castledaly were the next opponents for Malachy's and once again the men from Castletown-Geoghegan were equally a match for their supposedly stronger opposition, although on this occasion luck was not on their side. The red and blacks raced into a 0-6 to 0-1 after twenty minutes with Christy McDonagh being outstanding for Malachy's in midfield. Castledaly replied with a goal to leave two between the sides but St Malachy's popped over a further three points before half time to leave the score at the break 0-9 to 1-2. The dismissal of Paddy Corcoran for a second bookable offence was a huge blow to Malachy's but it did not affect them immediately as they stayed in front right up until the final minute of normal time. As the game entered injury time, they were two points in front but amazingly the referee decided that there was to be seven minutes of injury time much to the St Malachy's follower's frustration. During that period the 2002 finalists managed to take the lead and with their tails up they snatched a two point win with the final score being 1-12 to 0-13 much to the disappointment of Malachy's. Five days later Tubberclair were the opponents with the game being played in Hogan Park, Moate. Points from Alan Mangan (2) and Ronan Whelan were matched by the same amount for Tubberclair after 20 minutes of the first half. Further points by Mangan and Whelan were followed by the talented Mangan dispatching a penalty to the roof of the net after Joe Clarke was fouled. For the second their match running, Malachy's were dealt a blow as full back was sent to the line after he received his second yellow card of the afternoon. The South Westmeath took advantage of the numerical difference and kicked two points to leave the half time score 1-5 to 0-5 in favour of Malachy's. Five minutes into the second half and Tubberclair were level and although both sides exchanged points for the majority of the second half, the 2002 intermediate champions led by four points with four minutes left. Joe Clarke then gave Malachy's a lifeline with a well taken goal and only moments later the same player hand passed the ball over the bar to leave the sides level with virtually the last action of the match. St Malachy's now had two points from three matches with two matches remaining in the group stages of the championship against the Down's and St Mary's, Rochfortbridge. The Down's had been going very well in the championship where the faced the St Malachy's and they proved much too strong for Castletown-Geoghegan based club as they ran out easy winners, 1-16 to 0-7. St Malachy's were forced to field without star player Alan Mangan for this match. The game was more or less over as a contest at half time as the eventual county champions led by 1-10 to 0-3. In the second half, The Down's kept up the pressure as Malachy's continued to struggle with their movement and the final score was 1-16 to 0-7 with Ronan Whelan being his side's top scorer with four points. St Malachy's entered their last match needing a win against St Mary's to ensure that they avoided a relegation play-off and they did just that, although it was not their most impressive performance of the year. Gary Jackson scored a goal for Malachy's to add to a point from Ronan Whelan after only four minutes and with 15 minutes gone the score was 1-3 to 0-1. St Mary's came back to draw level and they went ahead just before the break to hold on to a 0-8 to 1-4 lead at half time. Only 30 seconds into the second half, St Mary's stretched their lead when a well worked move ended up in a goal for them. Whelan replied with a point but it looked bleak as Rochfortbridge were well on top. That all changed when Joe Clarke scored Malachy's second goal, which was soon followed by points from Christy McDonagh and Shane Carey to leave the sides level with two minutes remaining. St Mary's went in front once again but a wonderful point by Whelan was soon followed a goal from Carey to give Malachy's the valuable win. Finishing mid-table in the group was a major achievement for a side that had been tipped by many to be relegated, while in Division two of the league they also managed a mid table finish. Such was the strength of their second string that they went through Division 6 undefeated and had promotion secured before their last match. Winning the minor league title against Castledaly was achieved in February 2004 and the club are confident that they can make an impact in the senior football championship this year. Former Westmeath minor manager Eunan McCormack has taken over the reigns of manager from Seamus Cassidy for this term while Frank Wright will once again be the team trainer. Indeed such is the commitment of the players that they have been training three nights a week since early February and who is to say that St Malachy's can't be the surprise packets of this year's championship. Tweet

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