Shandonagh celebrated their first ever success at intermediate level last December when they captured the Intermediate Cup at Killucan's expense. Experienced goalkeeper Frank Finneran shares his recollections on the triumph. A year after the club captured its first ever underage title, Shandonagh made further history on December 1 last when they claimed the Intermediate Cup following a thrilling 1-9 to 1-8 victory over Killucan at Joristown. It has been a remarkable two years for the Kilpatrick outfit, whose only successes of note prior to 2001 were two junior championships in 1979 and '87, and a junior league title in '68. But now, in the space of a couple of seasons, the club has chalked up historic successes at minor and intermediate level. "The past two years have probably been the most successful in the club's history," acknowledges Shandonagh's experienced goalkeeper Frank Finneran. "The minor 'B' championship win over Maryland/Tang in the 2001 was a big breakthrough for us and it was great to follow it up with our first intermediate title. The fact that last year's intermediate team contained eight minors from the previous year has to augur well for the future of the club," he adds. The Intermediate Cup victory not only atoned for the disappointment of a single point defeat to Ballymore in the 2000 decider, but also for the club's failure to reach the knock-out stages of the championship. In 2001, Shandonagh reached the quarter-final where they were unlucky to lose to eventual winners St. Malachy's after a replay. In qualifying for the final, the Blues accounted for Tang (1-10 to 1-4), St. Loman's (1-8 to 1-7) and Tubberclair (2-10 to 0-15). It must be noted that St. Loman's had beaten Shandonagh at the first time of asking, but following an objection to the eligibility of some of the St. Loman's players, a replay was ordered and Shandonagh emerged victorious. The semi-final against newly-crowned intermediate champions Tubberclair - which was played under lights in Tubberclair - was just as exciting. The home side were expected to win convincingly and such looked to be on the cards at half-time. But second half goals from county under 21 Alan Hickey and Roy Smyth helped Shandonagh to a surprise victory. Shandonagh's opponents in the final were Killucan, who they had already met twice in the championship. Conditions at Joristown were atrocious, but in spite of this, both teams served up a cracking contest. Shandonagh laid the foundations for victory in the first half when, favoured by a strong wind and driving rain, they built up a 0-9 to 0-2 lead before the interval. Killucan fought back on the restart, but a combination of poor finishing and stout-hearted defending saw the title head to Kilpatrick for the first time. Although Stephen Morley gave Killucan an early lead, Padraig Lynn replied almost immediately with a point for the visitors. Shandonagh then proceeded to fire over five unanswered points per Alan Hickey (two), Roy Smyth (two) and John Rushe before Morley managed a response for the men in saffron. Further scores from Hickey (two) and Paddy Duffy had Shandonagh perched nicely on a seven-point lead at the break. As expected, Killucan staged a determined fightback in the second half which saw them take the lead, 1-7 to 0-9, with just two minutes remaining. When Noel Croash put the home side two points clear with the game in stoppage time, Shandonagh's hopes looked to have faded. But from somewhere, the Blues launched a final raid which culminated in Padraig Lynn forcing the ball over the line for the winning goal. There was still enough time for Killucan to salvage something from the game, but Shandonagh held on for a dramatic win. "The last few minutes were very tense," recalls Finneran, who previously played for St. Loman's and Milltown. "Killucan looked to have done enough until 'Pugie' Lynn scored that late goal for us. Killucan had one last attack after that, but it ended in a wide and we were very relieved to hear the final whistle a few seconds later. "The conditions were extremely bad, but fair dues to the referee (Liam McDaniel), he realised that both teams were eager to play and this was reflected in what was a hard-fought but very sporting match." In contrast to the Intermediate Cup, the intermediate championship proved a major disappointment for Shandonagh. The Blues looked as though they would at least emulate the previous year's feat when they beat a fancied Milltownpass by 0-13 to 0-8 in the opening round at The Downs. With Vinny Hewitt producing a man of the match performance at midfield, Shandonagh dominated from the off and at no stage did they look to be under any real pressure. But then came a crushing 2-8 to 3-14 defeat to Killucan at Springfield. Killucan hit Shandonagh with a barrage of scores in the first half and there was simply no way through for the Kilpatrick men in the second half. Two weeks later, Shandonagh suffered another defeat when Mullingar Shamrocks ran out 1-13 to 0-10 winners. They recovered to beat Rosemount by 0-10 to 0-8 in the fourth round at Ballinagore, but further defeats to Bunbrosna (1-8 to 1-9) and Kilbeggan Shamrocks (0-8 to 1-9) condemned them to the relegation play-offs. Once again, Shandonagh were pitted against Killucan and it was the Saffrons who held a four-point lead at the break. But with John Maher, Andy Fox, Gerry Fitzgerald and Padraig Lynn upping their performances in the second half, Shandonagh staged an excellent recovery. The turning point arrived at the end of the third quarter when Lynn intercepted a ball in midfield, passed to Roy Smyth who, in turn, sent Alan Hickey on his way to scoring the only goal. On a 1-9 to 0-10 scoreline, Shandonagh had assured themselves of intermediate football in 2003. Finneran, whose father TJ is regarded as one of the greats of Westmeath football, takes encouragement from the fact that Shandonagh defeated all four intermediate championship semi-finalists during 2002. However, he expresses concern at the team's apparent difficulty in beating the lesser sides. "If you were to put us out against one of the top intermediate teams tomorrow, the likelihood is that we would beat them," he says. "But it's a different story when we play the weaker teams. We don't seem to be able to lift ourselves for those sort of games. We must find a right balance in our performances." Off the field, 2003 is a big year for Shandonagh with major developments planned for the club's impressive ground on the outskirts of Mullingar. Among the improvements planned are the erection of full floodlighting facilities and a scoreboard, as well as an extension to the dressingrooms. It's also a big year on the field of play according to Frank: "The target for this year is to build on last year's success. At the very least, we want to get out of our group in the championship. The draw has been reasonably kind to us but, having said that, we can't take anything for granted. We got the taste for winning last year and we'd like some more of it." The Shandonagh team which captured the Intermediate Cup was: Frank Finneran; Jimmy Kiernan, Keith Gallagher, Mark Gordon; Andy Fox, Kevin Hickey, Robbie Byrne; Gerry Fitzgerald, Vincent Hewitt; Eddie Gallagher, John Rushe (captain), Padraig Lynn; Paddy Duffy, Roy Smyth, Alan Hickey. Subs used: David Nevin, Enda Kincaid and Declan Barry. Tweet

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