In a year when Delvin managed just one victory in the intermediate hurling championship, it was left to the club's underage teams to bring home the silverware. Pat Farrelly had a strong involvement with the successful minor and under 21 sides. With Delvin's interests in the intermediate hurling championship ending at a surprisingly early stage last year, it was left to the club's underage teams to salvage pride and this they did by winning three championships and two league titles. Delvin's three championship successes were recorded at under 12, minor and under 21 level while the minors and the under 14s also picked up league titles. Delvin also qualified for the junior 'B' and under 16 'B' championship finals but were forced to give second best to Southern Gaels and Ringtown respectively. "Although the intermediate team had a poor year, we had great success at underage level," notes Pat Farrelly, who had an involvement in no fewer than four teams. "The under 21 championship victory was probably the most significant but the wins of the minor and under 12 teams were also very important. What the underage teams achieved bodes well for the future and hopefully it will lift the spirits of the intermediate side this year," he adds. A selector with the intermediate, under 21, minor and under 16 teams in 2001, Farrelly is well qualified to assess the club's current state. He had expected better from the intermediate team and admits that it would have been a very poor year for the club had the underage sides not performed so well. "The heat was taken off the intermediate team by the success of the underage teams. Had we failed to win anything at underage level, it would have been a disastrous year. There would have been a lot of negative talk over the winter," he says. Regular semi-finalists and finalists in recent years, Delvin were a major disappointment in last year's intermediate championship. They managed just one win in six and that simply isn't good enough for a club which harbours strong ambitions of competing in the senior ranks. The 'Valleymen' were pipped by Crookedwood in their opening game and further defeats to Ringtown and Southern Gaels set the alarm bells ringing. A comfortable victory over neighbours Turin provided a glimmer of hope but a desperately disappointing year was completed with defeats to St. Oliver Plunkett's and Lough Lene Gaels. A short time after the intermediate championship campaign had ended, Delvin met Southern Gaels in the delayed 2000 junior 'B' championship final at Castletown-Geoghegan. The Athlone side made most of the early running and were 0-4 to 0-0 in front at the end of the first quarter. But a Joe Ivory goal, followed by points from Thomas McInerney and Brian Farrelly, brought the north county side back into contention before veteran Kevin Jordan scored a goal to give Southern Gaels a 1-6 to 1-3 lead at the interval. Southern Gaels maintained the upperhand until a late goal from Pat Doherty brought Delvin to within one point. John Benton replied with a crucial point for the Athlone men and, while Brian Farrelly pointed for Delvin, Southern Gaels hung on for a 1-10 to 2-6 victory. The first of Delvin's three underage championship titles was captured on October 20 when they were victorious over St. Brigid's in the under 12 'B' final at Loughegar. Despite an early score from Luke Kelly, Delvin trailed by three points at the break. But Delvin were a different team in the second half and a brace of goals from the outstanding Kelly earned them a thrilling 2-6 to 2-5 victory. For the record, the team was trained by Willie McGrath and Anthony Kelly. The under 21 'B' championship decider took place a week later with Cullion providing the opposition at Whitehall. Cullion, with some of their successful senior team on board, were the fancied side but Delvin had other ideas. Colin Whyte opened the scoring for Cullion but Delvin replied with five unanswered points per Niall Williams (four frees). Late in the half, however, JP Monaghan scored a goal for Cullion to leave just the minimum between the sides (0-5 to 1-1) at the interval. The charges of Pat Farrelly, Willie McGrath and Mick Kenny continued to take the game to Cullion in the second half with points from Thomas McInerney (four) and Gareth Halpin putting them in a winning position. Cullion rallied late on but Delvin deservedly ran out 0-10 to 1-3 winners. Delvin were denied a third championship success at Collinstown on November 18 when they lost the under 16 'B' championship final to Ringtown by 3-5 to 1-6. The team in maroon and white led by 0-5 to 1-1 at half-time but two second half goals turned the tide in Ringtown's favour. Delvin supporters didn't have to wait long for that third championship triumph, however. On December 2 at Archerstown, the minor 'B' championship was annexed following an impressive 4-9 to 2-4 victory over neighbouring Brownstown. The first half was a lively affair with David Dolan's early goal giving Brownstown a dream start. But Delvin recovered quickly with a brace of goals from John O'Shaughnessy (one from a penalty) putting them firmly in the driving seat. Mark Smith pulled back a goal for Brownstown but Delvin still led by 2-6 to 2-2 at the half-way stage. Brownstown reduced the deficit to three points on the resumption but Delvin never panicked and when Patrick Farrelly scored their third goal, victory was within sight. A late goal from substitute Kevin Smith put the result beyond all doubt. "The minor and under 21 teams were basically made up of the same players so it was a great year for those lads," Farrelly says. "I thought the under 21 win was a great achievement because we had such a young team. There is no doubt that we have a lot of excellent young players at the moment and hopefully they will improve the intermediate team in the next year or two." Pat, who was an intermediate selector along with Bernard Byrne, Mick Kenny and Willie McGrath last season, is confident that Delvin came make a much bigger impression in this year's championship. "Despite what happened last year, we'll be aiming for the knock-out stages at the very least. We're possibly a bit young to win the championship this year but if the younger lads can keep improving, I've no doubt that we'll be a senior club before too long." The Delvin under 12 'B' championship-winning team was: Cian O'Neill; Killian Murphy, Brian Davis, Barry Farrelly; Shane O'Neill, Anthony Vaughan, Darren Kelly; Luke Kelly (2-5), James Smith; Darren Flynn, Daniel O'Neill (0-1), Stephen Reilly; Brendan Mulligan, Niall Darby, James Brady. Subs: Robert Walsh, Tadgh Kelly, Eoin Ledwith, Joe Gaffney, Ian McCormack, Julian Sheerin, Ken Lawrence, Ross Fay, Ciaran McNally, Joseph Walsh, Alan Clune, Emmet O'Neill and Robert Vaughan. The Delvin team which won the under 21 'B' championship final was: John O'Shaughnessy; Darren McHugh, Bernard O'Shaughnessy; Anthony Clune, Cathal Nugent, Daniel Clune; JP Farrelly, Gareth Halpin (0-1); Tomas McInerney (0-4), Niall Williams (0-5), Niall Carney; Padraig O'Shaughnessy, Niall O'Shaughnessy. The Delvin team that won the minor 'B' championship was: Michael Anderson; Gerard Clune, Niall Kearney; Francis McGrath, Daniel Clune, Brendan O'Brien; JP Farrelly (0-1), Ollie Cassidy; Anthony Carolan, Patrick Farrelly (1-0), Thomas McInerney (0-6); John O'Shaughnessy (2-2), Padraig O'Shaughnessy. Subs used: Stephen Clune and Kevin Smith (1-0). Footballers back on track While they were never in the reckoning for a place in the knock-out stages, Delvin still enjoyed their best championship campaign for some time last year. Player/manager Alan Sherwin is confident that the progress can be maintained in the coming season. It's official - the Delvin footballing revival is starting to take shape. After a couple of winless years in championship fare and fears about the club's future existence, Delvin turned the corner last season with the championship wins over Ballycomoyle and St. Fintan's/Multyfarnham confirming such. Delvin were never likely to reach the knock-out stages but the level of competitiveness they showed provides much hope for the coming year. "Our aim was to be competitive and I don't think anyone can say that we weren't," says player/manager Alan Sherwin. "We were realistic enough to know that we weren't going to win the junior championship. We just wanted to be competitive again and now that we have succeeded on that front, hopefully we can build on that this year." Sherwin, along with his co-selectors Sean O'Brien, Pat Fox and Bernard Byrne, focussed to a large degree on getting the players to believe in themselves last season. Morale had been extremely low and the only way that it could be regained was by winning matches. "Even to win just one championship game was vital. You could see the belief coming back to the players after that. Spirits were lifted and we now have a situation where fellas are wanting to put in the effort which has to be an encouraging sign," Sherwin explains. The maroon and whites lost their opening game in last year's championship to Milltown by 2-1 to 1-13 but bounced back to beat Ballycomoyle on a 0-12 to 1-7 scoreline. They lost to neighbours St. Paul's by 1-9 to 0-15 at St. Loman's on May 6 but regained winning ways at the expense of St. Fintan's/Multyfarnham (2-7 to 0-7). They were well beaten by Caulry in their next game before pushing Loughnavalley all the way (1-8 to 2-8) at Cusack Park on July 20. Their final two games resulted in defeats to Bunbrosna and St. Joseph's (0-6 to 0-8). "It was our best championship for some time and with a bit of luck, we might also have beaten St. Paul's and St. Joseph's. We led St. Paul's at half-time but allowed them to get back into it in the second half and they pipped us in the end." Sherwin acknowledges that expectations will be a lot higher for Delvin this season and their aim will be to qualify for the semi-finals, as well as gaining promotion from Division 7 of the All-County League. "Whereas it would have been asking a bit much of us to expect to reach the semi-finals last year, I feel that it is a much more realistic target this year," he says. "We have taken a lot of encouragement from last year's performances and we have a few players returning to us this year which should help strengthen things. When you see how well Loughnavalley did last year, it gives teams such as ourselves plenty of hope." Both the Delvin football and hurling teams trained together over the winter months and according to Alan, this arrangement worked very well. He is hopeful that the 'Valleymen' can achieve their objective of reaching the semi-finals, but admits that much will depend on how they fare in their early matches. "We've got Milltown, St. Joseph's, Caulry and St. Paul's in our first four games and each of those are going to be very difficult. But if we can pick up points, that would leave us in a very strong position going into the second half of the group stage." Tweet

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