Milltownpass have diced with relegation at intermediate level for the past few years and although that was not the case in 2008, manager Gerry Feery is looking for a vast improvement this year. The former Tyrrellspass player took on the role as manager of Milltownpass at the start of last year and he spoke to the 'Maroon and White' about the club's fortunes and his hopes for the coming season. The club were drawn in a group alongside Tubberclair, Tang, Shandonagh, Rosemount and Ballynacargy in an evenly matched sextet, which proved to be the case. Of all the championships in the county, the intermediate is the most eagerly contested and there is a fine line between reaching the knockout stages and ending up in a relegation play-off. With 12 teams competing at this level, there is little room for error as one slip up could cost a team a place in the latter stages of the campaign. Gerry was in the unique position of managing two teams last year, a situation that he would not be keen on doing again in the near future. "I was Ballinagore manager the year before when they won the intermediate title, but I had agreed to train Milltownpass last year and then Ballinagore were keen for me to stay, so I decided to train both teams. "It was far from an ideal situation. From a personal point of view, I was left with no time for myself, while I'm sure that both clubs suffered from the circumstances, so I definitely won't be training two clubs the one year again." The Tyrrellspass native felt that his new charges showed many signs that they are not too far away from competing for honours in the second tier. "They have some excellent young footballers coming through to the team, while they have a number of experienced players there as well, so there is a good mix. "Last year was a building process for us as the side is currently going through a transition period, but they have made great progress in the last 12 months. Following a number of month's hard training, they finally kicked off their championship campaign in mid May with Shandonagh providing the opposition. In a closely contested battle, it was the sky blues that came out on top by just two points, which wasn't the best of starts, but there was still plenty to play for. Milltownpass bounced back from the opening day defeat to record a win over the previous year's junior champions Rosemount by the narrowest of margins. This game went right down to the wire and defences were very much on top as the 0-6 to 0-5 scoreline suggests. The fact that Rosemount ended up in the relegation play off just proves how tight a championship it can be and placed more emphasis on avoiding any slip ups. Tubberclair were next on the list and once again a close match was the outcome, although this time around, Milltownpass were on the losing end of a narrow margin, 1-7 to 1-6. "The Tubberclair game is certainly one that we should have won. We had the chances to do just that, but I think we were a bit naive in our decision making. Tubberclair went unbeaten in the group, so it just shows the strength of all the sides in it." Nonetheless, the performance helped the side in their next outing when they faced Tang and produced arguably their best performance of the campaign. A win over the southern Westmeath side brought them right back into contention and if they could manage a similar result against Ballynacargy in the last group outing would have guaranteed a place in the knockout stages. Confidence was high that Feery's youngsters could get the required result and go on in the campaign, but inexperience was to show as they never performed on the day. "I was so disappointed for the lads, they had worked hard throughout the year and it really came down to that game, but they just never got going against Ballynacargy. It was a shame, because I've no doubt that on their day, they can match any side at intermediate level as was shown in their earlier games. "However, last year was really a rebuilding process and I'm convinced that this side can do very well in the campaign, if I didn't think that I wouldn't be doing the job." Tubberclair may have won the group convincingly, but results tell a different story as three teams tied on five points, with Milltownpass just one behind on four and Rosemount left bottom. The 2009 campaign is set to be a huge one for the men of Milltownpass and even though they are still in the rebuilding process, Gerry's aim will be to guide them to the knockout stages at the very least. "I'm very much an optimist anyway, but I genuinely believe we can come out of the group this year and after that, who knows what can happen, it's all on the day and any of the teams can beat each other. "We have a few injury worries at the moment with Shane Donoghue probably being the most serious of them, but hopefully they will all be cleared up by the start of the championship." Tweet

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