A third junior 'B' championship success in four years and clubman John Keane's amazing feats for both county and country were the highlights of Rosemount's year, according to new secretary Niall O'Brien. Following their phenomenal success in 2007 when they completed a clean sweep at junior level and contested the Leinster final against Meath's Clann na nGael, Rosemount had high hopes of taking last year's intermediate football championship by storm. But the step-up in class almost proved too much for the once mighty black and ambers who only avoided an instant return to the junior ranks by virtue of a relegation play-off victory over Caulry. Indeed, it was Rosemount's only championship win in 2008 after their group campaign had yielded four defeats and one draw. "The year didn't turn out as we had hoped," admits new Rosemount secretary Niall O'Brien. "It was a big shock to the system to go from winning games to losing them. After the success we had in 2007, we genuinely believed that we could make an impact in last year's championship. But it didn't happen for us and, in the end we had to pull out at the stops to stay up. It was a very disappointing year for that point of view," he continues. But 2008 also had it highlights. Rosemount's second team retained the junior 'B' championship following their defeat of Ballynacargy in the final, while star player John Keane confirmed his status as one of the finest footballers the county has ever produced by winning All-Star and GPA awards, as well as being selected on the Ireland squad that defeated Australia in the revived International Rules series. "I thought it was a good achievement to retain the junior 'B' championship. We beat Ballynacargy in terrible conditions in the final to win the championship for the third time in four years. The final wasn't played until January, so it was a nice way to end 2008 and start 2009." Commenting on John Keane's achievements, O'Brien adds: "Everyone in Rosemount is very proud of him - he is a great ambassador for our club. The old saying about the person who eats, sleeps and drinks football certainly applies to him. He deserves all the success he gets and his achievements have lifted everyone in Rosemount after a poor year. "Last October, he became the first Westmeath man to win two All-Star awards and he followed that up with his first GPA award. He was one of Ireland's top performers in the International Rules series in Australia, and has since been honoured with the Westmeath captaincy. "John is the perfect role model for any young footballer. The money the club gave him before he went to Australia, he spent it on a day out for our under 12s, who he coaches along with Marty Healy, instead. That's the sort of fella he is." Having shared the managerial duties with David Keane in 2007, Galway native Des Collins took sole charge of the intermediate team last year. His selectors were Bernie Carroll, Padraig Maxwell and James Kelly. Rosemount opened their championship campaign with a 1-6 to 0-9 draw against Tang in Athlone. Both teams had chances to take full points in the dying minutes but failed to do so. First, Tang's Paul Conway saw his fisted effort come back off the crossbar and then, at the other end, David Tone had appeals for a close-range free turned down. The Roses looked to be in a strong position at half-time when they trailed by just a point, 1-1 to 0-5, despite having played against a strong wind. But they had a major let-off seven minutes after the restart when goalkeeper Richie O'Brien turned Denis Bannon's penalty over for a point. It was nip and tuck for the rest of the game as points from first half goal-scorer Danny Fielding, Cathal Keane and Shane Tone salvaged a share of the spoils for the black and ambers. Des Collins' charges suffered the first of three one-point defeats to Milltownpass at Kilbeggan on July 4. In another close encounter, Joey Loran's 57th minute point gave Milltownpass a 0-6 to 0-5 victory. Two points was the biggest margin to separate the sides in a game that saw Rosemount trail for the most part. Rosemount's hopes of reaching the knockout stages were all but ended when they slumped to a 0-10 to 0-11 defeat to Shandonagh in their third outing at Cusack Park. At the end of a poor quality first half, Shandonagh led 0-6 to 0-3 and the margin was still the same, 0-8 to 0-5, 10 minutes into the second half. But with Danny Fielding in fine scoring form, the black and ambers fought back to level before Declan Barry scored a late winner for Shandonagh. The Roses suffered their heaviest defeat of the campaign when they succumbed to Ballynacargy by 0-9 to 1-13 at a rain-swept Lakepoint Park. Liam Reilly gave the winners the perfect start with a fifth minute goal, and they went on to lead 1-5 to 0-1 at the end of the first quarter. With Dwayne Maher in sparkling form, there was no respite for Rosemount with Bal' going into the break 1-11 to 0-4 ahead. The blue and golds managed just two points in the second half, but their lead was never threatened by the 2007 junior champions. Rosemount's involvement in the relegation play-off was confirmed following their 0-10 to 1-8 defeat to Tubberclair at Lakepoint Park. Tubberclair had already qualified for the knockout stages, and they appeared disinterested as their opponents opened up a 0-7 to 0-3 after 28 minutes. But after Jeffrey Farrell's free had left them just three points adrift at half-time, Tubberclair dominated much of the second half to consign Rosemount to a do-or-die clash against Caulry. The black and ambers' third visit to St. Loman's in as many games finally yielded the victory they so desperately sought as they overcame their south county rivals by 2-10 to 1-9 on a bitterly cold October's night. Two fortuitous goals from David Malynn and Shane Tone inside the first quarter paved the way for Rosemount's survival. Caulry made a great start to the second half when Robert Kenny bundled Peter Smyth's quickly-taken free to the net. However, Rosemount refused to allow their opponents to build up any kind of momentum in the third quarter and calmly played their way back into control with points from Danny Fielding and Declan Mullen. Rosemount led 2-7 to 1-5 at the start of the final quarter and although Caulry cut the gap to just two points with scores from Alan Carroll, Gary Flanagan and Kenny, the black and ambers outscored them 0-3 to 0-1 in the dying minutes to preserve their intermediate status. O'Brien, who has succeeded Pete Keenan as secretary, says it would have been "unthinkable" for Rosemount to go straight back down to junior. "The heads would have been down if we had been relegated and it would have been a tough job to motivate the players this year," he says. "Thankfully, it didn't come to that and we survived by the skin of our teeth. Having said that, I felt we were a bit unlucky to be in a relegation playoff because we lost three games by a point. We probably lacked a ruthless streak and that is something we will have to find if we are going to do anything this year." Some of the gloom around Rosemount was lifted when they defeated Ballynacargy by 0-8 to 0-3 in horrendous conditions in mid-January to retain their junior 'B' championship crown. After seeing off The Downs in the quarter-final and Maryland in the semi-final, Rosemount produced an impressive display to beat a Ballynacargy team that contained no less than 10 of the side that had lost to Maryland in the intermediate championship final after a replay. Playing on their home patch, the signs looked ominous for Rosemount when they only led by 0-2 to 0-1 at the interval after playing with the elements. However, they hit six unanswered points following the resumption to run out comfortable winners. Needless to say, O'Brien is hoping Rosemount can take inspiration from their junior 'B' success and John Keane's achievements as they face into another campaign under new manager and former Offaly All-Ireland under 21 winner Gary Daly. "Gary, who hails from Cloghan, has taken over from Des Collins and has brought in Mick Hanniffy and David Fox as his selectors. Despite last year's disappointment, Des had a successful spell in charge, winning the junior treble in 2007 and the junior 'B' title last year. "We've been drawn in a tough group along with Tubberclair, Ballymore, Shandonagh, Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall and Ballinagore, who've just come down from senior. It won't be easy, but we have to be aiming for a quarter-final or semi-final at the very least," he concludes. The Rosemount team which retained the junior 'B' championship was: Richie O'Brien; Anthony Kelly, Paddy Malynn, Enda Boland; Paddy Boland, Cyril Elliffe, James Boland; David Mullen, Stephen Darcy; Paddy Keenan, David Malynn, James Geoghegan; Barry Phelan, Declan Mullen, John Keenan. Sub used: John Campbell. The Rosemount team that defeated Caulry to preserve its intermediate status was: Richie O'Brien; Derek Keenan, John Keane, Paddy Wade; Ronald Mullen, Tom King, Paul Boland; Declan Keane, Donal Boland; Shane Tone, Cathal Keane, David Malynn; Danny Fielding, Martin Loddick, Declan Mullen. Subs used: James Geoghegan and David Tone. Tweet

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