Saffrons on a high
April 30, 2011Despite the disappointment of losing out at the penultimate stage of the campaign, it was a remarkable year for the Saffrons, whose brand of football brought a freshness to the championship.
At the start of the year, the decision was made to approach former manager Dermot Brady and see would he be interested in taking over the side once again.
The former county star managed the side when they were in the intermediate ranks in 2004 before he went on to manage Westmeath minor footballers.
However, the decision was made to bring him back and he duly accepted the role. Dermot speaks to 'Maroon & White' about the 2010 campaign and tells us of his hopes for the coming year.
Dermot admits that having worked with the side before meant that he had a good knowledge of the players and he knew what they were capable of doing.
"I suppose the fact that I did know the players very well helped as we could get down to work straight away. They are a very determined bunch of lads and they are very easy to work with," said Dermot.
"They have a strong panel and numbers are good too, so that makes a difference. Competition for places was fierce and it showed during the sessions as lads gave it their all."
At the outset of the senior championship, few would have tipped Killucan to reach the last four, but Dermot feels that on their day, they are capable of defeating any team in the grade.
"We certainly wouldn't have feared any team. A lot of the boys have a good few years experience now at this level and last year's campaign will have brought them on even further."
The draw for the championship saw Killucan placed in the same group as Tubberclair, Coralstown/Kinnegad, Maryland, Athlone and St Lomans, which was seen as the 'weaker' of the two groups.
However, Dermot is in no doubt that no matter who you play in the senior championship, all will provide a stern test and most teams are capable of beating each other.
"It didn't matter to us when the draw was made, we just knew that we had to go out and do our best. To win the championship you have to beat the best at some stage, so our aim from the start was to qualify from the group."
Killucan's first outing was against Tubberclair and this was seen as a game that they should win, although it did not turn out that way as the south Westmeath side recorded a one-point win.
"We had the necessary work done for the Tubberclair game and it was a very close match the whole way through with them getting the crucial goal late on to win by a point.
"I think nerves played a part in the defeat, while we also lost our regular goalkeeper David Bryan through injury a week before the game and his experience was a big loss."
The Saffrons could have been forgiven if their heads dropped after that opening round defeat, but that was certainly not the case as Dermot explains.
"The next night we trained after the Tubberclair game, we had something like 32 or 33 down training and it just showed the character of the players. If they get knocked down, they get up again and that's what carried them through for the rest of the campaign."
A meeting with old rivals Coralstown/Kinnegad was next on the cards for Killucan and this would be a real test of character for Brady's charges, one which they came through with flying colours as they recorded a 2-8 to 0-7 victory.
"There is always great rivalry between the sides and The Downs as well. A win was very important against Kinnegad as we would have been out of the championship after two games had we lost."
That win over Kinnegad seemed to boost confidence and Killucan went on to defeat both Maryland and Athlone in the remaining two group matches to finish top and book a place in the semi-final.
The fact that with each game they seemed to be improving saw many people sit up and take notice of what Killucan could possibly achieve on their day.
"The lads definitely grew in confidence as the year went on. In fairness, the Maryland game was very tight up until half time, but we stepped up a gear in the second half to win by 2-13 to 0-9.
"We had one of those days against Athlone where everything went right. I think nine of the side got on the scoresheet that day. Paul Greville was outstanding and scored something like 1-6 or that, while James Nugent kicked points for fun. You have days like that where everything goes right and it certainly did as we won by 1-18 to 2-8."
Paul Greville has been making all the headlines at county level of late and he is one of the county's most consistent performers over the past 12 months or so. His performances in the club championship were recognised as he was named Player of the Year, while he also received the Top Scorer of the Year award.
"Paul is an outstanding athlete and he is very strong. He's the type of lad that wants to play everything and sometimes you just have to tell him to ease up. He won all the plaudits last year and rightly so, but we certainly aren't a one-man team. The work rate throughout the side is phenomenal and the supply of ball into Paul is excellent."
The majority of senior football clubs in Westmeath concentrate on the big ball code, but Killucan are unique in the fact that they are a dual club as many of their side play hurling for Raharney, who as we all know were crowned senior hurling champions in 2010.
Combining both codes can be difficult, but Dermot admitted that the two clubs worked well together and it shows in their results throughout the year.
"We sat down with Johnny Greville (Raharney manager) and had a chat about how we would work things and to be fair it worked out very well. At the start of the year, we all did the physical training together, which meant lads weren't out every night of the week.
"It was easy for me as I just had the football to look after, but it was tough for the players and some nights we would just decide to go to the pool in order for them to get some rest. There is no question that rest is as important as training and to be fair I think between us, we got things right."
Facing Garrycastle in the county semi final is a tough ask for any side, but Dermot felt that they had nothing to fear, although his charges respected their more illustrious opponents.
"We stuck to our own game going into the semi final and didn't worry about Garrycastle. We know how good they are and what they have achieved over the last few years, but the lads were confident and we really believed we could win."
The first half performance of Killucan was arguably the best 30 minutes of football played by any club during the year as they took the game to the defending champions.
Nonetheless, a five minute spell at the start of the second half brought Garrycastle right back into the match and they pushed on from there to run out 3-12 to 1-13 winners.
"It was five minutes of madness really that undone us in the semi final and I suppose their experience stood to them. They are not county champions for no reason and have competed in a Leinster final as well, so it just shows the calibre of side we are up against."
Many feel that defeat makes a team stronger and Dermot is in agreement to this after he witnessed the hurt on the players defeat following the semi final.
"I was in the dressingroom after the game and I looked around to see that every one of the panel was gutted to have lost that match. It showed that they weren't there just to make up the numbers and really wanted to win.
"I'm confident that they will learn from that defeat and come back a stronger side this year. The senior football championship is hard won, but I think with the same effort we can be there or thereabouts again."
Dermot also feels that it is important to get out of Division 2 in the league and play at the highest level, but he is realistic enough to admit that it is very difficult to get their strongest side out for league games.
"The fact is that we can't get our strongest team out in the league. Lads are with the county hurlers or footballers, some are in college and for a number of reasons it is difficult to field a strong team, but it would be ideal if we could get into Division one, that will be one of our aims for the coming year."
Tweet
