According to club PRO Roy Smyth, 2007 is a make-or-break year for a Shandonagh team that hasn't quite lived up to expectations in recent intermediate championship campaigns. Shandonagh's quest for a first intermediate football title goes on following their surprise defeat to Kilbeggan Shamrocks in last year's championship quarter-final. The Kilpatrick-based club has been among the favourites to lift the Peter Geraghty Memorial Cup in recent years, but so far has failed to deliver on their promise. Shandonagh contested semi-finals in 2003, 2004 and 2005, so it's easy to see why they were so disappointed with last year's showing. "When you've played in three consecutive semi-finals, the last thing you want is to go out a round earlier," says PRO and key forward Roy Smyth. "Our aim at the beginning of last year was to go a step further than the semi-final, but sadly that didn't happen for us. We were favourites going into the Kilbeggan game, but we didn't perform and they ran out deserving winners. I'm not sure if we were complacent, but what I do know is that they were the hungrier team and got revenge for their defeat to us at the same stage in 2005." Possessing one of the county's strongest midfield pairings in David Duffy and Colin Galligan, and with players of the calibre of Kevin Hickey, Cormac Davey, Keith Gallagher, Mickey Boyle and Alan Hickey manning the key positions, many believe that Shandonagh should have won an intermediate championship by now. However, Smyth feels a lack of belief has prevented them from doing so and that they are now faced with a psychological barrier as much as anything. "I don't think we've believed in ourselves as much as we should have in the crunch matches. We have the players, but you have to have the confidence to go along with that. Look at Bunbrosna last year - they were a perfect example of what can be achieved with hard work and confidence. "Our biggest challenge at this stage is getting over that final hurdle. A lot of us aren't getting any younger and that's why I think this will be a make-or-break year for us," he adds. Under the management of Dublin football legend Tommy Carr, Shandonagh made an undistinguished start to last year's championship when they succumbed to a late Ballynacargy rally at Cusack Park. Just as they had done in the corresponding fixture in 2005, Bal' scored a late goal to take the spoils. Shandonagh made the better start and an Alan Hickey goal had them 1-4 to 0-4 in front at the interval. When Hickey grabbed his second major six minutes after the restart, Shandonagh seemed poised for victory but instead of going for the jugular, they started looking over their shoulder and this allowed Ballynacargy to come back at them. A Dwayne Maher point in the second minute of injury-time levelled the game, but there was still enough time for Ballynacargy to launch one final attack which culminated in substitute Daniel Keena scoring a dramatic winning goal. Tommy Carr's charges put the disappointment of that 2-5 to 1-11 defeat behind them when they accounted for Moate All-Whites by 0-8 to 0-5 in their next outing at Athlone's Pairc Chiarain. Shandonagh led by 0-4 to 0-2 at the break, but when Nigel Adamson equalized for Moate with 12 minutes remaining, supporters of the navy and sky blue feared another late fade out. Crucially, though, Roy Smyth came up with the next score to restore Shandonagh's advantage and he then played a great cross-field pass to Mickey Boyle, who set up Alan Hickey for another point. Shandonagh survived a late scare when a long delivery deceived full back Cormac Davey, but Damien Fox was alert to the danger and he started a move which ended with Andy Fox scoring the insurance point. Shandonagh suffered their second setback when losing to champions-elect Bunbrosna by 0-10 to 0-8. The Kilpatrick men were unlucky not to get something from the game and it wasn't for the want of trying on the part of their high-profile manager, who had used his full compliment of substitutes before half-time. Roy Smyth opened the scoring for Shandonagh, and they could have had a goal in the seventh minute when Mickey Boyle's shot was brilliantly blocked by Conor Newman. Only four scores were registered in the opening 30 minutes, but Bunbrosna went into overdrive in first half injury-time when they hit three points on the trot to lead by 0-5 to 0-2 at half-time. At that stage, it looked ominous for Shandonagh but they battled back to level with 10 minutes remaining before unanswered points from Peter Tormey, Ciaran Brennan and Noel Kiernan gave Bun a 0-10 to 0-7 lead. Substitute Tommy Brennan pointed in stoppage-time for Shandonagh, but it wasn't enough to save them. Shandonagh were now in grave danger of failing to making the cut, but victories over St. Joseph's and Ballinagore in their two remaining group games saw them finish as runners-up to Bunbrosna and thus qualify for the quarter-finals. They beat St. Joseph's by 3-9 to 0-9, but the scoreline flattered them somewhat. A bright opening quarter saw St. Joseph's lead by 0-4 to 0-2 and they kept their noses in front until the 25th minute when Philip Smyth goaled for Shandonagh. However, this goal seemed to inspire St. Joseph's rather than Shandonagh and they knocked over four unanswered points to take a 0-8 to 1-3 lead into the break. Within seven minutes of the restart, however, Shandonagh had turned the game around with a Mickey Boyle goal helping them to a 2-5 to 0-8 lead. St. Joseph's remained in contention until the closing stages when a third goal from substitute Eddie Gallagher sealed Shandonagh's win. Despite notching up 18 wides in their final group match against Ballinagore, Shandonagh still prevailed by 0-10 to 0-6. The sides were level on 0-4 each at half-time, but Tommy Carr's men bolted from the blocks on the resumption with a point from wing back John Rushe and two frees from Alan Hickey putting them three clear. Ballinagore reduced the deficit to the minimum before a late brace of scores from Hickey settled the issue. Shandonagh were widely fancied to dispose of Kilbeggan in their quarter-final clash at Cusack Park, but the writing was on the wall for them after just 20 seconds when PJ Ward pounced on a goalkeeping error to scramble home the opening goal. Kilbeggan had posted 1-2 before their shell-shocked opponents finally opened their account through wing back Declan Barry in the 12th minute. With Ward continuing to cause havoc, though, Kilbeggan enjoyed a six-point cushion at the break and two more points from the big full forward left Shandonagh trailing by 0-2 to 1-7 with four minutes played in the second half. The navy and sky blues made a determined effort to get back into the game after that, with Alan Hickey's 17th minute goal giving them a fighting chance. Hickey (two) and Danny Foster scored the last three points, but they weren't enough to save Shandonagh as Kilbeggan held on for a 1-9 to 1-7 victory. Shandonagh were also foiled in their attempt to land the intermediate league title, losing the much-delayed final to Bunbrosna by 0-4 to 1-7 in late January. The game's turning point came midway through the second half when Andy Fox saw his penalty saved by Damien McCormack, and within two minutes JP Reynolds drove the ball to the Shandonagh net for the only goal of the game to open up a six-point advantage which Bunbrosna held onto until the final whistle. Shandonagh's last championship triumph was in 1987 when they captured the junior title and Roy, whose father Tommy is club secretary, is hoping that they will be able to mark the 20th anniversary of that famous win with a long overdue intermediate championship success. "We'll be going all out to bring the intermediate title back to the club and I'm sure the 1987 success will be in a lot of the lads' minds. We've won two Intermediate Cups in the last few years, but it's now time for us to step up to the mark in the championship. "Billy Flanagan from Milltownpass was recently appointed as our new manager, and his selectors will be John Smyth from Ballycomoyle and Gavin Dooley who was our trainer a couple of years ago. "The intermediate championship is wide open and we may never get a better chance to win it than this year," concludes the 2000 Leinster under 21 football medallist. Tweet

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