Over the past number of years, Dowdallshill is a club that has become accustomed to challenging for and winning trophies on a regular basis and the 2009 season saw that trend continue at St Brigid's Park. By Eunan Whyte.

Although there was to be no glory for the Junior I, the club ended the season with two pieces of silverware, the Junior 2 League and the Ladies Junior Championship.
It was particularly satisfying for the Hill that they should be successful in these competitions as it represents a fitting reward for a huge amount of work that has been put into the club at juvenile and ladies football level.
One man, John Brady, who has been heavily involved in the club again this year, was delighted with the success and feels that it is important for the young players to see their dedication rewarded with an impressive victory in the Junior 2 League.
John, who along with Dixie Quinn, acted as selectors for manager Martin Rice, revealed that it was no surprise to those involved that the second team made such an impression.
"We knew that we had a good balance to the Junior 2 League team at the start of the year with a lot of the younger players breaking through from the under-age ranks. However, we didn't get off to the best of starts as on St Patrick's Day we lost our opening game to St Kevin's at home."
While there was some sense of disappointment at that stage, the team responded in the perfect manner and that reverse proved to be one of only two defeats they would suffer throughout the campaign.
"We got back on track by beating Young Irelands on a scoreline of 5-10 to 0-7 which really boosted everyone's confidence and we followed up by beating Cuchulainn Gaels, Dundalk Gaels, Annaghminnon Rovers and Hunterstown Rovers.
"We were unlucky only to draw with St Patrick's after they scored a last minute penalty, before winning away to Westerns. We then suffered a heavy 1-13 to 0-6 defeat at the hands of Cooley, but a draw at home to Stabannon Parnells in our final league game as enough to see us finish in second place and earn a place in the semi-final."
That last four game saw the Hill travel to take on Hunterstown Rovers on August 18th and in a tough match, the Dundalk men edged home with a goal from Gerry McShane and scores from Ciaran O'Callaghan and Peter Hughes proving crucial.
That set up a meeting with Cooley Kickhams and to make things even more difficult, the peninsula side won the toss to claim home advantage. However, once again the Dowdallers responded to the challenge and claimed a very impressive 2-5 to 0-9 victory.
"We certainly played our best game of the season on that night as the team showed great commitment and fight against a very strong Cooley side.
"With our U18s Anton Rogers and Vincent Roe either side of Seamie Agnew in the half back line and the never ending work rate of Ciaran O Callaghan and Fra Agnew in the middle we really took the game to Cooley.
"Noel Mohan grabbed a great goal in the first half, as did Paddy Kehoe who scored a blinder with his left boot in the second half, while Gary Corrigan pulled of a great save to keep us in front"
Other players to make an impression in that victory were Cathal McShane, Damien Fanning, Eamon Kissane Benny Maguire, Niall Smyth, David McCrave, Dermot Smyth, Colin Agnew, Gerry McShane, Darren McCrave, Damien Murphy, Andy Barron, John Kerr, Colin Byrne, James Everard.

Fortunately for the club, it was not to be the only success of the year as Dowdallshill made their breakthrough in the Ladies competition by winning the Junior Championship title for the first time.
John, who had been involved in the ladies coaching for a number of years revealed that it was a special moment for the club.
"Everyone was thrilled to see the Ladies team finally land an adult championship and the thoroughly deserved the victory. Ladies football is an integral part of our club and we hope this will be a stepping-stone for further glory in the future and help more girls get involved in this sport.
"The team began the season determined to make an impression and laid the foundations for victory with an impressive run in the Intermediate League which saw them lose just two games.
"As a result, they went into the championship in confident mood while a tough training regime and strong management team ensured they were in top condition for the championship.
"Thankfully, it went according to plan in the early rounds as we defeated a strong Newtown Blues before coming through against Na Piarsaigh and Cucuhlainn Gaels to secure a place in the final," revealed John.
The final took place at Clan na Gael Park on Sunday September 12th when an impressive start helped The Hill to record a fully deserved 4-8 to 3-7 victory over St Fechins to gain a place in the Intermediate ranks.
The success was not only a great reward for the players but also the backroom team who had put so much effort in over the season. The management team behind the successful championship winners were Thomas O'Connor, Fred O'Hagan, Alvin McEvoy and trainer Peter McGuinness, along with mentors Sandra O'Connor and Gerardine McGill.
The 2009 Junior championship team was: Una Pearson, Samantha Kelly, Sheila Scorr, Aine McShane, Orlaith O'Hagan, Sharon O'Connor, Sinead McNally, Emma Singleton, Ciara O'Connor, Emma Kellegher, Sonia Hoey, Claire McQuillan, Jenny Arthurs, Karen Wynne, Sinead McGill, Janine Kelly, Emma Finnegan, Renee McCabe, Cathy O'Reilly, Nicole Kellegher, Emma Gorman, Amy O'Hanlon and Debbie Mulligan.

While there was much success to reflect on at St Brigid's Park, John admits that there was much disappointment in the fact that the Junior I team failed to make an impression at either League or Championship level.
"Unfortunately, for a number of reasons, we made a very slow start just didn't get going after that.
"The season started with the Kevin Mullen Shield and although we won three of our games, we lost two and didn't make it through to the knock-out stages.
"That disappointing form carried through to the opening games of the Division 3 League and after losing two and drawing two of our opening four games, it was always going to be difficult for us to mount a challenge.
"After going out of the championship, it was always going to be difficult to lift the performance levels for the remainder of the season and we were left battling in the lower reaches of the division."
Despite these difficulties in the league, John had hoped that they could turn things around for the championship, but unfortunately it wasn't to be.
"We lost our opening game to St Fechins and then went down to St Kevin's before our best performance of the season saw us beat John Mitchels by 3-14 to 1-7.
"That meant that we were still in with a chance of making the knock-out stages but in a must-win game against Stabannon on July 5th we didn't take our scores in the second half and went down by 2-7 to 1-5. We were out of the championship at that stage and in our final game, lost out to Nh Fionnbarra," added John.
On a brighter note, there was further encouragement from the under-age ranks as Dowdallshill amalgamated with Sean O Mahony and St Mochtas,
They had a good league run with the highlight being beating the Geraldines in Haggardstown, but lost out to the same opposition in the County A Final.
The team went on to reach the Minor Championship semi-final only to lose out to St Joseph's, with Dowdallshill being represented by David McCrave, Anton Rogers, Vincent Roe and Daniel Kerr

Enda Hughes
When Dowdallshill GFC reflect on 2009 there is little doubt that football matters will pale into insignificance when compared to the tragic loss of one their best known players, Enda Hughes.
Enda's passing on February 14th, just before the start of the season, was a massive blow to everyone associated with the club. Not alone was he one of the leading players in the club, but more importantly a very popular figure who was considered a friend by all who knew him.
Originally from Mayo, Enda joined the club in 2003 when he began working as a Garda in Dundalk.
He will be forever remembered in Dowdallshill as the man who scored the winning point when the team defeated Westerns to win the Junior Championship title in 2003. Two years later Enda played a leading role as The Hill regained the title although injury prevented him from playing against St Kevins in the final.
Enda's ability, strength, commitment and desire to win saw him stand out and it was no surprise when Val Andrews called him into the Louth squad and he played for the Wee County at the beginning of 2004.
Enda will be sorely missed as both a player and a friend by all who knew him.

DOWDALLSHILL GF & AC 2009
OGSPORT LU - Dowdallshill
The juvenile section of our club continues to go from strength to strength with teams competing in Ogsport Lu competitions in groups of u8, u9, u10, u12 and u13s thanks to the great work of our club mentors.
Dowdallshill hosted many of the regional blitzes this year, whilst our teams travelled to other regional and all county blitz throughout the county.

Dowdallshill u12
The u12 Ogsport lu section of our club continues to thrive with prospects for this group encouraging, under the management of Owenie McGailey and Gerry McNamee our u12 team had a very successful year where they were unbeaten in their section of the league. Four of our u12 players Colin O'Connor, Michael Cummins, Stefan McNulty and Graham Cairns were part of the u14 Dowdallshill/Cuchulainn Gaels league cup winning team this year.

Dowdallshill u13
D'hill u13 boys under the management of Thomas O'Connor and Gerry McNamee took part in an u13 league successfully getting through to the semi-final of their league where they were narrowly beaten by Cuchulainn Gaels for a place in the final. Andrew Kerr, one of our u13 players took part in the Louth u13 Development Squad this year in Darver.

Dowdallshill u14
Our u14 boys team under the management of Gerry Roe were amalgamated this year with Omeath side Cu Gaels. The Dowdallshill/Cuchulainn Gaels team brought success to the club by winning this year's u14 League 'B' final. The Dowdallshill boys who are part of this team are Daniel Fu, Daniel Fitzsimmons, Sean McGill, Qudas Yusuf, Stefan Morrissey, Rory Cooney, Andrew Kerr, Colin O'Connor, Graham Cairns, Stefan McNulty, Oliver Maguire, Michael and Brendan Cummins and Mark McCormack.

Dowdallshill Girls u14
The underage ladies section of the club continues to go from strength to strength with great talent coming through the ranks, some of our underage players were part of the ladies winning junior championship team this year.
Our u14 girls team progressed this year to the u14 'A' league and championship where they continue to do well under the management of Alvin McEvoy and Eddie McGill. Seven of our players from the u14 team were on the Louth u14 panel, the girls were Aideen McGahon, Emily Norton, Cathy O'Reilly, Shannon Begley, Ruth Burlingham, Kerry McGuirk and Aine Lynch.

Dowdallshill u16 and u18
The u16 and u18 girls teams under the management of Thomas O'Connor and Paul O'Hanlon are currently taking part in the 'A' league and championships again this section of the club are continuing to make great progress with some great talent among them. Four of our u16s Ciara O'Connor, Orlaith O'Hagan, Sinead McGill and Tracy Osadabe have been part of the u16 Louth panel this year who were successful in getting through to the Leinster finals and also the semi final of the All Ireland Shield competition in August where they were finally beaten by Waterford. Tweet

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