The Seventies

The first footballing action of the seventies was Kilcoo Minors involvement in The Casey Cup Competition which was the equivalent of a South Down Championship. Kilcoo played Drumgath in the final on 1 February 1970.

Conditions were atrocious weatherwise. The half time score was Kilcoo 1-1, Drumgath 0-0. Hugh John Fitzpatrick, the Kilcoo manager, made some shrewd positional changes which were to prove decisive. Kilcoo were superior in all areas of the field and the final score was Kilcoo 3-1, Drumgath 1-1.

After the game the Cup was presented to Kilcoo captain James McEvoy. An official presentation function took place on Tuesday 3 February 1970 in St. Patrick’s Hall, Rathfriland. Mr. G. Fitzmaurice welcomed all present and congratulated Kilcoo on winning the cup. Very Rev. McCrory C.C. made the presentations. Father E. Dagens, on behalf of Kilcoo Club thanked the Drumgath Casey Cup Committee. Mr. G. Fitzmaurice paid special tribute to H. J. Fitzpatrick, the Kilcoo manager.

The Senior Team at this time was preparing for the start of the ‘C’ League campaign. Some good victories over Ballykinlar and a hard earned draw with Liatroim kicked off the season. The first match in the new League was a home fixture against Loughinisland on 15 March 1970. Kilcoo were beaten but got their first points two weeks later with a 1-6 to 0-4 victory over Ballela.

Over the Spring and early Summer the Seniors had little success, however they found their form again on Sunday 2 August 1970 with a League victory over Dunsford by 1-7 to 0-7. The following Sunday Kilcoo Seniors went into the first round of the Championship in Liatroim as complete underdogs against Clonduff who were high in the ‘B League and Kilcoo languished near the bottom of the ‘C’ League. Those who went along to the match were in for a shock as, from the outset, Kilcoo were seeking scores. At the end of the first quarter after some exciting points Clonduff got a surprise goal, but back came Kilcoo with a great two goal blitz. At half time the score was Kilcoo 2-3, Clonduff 1-2 but although Clonduff now had the wind advantage Kilcoo did not give in and came out deserving winners by 3-5 to 1-6. This was the highlight of the season, as a few weeks later, the Championship bubble burst at the hands of Burren and in the League they finished up second from bottom but were not relegated as Dunsford dropped out of the League towards the end of the year.

In 1971 Kilcoo Seniors were still in the ‘C’ League and they had mixed fortunes when they finished fourth in an eight team League. Dan Morgan was on the Down Minor Team and his brother James was playing for Down Seniors. This year marked the beginning of underage success when the Kilcoo U-16s captured the South Down League.

In 1972 the All County League structure was revised. Kilcoo were placed n the ‘B’ League. They made satisfactory progress and played Mayobridge in a Championship match and although the players gave a gallant performance, Mayobridge proved too strong.

The 1973 season had a similar pattern. Kilcoo had some excellent wins and some surprising defeats and finished eighth in the League.

Regular training sessions began in 1974 and these seemed to improve fitness and match performance. On Monday 3 June 1974 they played near neighbours Clonduff. It was a most exciting game witnessed by a very large crowd. Best for Kilcoo, who won by five points, were Paddy Morgan in goals, Mick Devlin, Barney McEvoy, Peter McCormick and Jerry O’Hare in defence, John Devlin, Mickey O’Hare and Owen McEvoy up front. Defeats by Saval and Burren followed, but Kilcoo were playing some quality football in these matches and, in the rest of the year, they moved up the League table. In the fourteen games they won ten and drew four.

Confidence was high in 1975. A training schedule began early in the year. The opening game on 9 March was against Clonduff and Kilcoo rose to the occasion and were winners by 1-10 to 1-4. Atticall were also defeated and Kilwarlin were held to a draw. In a game against Shamrocks on 30 March Kilcoo had a resounding victory of 1-12 to 2-5. Two more victories left Kilcoo at the top of the League. On the team were four McEvoy brothers and four Morgan brothers. Further victories were expected as Kilcoo seemed to be on a roll and they didn’t disappoint their fans. During July and August the team had eight straight victories. This fine run meant that the Owen Roes had captured the ‘B’ League and with it promotion to the Premier League. The trophy was presented to Owen McEvoy on Sunday 14 September 1975.

The 1976 season began with high hopes. Kilcoo had a great victory over Ben Dearg. One narrow defeat at the hands of Rostrevor didn’t dampen spirits and victory over Glenn and a draw with Warrenpoint helped to cement the players and Kilcoo looked promising but the team suffered several defeats and elimination from the Senior Championship followed. Morale gradually ebbed away and on 15 August 1976, in a match against Warrenpoint, a brawl developed and Kilcoo received a three month suspension. Paddy Morgan took over in 1976, from Hugh John Fitzpatrick, and was helped by other committee members with the training of the young teams who were now entering competitions at U-12, U-14, U-16 and U-18 level.

The 1977 season began, like the previous years, with great hope. The first competition of the year was the East Down League Cup. Kilcoo had good games and got to the final against Castlewellan who came out on top. Matches followed in the ‘B’ League campaign with mixed fortunes. A defeat in the first round of the Championship didn’t dampen spirits. The League games were going well for the Seniors. The County Seniors were in the Ulster Championship trail and the Down Minors were playing in the All Ireland. Club activity halted for a time and resumed in the autumn where Kilcoo had mixed fortunes. The period from December 1977 to February 1978 was a time of recovery. Kilcoo had wins over Ben Dearg and Annaclone and, in fact, finished fifth in the League table.

In 1978 the Kilcoo committee decided to publish a weekly bulletin providing up-to-date club and parish information and this was done by Pat Kane and Gerry Morgan. It was also decided in 1978 to enter a team in the new Hurling knock-out competition, arranged by the County board, for clubs with no history of hurling.

During the 1978 season the senior footballers were still competing in the ‘B’ League and they also took part in some tournaments, in which they captured both the Downpatrick and Longstone trophies. They were drawn against St. Michaels in the first round of the Championship and the game was played on Sunday 28 June and Kilcoo came out winners. In the quarter finals they were drawn against Bredagh but Bredagh won this encounter so the focus was back on the League campaign. There was a break in the playing programme because of the progress of the Down Seniors but when regular football re-commenced Kilcoo won eight, drew one and lost four of their remaining fixtures, so they finished joint second with St. Michaels on 25 points. The play off for promotion was on Tuesday 24 April 1979 but Kilcoo lost and it was back to the Second Division.

The story of the underage football in the 1978 season is one of quarter final defeats for the U-12s, U-14s and the U-16s. The U-12s and U-14s prepared for the start of their Leagues with challenge matches against Liatroim.

The U-12s had to be content with a draw after having built up a good first half lead of 3-1 to 0-1, but Liatroim made a good comeback after the break leaving the final score 4-2 each.

In the first match in the South Down League Kilcoo gave a weak performance against a very strong Ballymartin outfit and were beaten by 7-5 to 4-1. However, this was followed up by a winning streak when they beat St. Colman’s with an overwhelming score of 8-7 to 3-1.

In a return match against Ballymartin, Kilcoo gained revenge with a good victory of 8-4 to 2-0. They also had a good win over Glassdrumman but were beaten by Attical, who had remained unbeaten at that stage.

The U-12 panel for the 1978 season was as follows: Seamus O’Hanlon, Mark McCusker, Lawrence Greenan, Martin Brogan, Noel Morgan, Colm Devlin, Eddie Fitzpatrick, Peter Grant, Mark Kelly, Joey Travers, Peter Brannigan, Sean Michael Johnston, Damien Grant (deceased), Liam Og Mussen, Jerome Johnston, Aidan O’Hare, Michael McClean, Terry O’Hanlon, Kevin Kane, Peter Doherty, Emmett Kelly, Donal Rogan, Danny Fettis, Paul McPolin, James and Jack Creanor, Ned Morgan, Jarlath O’Hare, John McAuley and Dominic Brogan.

The U-14’s, initially, had a fine win over Liatroim, with a score of 3-9 to 0-1 in an early challenge match. They had good wins over Clonduff and over Benaderg in the first round of the South Down Championship, but were beaten in the League by Mayobridge and Mitchels and by Glenn in the quarter final of the South Down League.

The panel of players was as follows: Sean Fitzpatrick , Joe Rogan, Sean Devlin, Peter Doherty, Sean Kelly, Brendan Grant, Daniel Fitzpatrick, Arthur Greenan, Declan Mussen, Emmet Kelly, Paul Kelly, Mark Kelly, Paddy McCrickard, Patrick Morgan and Donal Rogan.

Meanwhile the U-16 team continued to improve. They played Saval in a closely fought match, always keeping in front and they continued on their winning ways with a victory over Bosco at Stephen’s Green. Their biggest win of the season was when they overwhelmed Ballyholland with a score of 5-15 to 1-7.

The panel was as follows; Sean Fitzpatrick, Damien Travers, Arthur Greenan, Michael Devlin, Noel McClean, Noel Doherty, Declan Mussen, Brendan O’Hare, Hugh Mussen, Paul Kane, Michael McClean, Martin Fettis, Oliver Brogan, Sean Morgan, Paul Kelly, Sean Devlin, Paddy McCrickard,, Joe Rogan, and Liam Morgan.

The following interesting statistics were taken from a 1978 football bulletin:

The U-12’s played 12 games winning 8 and losing 4.

They scored the massive total of 69-45 and conceded 31-36.

The leading scorer by far was Kevin Kane with 20-8, his highest individual score was 5-2 against Ballymartin.

Other scorers were Lawrence Greenan 11-9, Colm Devlin 4-10, Liam og Mussen 7-1, Sean Michael Johnston 7-1, Michael McClean 5-1.

The U-14s played 8 games, winning 5 and losing 3.

The three games they lost were against the two teams who eventually met up in the final, Mayobridge and Mitchels.

They scored 23-37 and conceded 15-42.

Emmet Kelly was leading scorer with 6-1, followed by Paul Kane 2-11, Declan Mussen 0-11, Mark Kelly and Colm Devlin 3-1.

The U-16s played 7 games winning 4 and losing 3.

They scored 13-45 and conceded 9-49.

Noel Doherty was leading scorer with 1-16, followed by Martin Fettis 3-4, Sean Devlin 2-4 and Paul Kelly 2-3.

In 1979 the U-12s got off to a good start by defeating Glassdrumman by 4 points. In their next game, however, they were defeated by old rivals Clonduff, but got back on the winning trail by beating Longstone by 10-6 to 7-3 in a tough and exciting game. This was followed by a defeat by Attical and then a good win over Glassdrumman. They maintained their winning sequence by beating Ballymartin and Longstone, but were again defeated by Clonduff thus completing their League programme for the year.

The U-14s, however, got off to a shaky start in their first match against Attical but made up for this defeat by gaining a massive victory over Glassdrumman with a score of 18-14 to 0-2. This was followed up by a defeat at the hands of Ballymartin and a draw with Longstone, but a very good team performance against Clonduff resulted in a 10-9 victory to a 0-0 score. This was followed by a reversal of a first round defeat by Attical with an impressive win. In the first round of the South Down Championship, Kilcoo surprised everyone by beating a highly fancied Warrenpoint side, but fell to Ballymartin in the quarter final after a very impressive display. Their success continued to the semi final of the League when they bowed out after being defeated by Shamrocks with a score of 0-10 to 0-5. On a more optimistic note, however, the Kilcoo U-14 team was proud to win the Gary Murray Memorial Trophy at Clonduff, beating Mayobridge in the final.

The U-16 team opened their League programme with defeats by Longstone and Ballymartin. However, after a good win over Annaclone in the first round of the Championship, they were beaten by a bigger and stronger Mitchels team. At this stage a challenge match was arranged against the Cooley Kickhams in County Louth and this provided an opportunity for the mentors to assess the standard of underage football. An interesting fact at that stage was that Cooley pitch was one of the largest in the country and this contributed to our defeat as our lads ran out of steam in the last ten minutes.