Article that appeared in the community council magazine, December 2002

After the highs of the 2001 season with winning the Division 3 league title and Intermediate championship the clubs prime aim was to establish itself at the higher competition levels in 2002. After a brief winter break the Senior team were back in action in the Ulster Intermediate Club competition organised by the Clontibret club in Co. Monaghan. The Cavan champions took on the Donegal champions but on the day the Donegal outfit were the stronger. In the opening round of the revamped ACFL Division 2, Castlerahan took on local rivals Denn and came out on top in an entertaining game. The league ran off at a hectic pace from mid March to the beginning of July with the club playing 13 games, winning 9 games with notable victories over Lacken, Killinkere and Ballinagh and loosing 4 matches. In the quarter final they defeated Drumlane and but fell to Ballyhaise in the semi-final.

After the celebrations from last year died down, all club members, supporters and especially players looked forward to the chance of playing in the long hot days of summer, in the Senior Championship for the first time. When the draw for the round robin stages of the championship was made the club faced a baptism of fire with an opening game against the then county champions Cavan Gaels, with the other group members being Knockbride and Kingscourt. Just like the summer weather things didn't go to plan on the first outing in Kingspan Breffni Park with the team going down to Cavan Gaels. Next up were Knockbride at the same venue but the experience of the Knockbride county players saw them through. The team sensing the knockout stages of the championship slipping away from them put in a very credible performance against Kingscourt but lost narrowly.

Attention then turned to the relegation playoff section where another round robin league got underway to see which team faced the drop back to the Intermediate competition for next year. Castlerahan defeated Lacken, Killinkere and Ballymachugh and went down to neighbours Crosserlough and Ramor United. By virtue of scoring average the team qualified for the Plate final and were defeated by Lacken by a single point after extra time.  The prime goal for the season has been achieved with consolidation in the Senior Championship and the team looking forward to playing Division 1 football next year. After loosing a number of key players at the end of last season, through the year some new faces have emerged to claim their places and grow in confidence as the year progressed. It is hoped that this progress will continue next year.

The Reserve team operated out of the Reserve League Division 3 East and so far have remained undefeated with one remaining game to play, the league final. In the Championship the team won through to the semi-final but were defeated by a much stronger Arva team on the evening.

At under age level highlight of the year was the U-15 squad winning the Feile na nÓg county competition and then going on to represent Cavan in Ulster but, to loose narrowly in the Ulster Final. The U-10 and U-11 squads continue to develop and were successful in a number of local tournaments. The U-12's made progress by reaching the semi-final of the Roinn A league and were beaten by a 1 point margin. At U-16 grade the team qualified through to the championship semi-final.

In total the club had 6 representatives in various Ulster finals throughout the year. In the Ulster Junior Inter county Ladies competition Ciara O'Reilly and Onida McBride represented Cavan and were narrowly defeated by Donegal in the final. At U-21 level Sean Brady and Alan Mulvey played with Cavan through the campaign to reach an Ulster final, in which the team ran Tyrone close in the final. In the other GAA code, locals Niall Daly and Michael Higgins represented Cavan at U-16 to win a special Ulster competition for developing counties. Another notable achievement for the club was Sean Brady captaining the county minor team for 2002.

The club moved into the technology age with the setting up of its own web site aimed at keeping all members near and far up to date on club activities. A weekly club news email is also circulated to those on-line. More details on www.castlerahangfc.com.

The club held their inaugural Golf Classic at Crover House in May. Although the weather on the weekend didn't turn out as expected the event was a great success and the club is looking forward to building on this for next year. Other highlights include the successful running of the Fay tournament sponsored by Reasons with Ballymachugh winning outright. The new electronic scoreboard sponsored by Jimmy Smith , Butcher was also erected and unveiled. The new drainage program is well under way which will help improve the playing facilities for next year.

The club would like to thank all those who supported them in fundraising efforts throughout the year via the Blotto, Bingo, 50/50 draw, Race Night, signs sponsorship, jersies sponsorship and any contributions in general. Without this continued support the club could not continue to grow and develop as is has in the last number of years.

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