Knockbride didn't have the use of their playing facilities in 2004 and the inconvenience seemed to affect their performances, with the east Cavan outfit surrendering their Division One status and slumping to a relegation play-off in the senior championship. However, their £300,000 development is taking shape and the new-look St Brigid's Park will be ready for use this summer, when normal business is expected to resume… For a number of reasons, Knockbride didn't do themselves justice in 2004. They were relegated out of the top-flight in the league and also flirted with demotion from the senior championship, before comfortably seeing off Ramor United in a one-sided play-off. While that result was a welcome relief in an otherwise trying season, it wasn't sufficient to mask the disappointment of an unsatisfactory year on the field of play. Or should that be 'fields' of play? Thing is, Knockbride suffered a somewhat nomadic existence in '04. Ongoing developments on their grounds rendered St Brigid's Park a no-go zone (for both training and playing purposes) and left the Green and Reds depending on the hospitality of other clubs. Kingscourt, Bailieboro and Cootehill all obliged, offering the use of their facilities for Knockbride's home league games. It was a gesture that was greatly appreciated. Knockbride were also under strength for the league, due to the frequent unavailability of their intercounty contingent. The end result of all the instability was that they managed only two wins from 13 outings, finishing second from bottom of the Division One table and slipping down to Division Two. They also diced with disaster in the premier competition, but this time they held on to salvage a sliver of contentment from the season and leave themselves in a fairly decent position with the new season imminent. Club chairman Noel Rogers doesn't attempt to hide his disappointment when asked to cast his mind back over the on-field events of 2004. Demotion to Division Two was a blow and there's no pretending otherwise: "We stayed in senior ranks in the end but went down to Division Two in the league, which was very disappointing. We only went up in '99 and it was disappointing to go back down again so soon. We'll be aiming to go back up again as a matter of priority in 2005." It became apparent from an early stage that Knockbride were up against it, as the club chairman relates: "We always work off a small panel of players at the best of times, but two lads went to Australia and Peter Reilly was only coming back from injury, so a number of things didn't work out for us. We knew we were in trouble by the middle of the year. Things just never got going. In the end, considering how things could have ended up, we were happy enough to stay up in the senior championship." Though they'll take part in the SFC again in 2005, playing in the lower division will be a definite disadvantage. Noel bemoans: "We were very disappointed to slip in the league because it's important to be playing against the top sides. You can only learn from playing against the Cavan Gaels and Gownas. When you're playing those teams week in, week out, it's a big help for the championship. We're in Division Two now and, with no disrespect to the other teams in there with us, it's going to be a big step-up for the championship in May. It's vital that we get back up to Division One as quickly as possible." Despite the setbacks of 2004, Knockbride remain confident that they can make an impact in the coming months. They're back on their home patch and raring to go. "We feel that without doubt we can make our mark this year," says Noel. "We have brought in Fintan Cahill as manager/trainer and there's a good buzz about the place. We started training on February 1 and there was a great turn-out. Everyone's optimistic and looking forward to the new season. "We're delighted to have got Fintan on board. It's his first management job and I'm sure he wants to get his managerial career off to the best possible start. We like to think he chose his club carefully. He picked Knockbride because he believes we have a lot of potential. There were a number of clubs chasing him and it's a great vote of confidence that he chose us. He obviously saw something he likes in Knockbride and hopefully we can repay his confidence. "John Tierney is also home from America and that's another huge boost. With Peter and Larry [Reilly] also available, there's huge potential. Hopefully we can get back up to Division One and then take it from there." Of course, that's not to say Knockbride won't be giving the SFC their best shot in '05. The chairman notes: "We'll do our best. Everybody knows the Gaels are going to be hard stopped. They won something like seven cups last year and it's going to be difficult for the rest to catch them. But we feel that with a full squad we can give any team in the county a run for their money." Indeed, Knockbride made an encouraging start in the 2004 county championship, opening their account with a 0-15 to 0-13 defeat of Kingscourt. Unfortunately, defeats followed against Crosserlough, Bailieboro, Belturbet, and Cavan Gaels, consigning the east county men to the relegation play-offs. In the relegation semi-final, they coasted past Ramor, 0-14 to 0-8. "We made a great start against Kingscourt but things went downhill from there. We had a close game with Crosserlough but were well beaten by Bailieboro and that game knocked the stuffing out of us. We were a bit concerned going into the play-off but we played well against Ramor and had no problems at all on the day. It was a relief to survive, but that doesn't alter the fact that we're very upset with ourselves for getting relegated in the league. "Two wins in the league isn't good enough, but playing all our games away from home didn't help our prospects and playing so many games without our three best players is a nightmare. But things are looking better now. We also have Shane Reilly back after two cruciate injuries and things like that will help us along the way." Major developments are afoot at St Brigid's Park. The club purchased additional land adjacent to its traditional home ground and has embarked on an ambitious £300,000 development to include a new pitch (beside the old one), floodlights and a training pitch (to replace the old one). A huge fundraising drive is underway. A successful Poker Classic on Sunday January 30 produced a £20,000 profit and a Golf Classic is also due to be held later in the year. "We didn't even have anywhere to train last year. But we're hoping to play 90% of our home games at St Brigid's Park this year and are also aiming for an official opening sometime this summer, if possible." The new development represents a notable personal achievement for Noel Rogers. Upon taking up the chairmanship four years ago, he immediately identified the pitch as an area that needed to be addressed urgently. Years of hard work later, the project is finally coming to fruition. "It gives us a better base to work from," he states. "We want to stay senior and get back up to Division One. We've been very successful from U10 to U14 level for the past three or four years. A lot of work has been put into those teams and they've won every competition available to them. We want to stay senior for those lads, to give them senior football to aim for. "This year, we're hoping to take things a step closer than we have in the past. We moved from junior to senior football fairly quickly but have yet to make a big impression in the senior championship. Maybe we can get to the closing stages of the senior championship for the first time, and anything can happen after that…" 2004 - A good year for Knockbride Youngsters. Knockbride boys enjoyed another successful year in 2004 by retaining the U-13 Roinn-D championship and adding the U-14 championship to it for good measure. The year began well with some sound league performances at both U-12 and U-14 level, but alas both teams exited at the semi-final stage. However, the disappointment did not last long and the groundwork laid down in their league games was to provide a good platform for the upcoming championships. The opening game of the U-13's was against a strong Drumalee side that at one stage had a nine-point advantage over Knockbride, but with a rub of the green and some opportunistic scores in the last quarter they snatched a two point victory. Wins over Kill and Cornafean followed, leading to a repeat of the 2003 final against Munterconnaught, which was a very close contest with only a kick of the ball between the teams, however this was nothing compared with what was to come. The final in Breffni Park was a hectic seesaw battle ending in a draw with the score 4-07 each and Knockbride grabbing the equaliser in injury time. The replay that followed was a far more cautious affair with scores hard got and the goals soundly protected. This was quite evident in the half time score of 0-4 to 0-2 in favour of Munterconnaught. In the second half they had to fight hard to stay in front as Knockbride edged their way back and they levelled it at 0-5 each after ten minutes. An exchange of points left it at 0-6 each and as the game progressed the green and reds went into a two-point lead. As the game drew to a close the unthinkable happened, Munterconnaught broke up field to score the first goal and put them into a one-point lead going into injury time. Once again our young lads had to grab a late equaliser to put the game to extra time. A penalty early in extra time, followed by three more goals along with well-taken points set Knockbride on their way to victory, but it was very tough luck on the losers after such a gallant display. The first round game of the U-14's pitted us against Killygarry and after a league semi final defeat to them earlier, in which the score line did not do us justice we had a lot to prove. An opportune pep talk in the pre match dressing room proved to be the key, we turned a heavy defeat into a four-point victory and set off on another championship run. Butlersbridge were our next opponents and a win there gave us a semi final meeting with Cornafean in Virginia. Another final beckoned and the lads needed no reminding of their pep talk back on the first day, and they produced the goods to get to another decider Once again we were against the blue and white of Munterconnaught and the venue this time was Lavey. A blustery day did not help matters and left scoring difficult. Knockbride with the aid of a strong wind got the better start and notched up a first half score of 1-07 while holding their opponents to just one goal. Munterconnaught began the second half well but were guilty of poor shooting and with Knockbride defending firmly, matching their opponents in the points scoring throughout the second half, their lead did not seem likely to slip, however they did concede another goal late on to leave the final score 1-13 to 2-05 and another cup to take home. The teams can feel very proud of their achievements taking into account the lack of a home pitch due to development work. On that note, some thanks are due, firstly to the Community school in Bailieboro for generously giving the use of their grounds for training and secondly to all the players parents for their help and support throughout the year. Thanks too to our sponsor Downtown Hair Studio and to The Bridge Tavern for the after final meals. Tweet

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