Badly wanting that final place
December 30, 2009After a number of years when they failed to carry their undoubted potential into the championship, the Tallanstown men have finally made a major breakthrough by reaching the semi-finals in each of the last two seasons.
With a bit more luck on their side, Glyde could well have been challenging for their first senior title since 1934 but secretary Tommy Byrne feels his side are not that far away from their challenging for their first ever Joe Ward Cup.
"We're very happy with how the year panned out," he said.
"We've held our position in Division One of the league after being promoted last season and we were extremely unlucky not to be in a championship final.
"That's really the aim for us now because the last time this club won a senior title the Joe Ward Cup wasn't even around," he said.
Glyde's senior championship campaign got off to a losing start against eventual champions Mattock Rangers in Ardee when they lost out on a 1-9 to 2-5 scoreline in a game where a controversial Shane Grimes goal robbed them of the victory their performance deserved.
Mickey McConville's side bounced back in style, however, with a 0-12 to 0-9 win over Cooley Kickhams in Dowdallshill before drawing with the Newtown Blues in a controversial clash in Dromiskin in their next outing.
The Tallanstown men then beat neighbours St Brides by 1-11 to 0-9 in Louth Village to move into top spot in Group A going into the final round of matches.
However, they were fortunate to book their place in the latter stages after going down to Naomh Mairtin in their last group game on a 1-13 to 0-10 scoreline in Drogheda.
That left them as one of three teams, along with the Newtown Blues and the Mairtins, who were tied for third place on five points. However, their superior score difference seen them pip the two South Louth teams for a place in the quarter-finals.
It was an outcome that Byrne admitted was highly fortunate.
"We performed well enough in the group, I suppose, but the Mairtins beat us fair and square that night in Drogheda.
"They were probably the toughest team we played, in fact, but I don't think we really turned up that night either.
"I genuinely thought we were out when we lost to them and I couldn't believe it when I heard we were in the quarter-finals because the Mairtins had beaten both ourselves and the Blues but still didn't go through," he said.
Having survived that scare, Glyde advanced to a quarter-final clash with the Dundalk Gaels in Haggardstown but despite going into the match as hot favourites they were forced to settle for a 0-10 to 1-7 draw having gone into the match short as many as seven players.
The side were back to full strength for the replay a week later but, if anything, they got things even tougher as it took a 63rd minute free from Dean Matthews to take the game to extra-time.
Glyde were then forced to majorly ride their luck in extra-time before finally advancing to the semi-finals on a 1-12 to 0-13 scoreline, with the Gaels left to rue a massive 16 wides throughout.
Byrne admitted his side were lucky to come through two gruelling matches against the Gaels.
"They really put their heads down and gave it a good lash," he said.
"The Gaels are another side who don't really get the credit they deserve which is surprising because they always give us a tough game and no one really beats them easily.
"They probably should have taken us the first game when we were missing a good few players but they had their chances in the replay too and we definitely had to ride our luck at times," he said.
Having come through that game, Glyde were left facing a last four clash with a Cooley Kickhams side that were bang on form but whom they had beaten in their last three matches - two of them in the championship.
It was not to be on the day, however, as they paid the price for falling six points behind inside the opening quarter before losing out by 1-11 to 1-9.
Glyde certainly put the peninsula men to the test, however, taking an early second half lead and forcing two great saves from goalkeeper Neil Gallagher at the start and end of the game.
It's those fine margins that Byrne believes his side need to overcome to finally realise their dream of landing the Joe Ward.
"We've been there or thereabouts for the last two years now but we're probably just lacking what the likes of Collon have which is that they have more scoring forwards than anyone else in the county.
"We have only a couple and most teams tend to rely on the same few players for the bulk of their scores. If you can get scores from elsewhere though then it's a real bonus because anyone can have an off day.
"We're not far away though and it definitely helps that the likes of Dean Matthews is improving all the time.
"Last year Mattock beat us in a semi-final after their goalkeeper Mike Englishby pulled off a couple of great saves and it was the same this year with Neil Gallagher for Cooley.
"We just have to make that breakthrough though because it would be a big thing for us to get to a final.
"There's very few that remember 1934 around here and anyone that was involved back then has now passed away so we really need it.
"We have come a long way though in a short space of time.
"One of our biggest problems is that there are three clubs in the parish of Tallanstown and there's only one national school so we're all feeding out of that.
"It's not that long ago though that we were struggling to get out of junior and we lost something like three finals in-a-row so to be competing for the senior title now is some progress.
"Mickey McConville has really turned the club on its head since he came in and he's made us a much more professional outfit.
"It's also helped that we've had a number of players with the county in the past few years. It's a long time since we've had this many involved with Louth. It's certainly the most since about 1973 when we had three on the team that lost to Dublin.
"All those things help bring you on another bit and hopefully we'll keep moving in the right direction," he said.
Byrne's belief that the future is bright for Glyde is strengthened by the performance of their underage setup, Baile Talun.
"Our U-14s won the Division Two league and B Championship this year and we've five or six good lads on that which is all you want at any stage.
"The underage setup has worked well for us in the last few years and this year we had the likes of Cian Sheridan come in and play a few games for the senior team. He's a big, strong lad and a really good addition to the team.
"Of the panel that is there though, none of them are going to be hanging up their boots anytime soon because I think the oldest of them is about 31.
"One of our biggest problems at the moment is that we have no training pitch and it's becoming nearly essential for us to get one because when you're training on the main pitch the whole time it does cut up when the weather is bad.
"We run our Golf Classic every year and there's the club lotto, of course, but it can be hard to raise funds when you have so many in the one area trying to do the same.
"There's a good committee there though who are working hard to try and keep everything off the field up to scratch for the team.
"Hopefully they'll continue working hand in hand with us and give it their all on the field as well.
"We really want to make a senior final because it would be a great thing for us to get there and experience the occasion.
"We're in a similar situation to Collon in that we come from a small area but they've had big success in the past few years and hopefully we can too," said Byrne. Tweet
