It is the nature of football that expectations can change dramatically over the course of a season and for Oliver Plunketts 2009 was one of those up-and-down years when they had to change their focus to adjust to circumstances. By Eunan Whyte.

The famous Drogheda club began the year with serious aspirations of moving up from the Intermediate ranks, but at the end of the year were mighty relieved to have merely retained their status for another campaign.
Having reached the last four of the championship in 2008, the Plunketts had their sights on ultimate glory this time around. Those hopes appeared justified after a bright start to the season, but after a very disappointing championship they just avoided the dreaded drop to Junior football after winning a play-off against neighbours, St Nicholas.
That result may have seen the Plunketts end the season on somewhat of a high, but according to team manager, Robbie Brady, it was not the conclusion they had been planning back in January.
A native of Dublin, Robbie has been involved with the club for a number of years and at the start of the season made the step from being a member of the management team to taking over as manager. He explains that from the outset, his aim was to win a place in Senior football.
"At the beginning our aim was simply to win the Intermediate Championship and we thought we had a good chance after reaching the semi-final in 2008. Our hope was to build on that form and with a number of minors players coming through we felt we would be in a stronger position to challenge this time around."
There was little to suggest from the performances in the early part of the year that those hopes weren't within reach as the team put in some good displays in reaching the semi-final of the subsidiary league before making a bright opening in the Division 2 League.
Brady's side began by defeating St Mary's in the first league outing and followed up with another good display when accounting for the Clans, and at that point of the campaign the signs were very encouraging.
The next game was against fellow pace-setters, O'Connells, but despite going into that encounter full of confidence, Plunketts lost narrowly and according to the manager, that seemed to signal a decline in the team's fortunes.
"It was looking good for us early on after those victories but I suppose the game against O'Connells was a real crunch match. Unfortunately we lost that by a point and it was always a struggle after that. O'Connells went unbeaten for the whole season and never looked like losing so effectively we were out of contention. Even though we lost only three league games over the season, we weren't in a position to challenge which was a blow to us," explained Robbie.
Despite that disappointment, Robbie felt there was enough promise in the performances to give him encouragement ahead of the championship.
Despite facing the prospect of a difficult opening against St Joseph's, the manager was expecting to be in the shake-up for the knock-out stages.
"Looking at the group beforehand, I felt that St Josephs would be one of the toughest games because they were on top of Division 1 at that stage. I thought we played well that night and were in the game right to the end but ended up losing by a point. Unfortunately, after that we really struggled but I believe if we had come out of that game with something it would have been different."
Brady explained that the team's hopes were also hampered by the loss of a number of key players.
"Our situation wasn't helped by losing players through injury with the likes of team captain, Davy Boylan, and Cian Matthews out which represented big blows for us. We also lost John Kermath and Collie O'Hanlon to emigration and although John returned for games, he wasn't able to train with the team," added Robbie who feels that emigration is going to be a growing problem for many clubs in the near future.
The Drogheda men hoped to get back on track but were surprisingly beaten by Young Irelands on a scoreline of 2-11 to 2-3 in a disappointing display.
After losing to O Raghallaigh in the next round the Plunketts had their quarter-final hopes ended and defeats against Clan na Gael and Naomh Malachi saw them finish bottom of the table.
However, in the relegation play-off against St Nicholas, Oliver Plunketts were able to but that poor form behind them and claim a victory that Robbie believes was vital for the future of the club.
'Despite our championship form, we were optimistic going into that game as we had played well in a few challenges and it was obvious from our league display against Roche that our form was returning.
"Thankfully the Nicks game did go well for us and although it was close up until the last ten minutes, I always felt we were going to win it.
"It was a big thing for us to avoid going down to Junior football as that would have been a very big setback for the club. Everyone knows that it is a very tough grade of football and with some good teams there, it can be very difficult to get back out."
With a relatively young team and some good under-age prospects coming through such as Darragh Matthews and Karl Tuite who starred in the game against the Nicks, Robbie feels it was essential to have stayed up this season.
"Overall it was a very disappointing year given the targets we had but we realise it could have been so much worse. To have gone down to Junior would have been a disaster as we have a lot of young lads coming through and it is important that we stayed in Intermediate because I believe we will be in a position to challenge for Senior football."
He is hoping that will happen sooner rather than later and believes that despite this season's disappointments, the club will be aiming high once again come January.
"Regardless of who is in charge next season, the target for the Oliver Plunketts will be to be playing Senior football in 2011 and I really believe the squad is there to achieve that aim.
"Our average age this year was about 23 but when they get a bit more experienced and the younger lads establish themselves, I know we really have something to build on, and the important thing is that they can continue that learning process in Intermediate rather than Junior football."
For Robbie and all at Oliver Plunketts the hope is that next year the team is facing another game to decide on their status, but this time it will involve a championship final and the step up to Senior football. Tweet

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