Pats vow to bounce back
December 30, 2009On three occasions since 2003, when they lifted they Joe Ward Cup for the first time, the Lordship side have fulfilled their potential by becoming senior champions. However, there is a feeling among many in the county that St Pat's have missed opportunities to add to that impressive tally.
Most notably there was the final in 2006 when they suffered a surprise defeat at the hands of St Joseph's, while there were a number of other years when they appeared to be in pole position to claim the title, but failed even to make it to the decider.
When reflecting on the 2009 season those involved with St Patrick's will feel that this year is another to fall into the 'missed opportunity' category. For much of the year they were certainly the team to beat but just when they appeared to have the Joe Ward within their grasp they suffered a disappointing defeat to eventual champions, Mattock Rangers in the semi-final.
The manner of that loss at St Brigid's Park made it particularly difficult to accept, and emerging defender, Darren O'Hanlon, is one players who would not argue with that view this season represents a golden opportunity missed.
For much of the year, things appeared to be going according to plan as the team were in impressive form in both league and championship, but things fell apart in the Championship semi-final when they suffered a bitterly disappointing defeat at the hands of Mattock Rangers.
That remains a bitter pill to swallow Darren and his colleagues who began the year determined to win back the title they had let slip from their grasp in 2008, as he explains.
"We had won the Joe Ward Cup in 2007 and were disappointed the way we lost it last year when we were beaten by St Bride's in the quarter-final. That was a disappointing way to go out but things just didn't go well for us on the day.
"As a result, we started off this year determined to put things right. Obviously, our main aim was to win the championship, but we also wanted to do better in the league than we had done in previous years."
With John 'Shorty' Treanor returning to coach the team and the club's county representatives all fit for the start of the year, Darren points out that confidence was high.
"We began the year with intention of making a big effort in the league to avoid the situation where we were battling to stay up coming to the end of the season. As a result, we got off to a good start in Division 1 and that gave us a good platform for the rest of the year and our confidence was up when the championship came around."
It looked even better for the peninsula side as, at the outset, the Senior Championship draw appeared to favour the Lordship men and, barring a complete collapse in form, they appeared certain to qualify for the knock-out stages.
That's how it transpired as the Pat's eased through the group with five wins on the bounce against Dundalk Gaels, St Mary's, Dreadnots, Kilkerley Emmets and Sean O'Mahonys. With only Dreadnots putting up any sort of resistance, the Lordship men had made it through to the last four without breaking sweat.
The only question mark hanging over the team was whether they would benefit from going into the knock-out stages relatively fresh, or if they would suffer from not being tested, and according to O'Hanlon, hindsight has proved that the relatively straightforward passage to the semi-final did his team few favours.
"We were always favourites to come out of the group on top and that is what happened in the end, but I feel that in the end this worked against us. We hadn't played any of the top teams throughout the summer and events show that we probably could have done with a tougher game before taking on Mattock in the semi-final.
"For their part, Mattock had played the likes of Newtown Blues, Cooley Kickhams and Glyde Rangers and that stood to them when it came to the big game", explained the former Louth minor player.
Despite not being properly tested before the semi-final, O'Hanlon knew his team had the ability to make it through to the final but in the end they had only themselves to blame.
"Naturally we were confident going into the Mattock game as we had won all five games up to that, didn't have any injury worries and felt we were playing well. However, despite playing well for long periods in the game we just didn't finish them off for some reason. We started really well and went 1-2 to no score ahead early on but allowed Mattock to come back into it.
"However, even in the second half we raised our game again and there were times that we didn't allow them out of their own half and although we got back in front, we didn't do enough to kill off the game."
Even at that, it looked as if St Patrick's would hang on for another final appearance only to be hit by a sucker-punch in the dying moments.
"For some reason a lot of the defence pushed forward in an attempt to get the crucial score and once Mattock broke we were exposed and couldn't get back to cover. They took their chance with the second goal but it was a real sickening blow for us because we knew we had lost the game ourselves", explained Darren.
For Darren and his colleagues, that defeat remains tough to take and he knows the only way to overcome it is by coming back next year with more determination and making sure they don't fall short in 2010.
Darren has the extra incentive in that he won a senior medal in 2007 as a sub and is keen to add to his collection by playing on the winning team next time around.
"This season is finished and there is nothing we can do about it now but there is no doubt that we will be looking to set the record straight next year. We still have an excellent squad and I believe there are a few more championships left in this team but it is up to ourselves to go out and do it. We have to learn from the hard lesson of this year and make sure we don't fall short next time around', he explained.
As has been the case for the past decade, St Patrick's will begin the 2010 campaign among the favourites for Joe Ward and Darren knows that nothing less than victory will help banish the disappointment of this year. Tweet
