Over the past number of years, Na Piarsaigh have established themselves as one of the leading contenders in the Intermediate grade. Although they have come agonisingly close on a number of occasions to winning promotion in both the league and championship, the Rock Road club have yet to make the breakthrough. By Eunan Whyte.

In two successive seasons they lost out in the Intermediate Championship Final by a single point, while in three of the last four years they have been runners-up in the Division 2 League. Unfortunately their efforts have not been rewarded and they remain in the middle grade for 2011.
While many teams would have failed to recover from such disappointments, Na Piarsaigh continue to bounce back and retain the belief that they will reach the top flight for the first time in their history.
One of their leading players over recent years, Alan McCartney, reveals that it was difficult to overcome the disappointment of coming within a kick of a ball of winning the Intermediate title in 2009. However, when it came to the start of the new season the squad assembled with a determination to set the record straight.
That determination was obvious throughout the year as Na Piarsaigh once again proved to be among the top clubs in the grade, but despite their best efforts, they failed to get across the finishing line.
For Alan and his colleagues, it was another disappointing end to a season that started out with lofty ambitions.
"It was difficult to lose a championship final by a single point for a second successive year, but when January came around again we were determined to give it our best shot. Our aim was to try to get promoted in both league and championship and we were optimistic that we had the ability to achieve that.
"Every team wants to win the championship but winning the league is just as important for the future of the club. Going up to Division 1 would be great for Na Piarsaigh as you would be guaranteed 11 games against to top sides so would improve you as a team," explained Alan.
"We put in a lot of good performances in the league but were pipped for top spot by a very good Dreadnots side. When we look back we will be kicking ourselves that we lost to St Marys in a game where we had a good lead at the break. In the end that defeat was crucial but in this league there is only a small margin of error," he added.
Finishing second meant that the Dundalk side faced a difficult challenge to win promotion through the play-offs which ultimately ended in failure when they lost to Oliver Plunketts in the semi-final.
Although Alan admits that his team did not perform to their best on the day, he feels disappointed that the system did not reward the team who had finished higher in the league.
"Last year the team who finished second in the league only had to play-off against the second from bottom team in Division 1, but this year there were five teams involved in the play-off. It is a lot to expect a team to play three championship-type games at this stage of the season.
"Even if they had given home advantage to the teams who finish higher in the league it would be some reward, but just to have an open draw is a bit harsh on a team who finishes second," added Alan.
The draw wasn't kind to Na Piarsaigh as they had to make the trip to face the Oliver Plunketts and it was the Drogheda side who came out on top in the process put an end to the Rock Road outfit's season.
"It definitely was a disappointing way to end the year and despite us playing well in many games, it feels like a bad season when you don't have a trophy to show for it."
Although Alan is not a fan of the league play-off system, he does feel that new championship format was a big hit this year, particularly with his team involved in the all-Dundalk group with Sean O'Mahonys and Clan na Gael.

"I think it was much better this year as over the past few years you could afford to lose one or two games and still qualify for the knock-out stages, but this year the pressure was on all the time.
"It felt more like the old championship with every game a must-win and bigger crowds turning up. Our group proved how exciting it can be and after three very close games we were lucky to go through.
"Unfortunately we didn't get past the O'Connells in the quarter-final but the Intermediate Championship is full of very good teams and it is hard to win," continued Alan.
Despite failing to achieve their goals this year, McCartney believes there is a lot more in the team and is looking forward to giving it another big effort in 2011.
"I think over the last couple of years we have proved ourselves to be good enough to play at a higher level. We have been there or thereabouts but now the challenge is to push on.
"Although it can be difficult to come so close over so many years, you have to remind yourself that it is not a bad place to be. The fact is that we are winning more games than we are losing and there is a thin line between success and failure. The fact is that just one or two games are costing us on the league while in the championship over the past two years we were unfortunate to lose by a point.
"Even this year we did well to get out of a difficult group in the championship and felt we should have beaten the O'Connells in the quarter-final but lost a good lead in the closing stages.
"I know some people are critical and say that we choked on the big day but we have proven that we have the character to keep coming back and hopefully we will get our reward.
"I think the team is getting stronger and it is noticeable that our squad is getting bigger as now we have five or six subs who could easily be in the first 15, whereas before we might only have had two or three.
"There are a lot of young lads coming through such as Chris Cotter and Gary O'Hare and with a good underage set up it would be great if we could get two or three more for next season which would give us a great lift," he added. 
 
 
 
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