A season to remember for Malachi's
December 30, 2010The players set out with two clear goals for the 2010 campaign, with the focus firmly set on making a serious challenge to win promotion to Division 1 and also retaining their hard-fought senior status.
As the season was approaching its conclusion, the Malachis were very much in the shake-up to secure top flight league football for 2011 after a very consistent display in Division 2.
Meanwhile the other half of their target - staying in the Senior Championship - had already been secured after a play-off saga that will be remembered for a long time as one of the talking points of this season.
It was only after a second replay against St Brides in the championship relegation play-off semi-final that Naomh Malachi secured their Senior status for another year.
Reflecting on that drama, club Secretary, Fra McArdle feels that the result not only provided great relief for the side but also set them up for the vital last games of the league season as they set their sights on winning promotion in what has been a very satisfactory year for the Courtbane men.
"I think after playing three games and going to extra time twice, everybody will remember our games with St Brides this year. I suppose it felt a bit like the Dublin and Meath saga of 1991 and there were times you felt it was never going to end.
"However, I think given the way we performed over the year in the league and our display against Newtown Blues in the group stages that we deserved to stay in the Senior Championship.
"That was our aim at the start of the year but at the outset it wasn't made easy for us as we were drawn against two of the favourites, Newtown Blues and Mattock Rangers.
"The first game against Mattock was very disappointing from our point of view as we just never got going on the day but it must also be remembered that Mattock were very impressive in that match", explained Fra.
For Naomh Malachi the manner of the defeat hurt more that losing a game and they faced a real test of character against Newtown Blues in the next outing. With many people predicting a comfortable win for the Drogheda men, the Mals responded in typical fashion with one of their best displays of the year in a game they really should have won.
"There is no doubt that we redeemed ourselves against the Blues and to be honest, I still don't know how we lost that game. We were leading all the way and looked certain to win but maybe we lacked that bit of composure near the end and they came back to steal victory. However, on the positive side, the performance showed what we could do and it gave us great heart for the games ahead."
Given the testing matches that were to follow, the confidence gained from that display certainly stood to the Malachis as they faced Division 1 side, St Brides, in the relegation play-off which turned out to be a very dramatic series of games.
"The three games against the Brides were very tough and there was little between us throughout. I think in the first two games we played better and had the chances to win, but just couldn't take them. Strangely enough, the Brides seemed to have the better of the third match for long periods but we got control and came through in the end.
"After two games going to extra time it was hard on the players but I think in the end we just wanted it a bit more. It was a great feeling to come out on top was probably hard for the Brides to lift themselves for the next game, but from our point of view it really gave us a boost for the remainder of the season.
"It was coming up to a crucial time in the league and the fact that we had been training hard for the championship play-off really stood to us as we consolidated our position in the top five," continued the secretary.
Again, the belief in Courtbane was that the Malachis were worthy of their place in the league play-off as they had performed very well over the course of the campaign, despite not having their full squad available.
"We were very consistent over the year and didn't lose too many games which was great because we had a lot of injuries such as those suffered by Stephen Burns and Stephen Smith, while Brian and Kevin Rogers were in America for much of the summer.
"When you have a small panel to pick from it is not easy to lose players like that so I think overall we did well to be challenging near the top of the table.
"There was also the fact that a number of the more established players from the last few years such as Feidhlim Daly, Micheal Daly, myself and Sean Gogarty were no longer playing so it was satisfying for the club to achieve what we did," added Fra.
Although he admits that there isn't an abundance of talent coming through from the underage ranks, Fra explains that those who have graduated to senior football are very committed to the cause and that augurs well for the future. With a relatively young team at present, he feels that they have the talent to compete in the top flight.
"I believe the players we have would be able to hold their own in Division 1 and it would certainly help improve the team to be competing at that level. We have a good bit of experience from Intermediate Finals and if we could avoid injuries and keep the panel together we would be able to give it a good go."
Off the field of play, Fra reveals that it has been a very good year for the club as a relatively young committee have gone about continuing the good work of recent years, while also looking to build for the future.
"I think the club is going very well at the moment and the committee that was elected at the start of the year is quite young with most in their 20s or 30s, so there are a lot of fresh ideas.
"We have developed the training area with a new surface and lights which adds to the great facilities we have. The good thing about it was that all the work was voluntary so there was a good community aspect to it also.
"We are also looking to continue to make progress on the field of play in the future and in that regard we are putting in a big effort at underage level. We don't have a lot in the U-12 to U-16 age group so we have been working hard to develop the younger age groups to ensure we have a steady supply of players for the future," explained Fra. Tweet
