A cursory glance at Naomh Fionnbarra's 2005 results would suggest that the Togher men are in rapid decline. But this is not the case. To the contrary, the mood in the camp is extremely upbeat as the Green & Golds face into the challenges of a new season. There were mitigating circumstances for the blip witnessed in '05 and the Finbarrs are capable of bouncing back in style in 2006. Naomh Fionnbarra's lowly finish in Division 2A in 2005 culminated in relegation to Division 2B of the all-county league. This was an anomaly. The results the club achieved in both league and championship during the year gone by did not in any way give an accurate reflection of the present state of play in Togher. Shorn of a core of key players, Naomh Fionnbarra were always going to struggle - but expect to see them right back on course in 2006! The Togher outfit had reached the semi-final stage of the previous year's IFC (losing to eventual winners Dreadnots) and outsiders might have expected them to push for promotion once more in '05. However, realistically this was never going to be the case. The team was severely depleted for most of the season and it quickly became apparent that it would be a difficult campaign. The year developed into something of a slog and the Finbarrs didn't win a game in either league or championship until their final Division 2A outing against Dundalk Gaels. Despite the poor run of results, optimism abounded at the club's AGM on Thursday November 24. The absenteeism meant that new blood had been introduced in '05 and these young lads acquitted themselves exceptionally well. Next term, the team will be much stronger for the experience. Punching well below their weight and with a full complement at their disposal, Naomh Fionnbarra will rank amongst the favourites to win the Division 2B title. Crucially, they haven't surrendered their intermediate status and remain capable of a big performance in the championship. They could be knocking on the door of senior football come next autumn. The disappointments of 2005 would be quickly forgotten. The bottom line is that no-one's dwelling on the '05 results. With so many key men missing, the team was always likely to struggle - and so it transpired. John Doyle (who was injured in any case) and Nigel Shevlin were in the States, Mark Devlin missed most of the year after injuring an ankle at work, Brendan Healy retired and Keith Woods transferred. Could any club in the county cope with five first-team players suddenly unavailable? John, Nigel and Mark should all be back in the fray in 2006 and will prove a huge addition, while the youngsters blooded this year will undoubtedly blossom even further in the months and years to come. Thus, the outlook is understandably positive. Ironically, despite the blow of relegation, the future looks bright. With an abundance of emerging youth in the club as well as a good core of experience and some crucial men on the comeback trial, the future looks assured for the Togher outfit. A dramatic reversal of fortunes is inevitable, according to team stalwart Stephen Devlin, who battled away in the face of adversity in 2005. Stephen has been a mainstay of the team since the early '90s and concedes that at times in '05 the relentless defeats were somewhat disheartening. However, he is adamant that a tough year was always likely under the circumstances and that Naomh Fionnbarra probably gained as much ground as they lost. They'll still fancy their chances in the 2006 intermediate championship. And why not? "We never expected to set the world on fire this year," Stephen admits. "We were missing two big players in Nigel Shevlin and John Doyle, who were in America for the first four months of the year. By the time we got them back, we were already relegated. We won our last league game against Dundalk Gaels but up until then our results were poor. It's difficult when you're missing important players." There's not much sleep being lost round Togher way these days, though. A confidence and determination exists that the club will be back with a vengeance: "We should be strong again next year and we should be good enough to get back up to Division 2A. We're not panicking just yet. With players back and young lads coming through, we have a much better chance of doing ourselves justice. I believe the young lads coming through can do a great job. "They rose to the challenge in 2005. We had four minors on the intermediate team all year and that experience will have done them no harm whatsoever. We're not that upset over the way things worked out this year because we know there's a massive improvement in the team and I think we'll see a totally different Naomh Fionnbarra in 2006." The Finbarrs were in Group B of the 2005 IFC. They had a Bye in Round One but lost their opener by 1-11 to 0-10 to St Fechins at Dunleer on June 17. Despite a rousing third-quarter revival, Togher also lost their second championship outing - by the narrowest margin, 0-13 to 1-9 against Dundalk Gaels in Dromiskin on July 10. A third successive defeat to champions-elect Geraldines at Castlebellingham meant that Naomh Fionnbarra's 2005 championship goose was effectively cooked. In Division 2A of the league, they never got going at all, losing eleven of their twelve matches and finishing adrift at the foot of the table. Thus, Division 2B fare beckons for the forthcoming season. Reflecting on the procession of defeats in 2005, Stephen notes: "Of course it was hard to keep it going at times and it wasn't easy to keep players motivated when we were losing week in, week out but we knew when Nigel and John left and Brendan Healy retired that it was going to be a difficult year. It was obvious after the first few games that we were in for a trying year. Even though the younger players did well, they need the older lads there to give a bit of guidance. There's no real harm done, though, and I'm confident that we can go straight back up again "We have players coming back and good young talent coming through as well, so we're in good shape." Thirty-two-year-old Stephen was one of the team's most consistent performers throughout 2005. But then that's been the case for quite a while - he's been a regular since he was 17 and is veteran of four intermediate finals (six including replays). Sean O'Mahonys beat Naomh Fionnbarra after a replay in the 1992 IFC decider and the Togher men also lost the 1996 and '97 finals to Young Irelands and Roche Emmets respectively. They won the Division Two league crown in '97, however, and gained promotion to senior ranks for two years. They came back up again for another year by finally winning an IFC decider - against Sean McDermotts after a replay in 2001. Alas, the club has tended to occupy a shadowy area on the periphery of intermediate and senior fare for over a decade and Stephen in confident that they're still much closer to senior than junior ranks: "Even though we're in Division 2B, we can still challenge for intermediate honours. Our target is still to go senior. That won't change. We've had a bad year but, with the right attitude and commitment, we can put that behind us. "Long term, with the talent we have in Togher now, we can go senior and stay there. We're going to keep it going." Mark Devlin, Thomas Butterly and John McEntaggart looked after team affairs in '05. They did their best under testing conditions and received a crumb of consolation when the Finbarrs closed their account with a good win over Dundalk Gaels. Indeed, two performances against the Gaels probably ranked as the high points of 2005 for Naomh Fionnbarra, as Stephen Devlin explains: "We had only fourteen players starting our final league game against the Gaels and another lad turned up at half time, so it was a good win. But that shows how difficult a year it was, numbers-wise. In the championship game against the Gaels, we got a roasting from management at half time and came out raring to go. We fought back and took the lead in the second half. We ended up losing by a point but it could have been a real turning point for us if we'd won. "A lot of our young lads came of age that day. They showed what they are capable of. I think we're going to see a huge improvement next year." Expect the slide to be reversed big time in 2006. Our Year Naomh Fionnbarra have had their worst year on the playing field for some time. While they are still in the Intermediate grade after being relegated from Division 2A next year will be a year that will see the club trying to build on the youth that is coming through the ranks and hopefully gain promotion. The past year was not helped by the fact that John Doyle was out with cruciate ligament damage sustained in 2004, the temporay loss of Nigel Shevlin, who was in the States as part of his studies,and Mark Devlin, who also sustained a serious injury at work, also missed a large chunk of the season. Brendan Healy also retired this year, so that coupled with the loss of the other injured players contributed in no small way to where we find ourselves at present. However, the future looks bright with some exceptional players coming through and no doubt Naomh Fionnbarra will bounce back from what was undoubetedly a wake up call in 2005. Naomh Fionnbarra would like to thank all who helped out in any way over the year, particularly the management of both teams and of course anyone who contributed financially, especially our main sponsors King Coal who have been involved for the past number of years. The club would also like to congratulate Liam O'Neill who refereed the minor final in 2005, which was the first major appointment to come to the club in a long while. We also wish the new Louth manager all the best into the future, and all going well we will have Darver up and running to help him in his endeavours to bring much awaited success to the county. - Courtesy of Naomh Fionnbarra GAC Tweet

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