It was a frustrating enough year for St Josephs, who failed to make an impression in either league or championship, but there was some silver lining for the Dromiskin/Darver club in 2005: Declan O'Sullivan appears to have put his injury hell behind him after coming through an entire season unscathed. The Joes celebrate the tenth anniversary of their breakthrough SFC success in '06. With their full complement available, they are capable of challenging for silverware. By Gerry Robinson St Josephs could be described as the enigma of senior football in Louth. Since blazing to their first county SFC in 1996, they have failed to reignite, never quite matching the intensity of the breakthrough season. They misfired once more in '05, with the knockout stage of the SFC again proving strangely elusive. Next year is the tenth anniversary of the Joes' sole Joe Ward Cup heist - perhaps they'll mark the occasion with the performance we all know them capable of. The Joes have a frightening abundance of talent at their disposal - Ollie McDonnell, Martin Farrelly, David Reilly, Stephen Melia and Declan O'Sullivan are the most obvious names that spring to mind, but they also have a solid core of dependable club players who can mix it with the best in the Wee County. On paper, the Dromiskin/Darver combo is a match for any other side in the county, so why are they struggling to reclaim Louth football's top honours? It's a bit of a mystery. Since bursting onto the club and county scene in the mid-nineties, Declan O'Sullivan has been plagued by injury. However, at last, the dependable half back enjoyed an injury-free season in 2005, featuring prominently in the No.6 jersey and giving everyone attached to the club a major boost with a succession of impressive displays. Declan also captained the team and is at a loss to explain where it all went wrong: "We are very disappointed with the way the championship went. We got together in mid-December for our initial team meeting and were back training the first week in January. Things were going well and we were confident that we could make a mark in the championship. "We played the Plunketts in our first game and lost by a point despite having 70% of the possession. We had 19 wides in that match and the defeat completely derailed us. It was a bitterly disappointing defeat and we never got back on track." The Group A opener was played in Castlebellingham on May 28 and the Joes made a confident start with three early points from Ollie McDonnell (2) and Martin Farrelly. But the newly-promoted side hit 1-3 without reply and, even though they were playing with strong wind advantage, the Joes went 20 first-half minutes without a score and needed points from Stephen Melia and Chris Maguire to close within the minimum by the short whistle. After falling four adrift shortly after the restart, the Joes rallied for most of the second half but they were unable to get back on terms and fell to a surprise 1-8 to 0-10 defeat. Round Two was against Clan na Gael at Ardee in mid-June. Both teams had lost their opener so only a win would realistically keep either side on track for the last eight. "We lost a two-point lead in the last two minutes and that left us depending on other scores and more or less out of it," Declan ruefully reflects. "You should never leave yourself in a position where you're waiting for results from elsewhere. Every team in the championship is hard to beat but we haven't got beyond the group stage for three years and that's not good enough." The 3-13 to 1-13 scoreline from the Clans/Joes game was completely misleading. The town side led by 1-8 to 0-5 at the interval but the Joes came back into contention purposefully after the break and had levelled by the 40th minute. When Ollie McDonnell found the back of the net it looked like there would only be one winner but Clans got a late goal from the penalty spot and added a further 1-2 in injury time. In their last group outing, St Josephs recorded a superb 3-8 to 2-7 victory over Kilkerley Emmets in Louth village, but it was too little too late as Clan na Gael's defeat of Oliver Plunketts meant that those two clubs progressed to the quarter-finals with four points apiece. Was it a group that the Joes felt they could get out of without too much difficulty? "All groups are difficult. Oliver Plunketts had a good year. They were the surprise packet and they beat us fair and square. The Clans are always hard to beat in the championship and so are Kilkerley, so we weren't expecting anything easy. Far from it, in fact. It's very competitive in Louth and it's a matter of training hard and trying to get yourself mentally right." In hindsight, has Declan any idea where the Joes went wrong in '05? "We're experiencing the same problems many other clubs are having. It's very hard to get lads out to train. There's a group of ten or twelve lads who are there every night, and another group of ten or twelve who can't make it for one reason or another, whether it's work commitments or college of whatever. A lot of clubs are in the same position and the length of the season certainly doesn't help. "We always approach every championship match with the same determination. We put in a huge effort all year but didn't make the most of possession in the first two games." The ironic thing is that St Josephs would probably take a lot of stopping if they could only get through to the knockouts. The 2005 captain agrees: "I personally feel that we're a very difficult team to beat. We've hardly lost any matches by more than two or three points in the past five years, so we're not that far away. A slight improvement could make a huge difference." Donal McKenna from Crossmaglen trained the team up until the championship but the arrangement didn't work out and a new management team of Jody McDonnell, Brendan Neary and Stephen Melia took over for the remainder of the year. "We're in transition at the moment," Declan notes. "We have a lot of the older lads from the '90s and we're blooding some younger lads. It's starting to balance out and if we get out of the group next year we'll be hard to stop." What's a realistic target for 2006? "We have some very good underage players coming up. The likes of Thomas and Cian Smith and Conor Murtagh have great potential, and they now have a year's more experience, so we have to integrate them into the team. We're happy that we managed to stay in Division 1A, even though we made hard work of it. Playing in the top division again will stand us in good stead. Our aim will be to consolidate in the league and get out of the group stage of the championship." How does the present lie of the land compare to 1996? "I think it has become more difficult to win a championship. Clubs have levelled out and there's a plateau of eight or nine teams who realistically have a chance of doing something. Cooley have been by far and way the most consistent team in the county over the past two or three years but they haven't managed to win a senior championship. I think that shows how hard it has become." Declan has endured a badly-disrupted career, including two dreaded cruciate ligament injuries. He was left half back in the 1996 county final triumph but never really got a good injury-free run again until 2005. He enjoyed a superlative campaign in '05 and is delighted to be back firing on all cylinders. He was thrilled to be asked to captain the club and admits he was happy with his personal form and fitness: "I was just delighted that I didn't suffer any injuries this year. It's the first time in a long time that I've been able to say that. I worked very hard. I made a conscious decision at the start of the year that I wouldn't miss training if at all possible and that stood to me. I was delighted to get the full year and I'm hoping that all the injury problems are finally behind me." What about county football? Declan's 2005 form suggests that he's more than capable of wearing the red jersey again. Does he still harbour ambitions of a dramatic return to the Louth set-up? "Of course I'd love to get back. It's every player's ambition to play for their county and I'm no different. It seems to be a young man's game, though, and even at 28, you're almost an old aged pensioner!" Tweet

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