Na Piarsaigh finished 2003 and started 2004 in magnificent style by capturing their first ever county U21 football championship. The historic breakthrough arrived courtesy of a thoroughly deserved 3-10 to 1-8 final defeat of Mattock/Hunterstown/Emmets at Cluskey Park on Sunday January 25. Midfielder and captain Ronan McCartney spoke to 'Wee County 2004' about the monumental victory. For some reason, the Louth U21 football championship has traditionally been afforded a very low profile. It's a pity, because the manner in which the competition is largely overlooked meant that Na Piarsaigh's superb 2003 under 21 championship victory (which actually took place in 2004) went almost unnoticed. But it was a meritorious and admirable achievement for the Dundalk club, who certainly started the '04 calendar year in stellar fashion. Not many clubs have new silverware in the cabinet less than four weeks into the year, yet that's exactly what Na Piarsaigh accomplished when they overcame the fancied south county amalgamation to plunder the 2003 county U21 championship in a deferred final that wasn't played until January 25 of the following year. That the final took place so late gives a fair indication of the lack of emphasis the County Board places on U21 football in Louth - but takes absolutely nothing away from Na Piarsaigh's wonderful victory. The Rock Road club claimed this competition against all the odds, finishing top of a pile that included amalgamations of senior clubs, and demonstrating that they have an abundance of exciting young talent on their hands at present. This was a remarkable success. As a club, Na Piarsaigh finished 2003 on a high, pulling off an amazing escape act to preserve their intermediate status. Junior champions in 2002 (and county minor finalists), they dug deep towards the end of the '03 campaign to force a relegation play-off against St Mochtas, which they won comfortably to stay up. Meanwhile, under the guidance of David Hearty, Mark Wynne, Sean McGee and Paul Smith, the club's under 21s were doing rather well and had qualified for the penultimate stage of the championship. And, even though there were six months between their semi-final and earlier defeats of the Brides and Oliver Plunketts, they defeated high-flying Dundalk Gaels after extra time on Sunday January 18 to book their place in the final a week later. The first round defeat of St Brides was no more than a distant memory by the time Na Piarsaigh took to the Dromiskin pitch for the final against the defending champions from Collon, Hunterstown and Tullyallen. The outcome, however, was exactly the same. After years of knocking on the door, Na Piarsaigh had finally landed an U21 title, much to the obvious delight of team mentor and club PRO David Hearty: "It was our first time to win it and it was a great achievement because we had been beaten by combination teams in the past but continued to persevere and field on our own against the likes of Naomh Malachi/Kilkerley and Mattock/Rovers/Emmets who had beaten us the previous year. It was frustrating coming up against the amalgamation teams all the time, but we were delighted to come out on top in the end." This particular team was in pre-production for quite some time, as David reveals: "We had a good sprinkling of lads who came through from an U14 championship-winning team and we told them that this would be their last chance to win something together as a team. We'd been in the minor final in 2002 as well and also had a lot of those players on duty again." All in all, it was an encouraging win for Na Piarsaigh, which must surely augur well for the club's future, especially considering that the U21 championship is normally dominated by senior clubs. Says David: "We'll be in a good position if we can keep that team together, but that's not going to be easy. However, the vast majority of them were playing intermediate or junior football with us in 2004, so we're hopeful." The U21 success didn't come easy. Indeed, an inordinate amount of hard work was invested over an extended period of time before the fruits were harvested. Some people were of the opinion that David Hearty and Mark Wynne were wasting their time trying to bring success to the club at this level, but they stuck at it and their persistence has paid off handsomely with a spectacular breakthrough. Great credit is due to the players and mentors who made the dream come true. One such player is midfielder Ronan McCartney, who captained the team. A first-team regular with Na Piarsaigh for the past four seasons (winning a junior championship medal in 2002), Ronan was honoured to lead his club to an historic first-timer: "I was absolutely delighted. It was a great honour as captain and I was captain of the first team as well, which was also an honour. The players responded well and I was delighted how things worked out." The U21 side that stormed to glory had a decent track record of competing at the highest level, as Ronan confirms: "That team had been to a final at every level since U14 and we were determined to make the most of our last opportunity of winning a championship together before we broke up. We had a squad of 25 and there was plenty of interest from all the players. We were very hungry for the win and it paid off in the end. "Most of this team had been on the losing side in two U16 finals and a minor final, so we were determined to finish off by winning a big one." The 2003 U21 competition was a protracted affair, commencing in early summer and reaching its climax in the depths of winter. The winning captain notes: "We had kind of forgotten about it at one stage because the whole thing was put on hold and we were trying to avoid relegation with the first team. We have a young intermediate side and quite a few of our U21s were involved in that successful relegation battle. "To be honest, I couldn't believe we stayed up. We were in serious trouble but won five of our last seven games to beat the drop. When we stayed up, the club was on a high and that boosted the U21 team." The U21 breakthrough was a victory for the underdog. Dundalk Gaels and Oliver Plunketts had been the two outstanding teams in the IFC that season, yet Na Piarsaigh stunned both in the U21 championship. And, in the final, they beat a three-club amalgamation, who were fresh off the back of a SFC win for Mattock Rangers. The significance of it all has not gone unnoticed around about Rock Road way. Says Ronan: "It's massive for the club. It's the biggest underage success we've had and it's a landmark victory considering that we're only 23 years in existence. We're finding our feet. "We have a good solid underage base and good mentors to bring us through. One of our biggest challenges is to prevent losing players to soccer … if we can do that, then we have a chance of getting up to senior level some day. Winning the U21 championship gives us a solid base and shows that we're capable of competing with any club in the county." Na Piarsaigh beat Mattock/Hunterstown/Emmets in the 2003 U21 final thanks to an amazing three-goal burst inside six second-half minutes. The defending champions didn't know what hit them when the Dundalk lads started the fourth quarter with an unanswered salvo of 3-3 to turn the game completely on its head - prior to that blitz the winners had trailed by 1-8 to 0-7. First off, a brace of goals in as many minutes from full forward Paidi Hearty saw the Black & Ambers steal a dramatic lead before Mickey O'Kane fired the winners' third goal to the net. Three more Na Piarsaigh points followed as the combination side realised their goose was cooked. A week earlier, Na Piarsaigh produced an equally magnificent display when beating Dundalk Gaels by 2-10 to 1-14 after extra time in a thrilling semi-final at Dowdallshill. Na Piarsaigh, 2003 Louth U21 football champions: Barry Teather; Aidan Marks, Shane Callan, Conor Dillon; Eamonn McAuley (0-1), John Molloy, Gavin McGee; Ronan McCartney, Kevin Coyle (0-2); Paddy Quinn, Mickey O'Kane (1-2), John Garvey; Gerard Murphy (0-1), Simon Kelly (0-3), Paidi Hearty (2-0). Subs: John Grealis, Conor Hegarty, Mark Larkin, David Boyle (0-1), Padraig McGuinness. Tweet

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