It was always going to be a difficult year for Naomh Malachi, but the border club retained its dignity with some resolute performances in Division 1B of the all-county senior football league. Long-serving goalkeeper (and vice-chairman) Aidan Hoey spoke exclusively to 'Wee County 2004' about the Malachis' brave bid to retain their senior status. Considering that we're talking about a small rural club with no real tradition of success, Naomh Malachi's recent achievements have been nothing short of staggering, Against all odds, the 2002 intermediate football championship was scooped; the following year, senior status was consolidated with a minimum of fuss. In 2004, Naomh Malachi found themselves with their backs to the wall but demonstrated remarkable spirit to almost salvage the situation, coming within a kick of a ball rescuing their season with a dramatic late surge. Retaining senior status was the clearly defined objective at the outset. Achieving that target would have represented one of the finest feats in the club's 38-year history. At one stage, the Courtbane men looked dead and buried. However, they refused to give up the fight and reclaimed their season in stunning fashion. It all went down to their final league game of the year, against Stabannon Parnells. The losers would be relegated. As it turned out, the Malachis were narrowly beaten while their brave late season surge proved to be all in vain, the spirit the players demonstrated was very encouraging. Naomh Malachi almost turned their year around with two magnificent victories within the space of four days in August. After a disappointing first half to their league programme, they found themselves staring down the barrel of a relegation shotgun. Defeats to Kilkerley on August 10 and Naomh Mairtin on August 13 would have sealed the White & Red's fate for sure, but they gave themselves hope with two electrifying wins. Suddenly, there was a spring in the step in Courtbane. All was not yet lost. To the contrary, there was everything to play for and Aidan Hoey and his colleagues began to believe that they could carry their top-grade standing into a third successive season. Aidan was probably the longest-serving footballer playing first-team fare in Louth in 2004. He has been a mainstay of the Naomh Malachi adult team since 1981, experiencing many highs and lows during the intervening 23 years. Winning the 2002 IFC was the undoubted highlight but the border outfit followed this up with a creditable effort in 2003 also, as the veteran goalkeeper recounts: "We had a very good year in 2003. We finished with 16 points on the board, and just missed out on promotion to Division 1A. Naturally, we were delighted with that performance and we were looking forward to the new season." Indeed, the Malachis had much cause for optimism going into '04, not least because of their stellar form in the previous two campaigns. Aidan confirms: "We were confident enough going into the new year because we had three or four lads due back from injuries and we also brought in a new manager - Paul Turley from Armagh. So we were hopeful that things would work out well for us. "Having said that, it was always going to be difficult for Paul coming in and taking over a new team, as it was obviously going to take him a while to get to know the players." Naomh Malachi's immediate priority was the league - and anything after that would be viewed as a bonus. Indeed, it was just as well they hadn't their hearts set on an extended run in the premier competition as the Courtbane outfit were pitted in Group B, the 'Group of Death' (there's one every year!), alongside Newtown Blues, Cooley Kickhams and Mattock Rangers - three of the ante-post favourites to land the Joe Ward Cup. Hardly surprisingly, they failed to make an impact. Their first outing was against Cooley at the Clan na Gael grounds on May 21 and the peninsula side romped to a 3-21 to 1-0 victory. There was no respite as the Blues recorded an equally facile win, 2-20 to 0-3, at Ardee's Pairc Mhuire on June 6. However, Naomh Malachi gave a much better account of themselves in their final group outing. Mattock Rangers provided the opposition at Castlebellingham on June 20. The Collon men needed to win to progress to the last eight and Malachi made them fight all the way before succumbing on a 1-13 to 1-7 scoreline. That was more like it… Naomh Malachi could hardly have wished for a more poignant opening game in their 2004 Division 1B league programme, as Aidan explains: "The first game was on February 22 and you couldn't ask for a better game than one against our neighbours and keen rivals Kilkerley in Kilkerley. It was a big start to the new season." The Malachis started well but their minor star Aidan Murphy had to be stretchered off after only ten minutes and this knocked them out of their stride (not just in the opening game but also for much of the season, as Murphy was found to have sustained a dreaded cruciate ligament injury). "Aidan is a big man at centre half back and his absence left a hole in the team," notes the club goalkeeper. "We ended up losing that game by five points and it had a knock-on effect for the first half of our season. We really struggled from there on and went on to lose our first six league games." It was the worst possible start. To make matters worse, some of the players who were expected back didn't quite make it - and a total of three players were diagnosed with cruciate ligament injuries. Still, the corner was turned unexpectedly: "Our year turned when we beat Stabannon at home in Round Seven of the league, the last game of the first half. That win gave us a flicker of hope. "Our form was improving. In the ACC Cup, we drew with St Marys and Mattock Rangers only beat us by two points, so things started to go well. "The championship probably couldn't have come at a worse time, because our tails were up in the league. Group B was very difficult. All the games were real David and Goliath affairs and I think we were beaten mentally before we went out. Though we were already out of contention at the time, we were quite happy with our performance against Mattock. It was a massive improvement on the previous two games. We accept that we took a couple of hammerings against Cooley and the Blues, but we definitely didn't disgrace ourselves against Collon." Back to the league: "St Marys only beat us by two points in our eighth game, but we knew we were running out of time. The situation became critical and we knew it was curtains if we didn't win our next game. Fortunately, things began to take shape and we suddenly had a different team altogether. We had Shane Rooney, Gerry Murphy and Ronan Greene available - young lads who were back from college and strengthened the team no end with their presence." All of a sudden, things started to fall into place. Naomh Mairtin were defeated on Tuesday August 10. Three days later - Friday the 13th - arch rivals Kilkerley were also beaten. The White & Reds had picked up four vital points inside as many days and momentum was on their side. ""Our season turned around and the club was on a high," Aidan reveals. "There were four games left and we were in with a fighting chance of staying up. We had everything to play for. We knew we could still salvage our season and we relished the challenge. There was a buzz in the club again. "The division couldn't have been tighter. Outside of the top two, there was nothing between six teams in Division 1B. It was a dogfight, with everybody scrambling for points. With four rounds remaining, St Marys, O'Connells and Roche were safe but any two from ourselves, Stabannon, Dundalk Gaels, Naomh Mairtin and Kilkerley could still go down." In four games, Naomh Malachi could still have fulfilled their objective for 2004, rendering the year a resounding success. "Our target for the year was to stay senior, as it had been in 2003. We feel we're good enough to play senior football. We have some good young players coming through and I believe we are senior material. Our view is that we're too good to be playing intermediate football. We had spent over 20 years trying to get out of that grade and we didn't want to go back down again." Unfortunately, their poor early season form caught up with them as the Malachis were pipped by Stabannon in the very last game of the season. They could scarcely have been more unlucky, but what a brave effort! Things are also going well away from the field of play. The club has undertaken a new development, including the renovation of the clubhouse and dressing-rooms. The juveniles - amalgamated with Kilkerley - are going well and Naomh Malachi also have a very strong ladies team. Under Barry O'Connor, the girls completed back-to-back senior championship wins in 2004. The club also boasts a vibrant camogie section. Aidan Hoey has been on the Naomh Malachi first team since 1981. He was on the forty in the 1990 IFC final against the Joes, when the Malachis lost by five points. Two years earlier, he was between the posts when the Mairtins pipped the Courtbane side by a point in the 1988 intermediate decider. Indeed, most of his long career has been spent in goals, which is where he was for the historic 2002 intermediate championship win. Aidan's contribution to the club has been enormous. The goalkeeper is the backbone of any defence and he has served Naomh Malachi above and beyond the call of duty - though he admits he would probably prefer to have played more games outfield. Though honours garnered over the years were few and far between, the 2002 breakthrough made it all worthwhile: "I was considering quitting in 2002 but didn't - and boy was I glad! All I had before that was a couple of league medals and Grogan Cups, and it was incredible to win a championship. To get to play senior football so late in my career was amazing. I saw a lot of players come and go without getting their just reward. We had been beaten in two intermediate finals since winning the junior championship in 1979, and it was unbelievable to finally get up to senior." Aidan has doubled up as vice-chairman of the club for the past two years. He puts Naomh Malachi's recent achievements into perspective: "We have a very small pick. We're surrounded by Inniskeen, Kilkerley, Roche, Sixmilebridge, Crossmaglen and Culloville. We're in the middle of the country, with a radius of five square miles. It's out of this world that we've managed to win an intermediate championship and hold our own at senior level for a year." They nearly held on again in 2004 ... Tweet

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