Annaghminnon Rovers didn't exactly have an outstanding 2004. However, there were some flashes of brilliance over the course of the year, no more so than in the drawn JFC clash with neighbours and keen rivals St Mochtas in mid-June. The villagers went on to gain promotion, proving that Annaghminnon aren't too far off the mark. Generally speaking, it was another frustrating year for Annaghminnon Rovers, who again failed to escape the clutches of junior football. The 2000 JFC winners never really got going, though they did produce some performances that suggest there is more in the tank. Arguably their best performance of the year was in the first-round championship clash with St Mochtas, a game that finished all square but that the Rovers could just as easily have won. Unfortunately, the games came too fast and too thick for the Stonetown side and they were unable to produce a similar level of performance in their second group outing against St Kevins. Defeat in that game marked the end of their involvement in the 2004 Louth junior football championship and, effectively, the end of Annaghminnon's year. Reflecting on the events of the season, captain Declan Lambe admits that the Rovers were pleased with the display against the Mochtas, though slightly disappointed that they let the win they arguably deserved slip through their fingers: "We were definitely happy with that performance and it showed the kind of football we're capable of playing. "But it's easy to get up for a championship game, especially one against your neighbours, and the trick is really to play consistently well all year. We felt that we should have beaten them, and letting them away with a draw was like losing the game. We had no match for two months and then we had three in eight days, which was unfortunate. We ran out of steam for the second group game against the Kevins, and when you lose a match in the three-team group, there's no coming back. "We played the Mochtas on the Friday, Young Irelands in the Kevin Mullen Shield on the Sunday and the Kevins the following Friday. It was a hectic schedule and we didn't do ourselves justice in the Kevins match. We lost full forward Niall Matthews in the first half and substitute Brendan Pepper was forced out injured in the second half, which was the last thing we needed. We were very stale for that game and couldn't lift ourselves." Though there are only seven teams in the JFC, they are still divided into two groups. This is clearly done to keep the JFC in line with the other main championship competitions, but is hardly an ideal solution with so few teams involved. Says Kevin: "There's no room for error in the three-team group. In the four-team section, you can still get through to a semi-final if you lose a game, but that's not the case with the other group. To be honest, I prefer the old system of straight knockout. Surely with seven teams it would be better to have three quarter-finals, with one team getting a bye into the semi-final stage. With the knockout system, everybody gets a big day out and that's what championship football is all about." Annaghminnon were in the dreaded Group B in 2004. Their first outing was against St Mochtas at Knockbridge and they started superbly against their neighbours, racing into a healthy double-scores lead at half time, 1-7 to 0-5, Aidan Kerr firing the only goal of the game. However, their parish rivals sneaked back into contention in the second half and stole a share of the spoils with an injury-time point, 1-13 to 0-16. It was rough justice on Rovers, who made all the running, and their disappointment was exacerbated when the Mochtas went on to collect the Christy Bellew Cup. Annaghminnon's second (and last) Group B outing was against the Kevins and their recent exertions caught up with them, culminating in a sub-standard display as they fell to a ten-point defeat, 0-15 to 0-5. That result meant that Rovers were effectively out of contention regardless of how the final match in the group, between Mochtas and the Kevins, panned out. In fairness to Annaghminnon, they are up against it year in and year out, choosing their panel from extremely limited numbers. The club is based along the Monaghan border, close to Killanny, who themselves encountered serious difficulties competing in the Monaghan league in 2004. Killanny couldn't field for their last four games of the season and their plight underlines the difficulties faced by clubs in this neck of the woods. It was Rovers' second year back in the junior ranks, after the two-year stint at intermediate following the 2000 JFC breakthrough. But they struggled, mainly due to lack of numbers. The same problem faces the parish's juvenile outfit, St Vincents. There are only 44 pupils at Stonetown School these days - and half of those are girls. The statistics speak for themselves, especially when contrasted with the population explosions taking place in other corners of the Wee County. Declan takes the story up: "In the league, we started well and got a couple of early wins under our belt, but then things went downhill and we were out of contention by the time the championship began. We had no problem getting all the lads together for training during the hardy weather but it's a farming community and a lot of the lads have trades as well, so when the good weather kicks in, it's not so easy to get everyone together. "We do have a small pick. If we had everybody, we might have about 20 lads in total. However, if any of the regular 15 are missing it leaves us seriously weakened, and that's always a big concern. We have a good panel, though, and the challenge is to get everybody together on a regular basis. We've a core of twelve or 13 players who are as good as, if not better than, any junior players in the county … or even intermediate players for that matter." Annaghminnon proved this when they went up in 2000 and managed to stay up the following year. "We did quite well. We were up for two years. We beat teams that we were told we shouldn't have been able to beat. We proved we could handle it and I think we could handle ourselves in intermediate football if we got back up again." Is that the target for next year? "Yes. We'll be going for promotion, either through the league or championship. Realistically, I think we can do it if we pull together. We're more of a championship team and that probably provides us with our best chance, but there's no reason why we can't do well in the league as well…" Joey Callan, who led the club to promotion in 2000, was in charge of team affairs again in '04. Annaghminnon made a good start in all three competitions and almost made it through to the final of the Kevin Mullen Shield. But they were unable to keep it going. Declan Lambe has been on the Annaghminnon first team since he was 14. He's 25 now. As well as the JFC in '00, he won U14 and U16 leagues with St Vincents/St Josephs and also played in U16 and U21 championship finals. His dad Peadar was on the Annaghminnon Rovers side that won the club's only other major adult trophy - the old Second Division title - in 1964, famously pointing a last-minute winner from the penalty spot in the final against John Mitchells at Knockbridge. Are there more memorably times in store? The spirit is willing. Tweet

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