Young forward Mark McGeown was on top form as Clan na Gael narrowly missed out on reaching the 2004 Louth SFC final. With some impressive displays in the premier competition, the Clans announced their return as genuine Joe Ward Cup contenders. They were just two points shy of defending champions St Patricks at the semi-final stage - and could well go even closer next year. They also figured prominently in the shake-up for honours in the Cardinal O'Donnell and Paddy Sheelan Cups. The Clans are back! That's the message that rang out loud and clear across the Wee County's GAA vista in 2004. In the race for Joe Ward glory, the Green & Amber Stripes powered through to the last four and could easily have reached the final had they enjoyed the slightest sliver of luck on the day of their semi-final clash with the Pats at Dowdallshill. But, alas, it wasn't to be and the brave bid for championship honours ended prematurely, while relieved Pats went on to face Cooley Kickhams in a novel all-peninsula final (ironically hosted at Pairc Clan na Gael on Sunday September 19). Free-scoring corner forward Mark McGeown was a revelation for the Castletown Road club in '04, finishing second in the SFC scoring charts with an enormous 4-17 tally from just five games - a massive return from the 21-year-old sharpshooter who also featured for the county U21s and won an All-Ireland Freshers medal with DKIT during the year. We should be hearing his name a lot more in future. On the league front, Clan na Gael demonstrated consistency, spending the entire year in the Top Three of Division 1A and pushing Cooley and Glyde hard for a place in the Cardinal O'Donnell Cup. They finished joint second with Glyde but unluckily lost a play-off for a final spot against Cooley. The play-off took place at Knockbridge on Saturday October 23, with Glyde sneaking through by a point, 1-12 to 1-11. They also reached the Paddy Sheelan Cup final, where treble-chasing Cooley Kickhams would provide opposition. Clans carried a 100% record into the senior subsidiary league decider, beating St Patricks, Glyde Rangers and Kilkerley Emmets in their three Group A outings before seeing off Mattock Rangers by 1-12 to 1-8 in a semi-final at Dromiskin on June 30. The final was played at Dowdallshill on Saturday October 2 and Cooley - Clans' bogey team all year - proved too strong, capturing the inaugural Paddy Sheelan Cup with a 0-15 to 1-6 victory. A decent year all around then, with Clan na Gael pushing for honours on all three fronts. But, of course, the Clans are the Clans and, with such a proud tradition of success, they'll never be truly happy unless major silverware wings its way to town. The former kingpins of Louth came tantalisingly close in the '04 SFC. Their semi-final against St Patricks took place at Dowdallshill on Sunday August 15 and there was nothing between the teams on the day. In the end, the Pats could consider themselves fortunate to edge through by two points, 0-8 to 0-6. Thus, Clans are frustrated. They came within two points of the defending champions despite failing to do themselves justice in a scrappy, forgettable semi-final. Had they brought their form with them to St Brigid's Park on the middle Sunday in August, they would undoubtedly have progressed to the county final. Ominously, the losers scored only once in the first half, trailing by 0-3 to 0-1 at the interval. They fought back to lead by 0-4 to 0-3 with 13 minutes remaining but were unable to hold on. The outcome could have been different had not Mark McGeown's 37th-minute penalty been well saved by Pats custodian Sean Connor. Co-incidentally, Clans had also faced the Lordship men - at the same venue - in their first outing of the competition. The Group A opener was infinitely more entertaining and the Dundalk club deserved better than a two-point defeat, 2-12 to 2-10, at the end of an absolute thriller. The Green & Amber bounced back with a resounding 2-17 to 0-7 defeat of Roche Emmets in their second group outing at Knockbridge on May 30 before clinching a quarter-final spot with a hard-earned 1-10 to 1-9 defeat of Naomh Mairtin at Castlebellingham on June 20. Two-thousand-and-three finalists St Marys provided the quarter-final opposition. The tie was played in Dunleer on Sunday July 25 and Clans taught the Ardee men a lesson in score-taking on the way to a superb 2-16 to 1-12 victory. NINE different players hit the target for Leslie Toal's team. Mark McGeown weighed in with a match-winning salvo of 2-3. But it was far from a one-man show. Indeed, all the players have reason to be satisfied with the quality of their performances in 2004. Their efforts in all three senior competitions across the duration of the season were commendable, but still the sense of satisfaction is tinged with a hint of disappointment. When a senior championship final appearance slips through your fingers, it's a source of regret, as Mark McGeown reveals: "We were hoping to make it through to the final after such a good run in the group stages and such a good win over the Marys in the quarter-final." The defeat of St Marys was very impressive. The Dundalk club got their tactics spot-on that day and left the Deesiders floundering for the hour. Was that the Clans' best performance of the year? "We certainly played well and it was a great result. We were slight underdogs, but it was a good all-round team performance and we were pleased with how things worked out. It probably was as well as we played all year, but we wanted to take it on from there. We were hoping to carry that form into the semi-final against the Pats, but we were unable to do that." That semi-final was a resounding anti-climax. In fact, it was almost a non-event for the Clans, who failed to get close to top gear. It's frustrating. Had they played to their full potential, a place in the final was there for the taking. What went wrong? "We had eight or nine wides in the first half and many of them were good scoring opportunities. If we'd made the most of those chances and taken our scores early on, then we could have gone on to win it. "It's frustrating when you have a chance to win but don't take it. We know we didn't play as well as we can, and it's an annoying way to go out of the championship." The team can only learn from such experiences, though? Can they put the lesson to good use and reclaim the Joe Ward Cup within the next year or two? "Definitely. We believe we can win a championship and I think we showed in 2004 that we could compete with any team in the county. We've proven that we're a good team, so it's just a matter of stringing results together in the championship." Clans established themselves as one of the Wee County's most consistent sides in '04, making little of the step-up to Division 1A and setting themselves up as an extremely difficult team to beat. What was the target of the management team (Leslie Toal, Gerry Curran, Tommy Connolly and Dot Neary) at the start of the year? "To do well in the league and to get a good run in the championship. But once we got out of the group and beat the Marys, we wanted to win the championship…" Winners of three SFCs during the '90s, Clan na Gael have been in transition since the turn of the millennium. They've been nurturing a new breed of player, raised on a staple diet of underage success. Are they now ready to re-emerge as a force? Mark McGeown responds in the affirmative. "We've a good blend," he says. "The younger lads are mixing well with the older fellas and things are starting to click into place. We played in three minor finals in a row, winning two [in 1999 and 2000], and those players are coming through at senior level now," says the talented attacker, a player who has represented the county at both minor and U21 levels. Two-thousand-and-four was a busy year for Mark, who also won an All-Ireland Freshers title with Dundalk IT. As Ali G might say, there's no rest for the wicked footballer! "There was a lot of football played this year. I started back a couple of months before Christmas with the county U21s and continued right through." By the middle of September, there was no end of season in sight - Clans were pushing for a Cardinal O'Donnell Cup final place with three rounds of games remaining and also had an ACC Cup final to think about. The days of 'close season' appear to be gone forever… Looking back on the year in general, Mark has mixed feelings: "We were happy with our form at times, but we could have got to a championship final and we're disappointed to have missed out on that because the championship is the big one. But hopefully we can build on what we've done for the past couple of years and maybe next year will be even better." It's a distinct possibility. Tweet

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