St. Patrick's will look ahead to the 2003 season in the hope that they can make a much greater impact in the Senior Football Championship after enduring a less than smooth campaign in 2002 when circumstances didn't work in their favour. But the positive note from the year gone by was that the Stamullen club won the delayed 2001 Feis Cup competition and, apart from the obvious satisfaction that comes with winning a trophy, that particular success must have represented something of a morale-booster for the club and will surely be viewed as a positive sign as they look ahead to next season and beyond. Unfortunately, St. Patrick's essentially had a different man in charge for each of their three divisional matches in the Senior Championship, a situation that can't have helped their cause. They started with former Fingal Ravens' man Willie McCabe who was in the hot seat for the opening assignment against a Walterstown team that was fancied to make a big impression in the competition. When McCabe opted out, long-serving club official Martin Curran took charge as main selector for the second round match with Seneschalstown. That game brought the team's heaviest defeat of the campaign, and by the time St. Pat's played Oldcastle in a crunch third round encounter, with the avoidance of a relegation dogfight at the bottom of the group very much on their minds, highly regarded Meath junior manager and former top Walterstown player Martin Barry was at the helm. St. Pat's opened their campaign with a very narrow defeat when going under by 2-8 to 1-10 against the Blacks, but that was unfortunately followed by a comprehensive defeat as Seneschalstown, who were later to advance from the group with Walterstown and reach the semi-finals, hit them for no fewer than five goals and won by all of 15 points on a 5-10 to 0-10 score line. Those two defeats left Pat's pointless and under real pressure and they faced that crunch final divisional match at Kilberry against another struggling side Oldcastle, who were ultimately demoted to intermediate level when they lost the relegation final to Summerhill. Pat's needed to show considerable improvement from their previous two championship outings and the team certainly responded just as their supporters wanted them to. Barry's influence was very obvious and they looked motivated, hungry and focused in what was a real pressure match. They won easily by nine points (1-12 to 0-6) to avert the threat of the dreaded drop, with the goal coming from Martin Kirk to help them to a 1-5 to 0-4 half-time lead. After that, it was plain sailing in the second period as they added seven more points to push well clear. A feature of the game was the impact of Meath defender Cormac Murphy as a forward. He scored five points from play. Overall, it was very much a case of mission accomplished for Pat's. They had achieved the victory they so badly needed and were safe in third position in the table, two points ahead of bottom side Oldcastle. The Senior Championship may have brought just one crucial victory and little in the way of joy, other than the obvious relief that comes with survival in the top flight, but the 2000 intermediate champions did have the satisfaction of bridging a 34-year gap by winning the delayed 2001 Feis Cup competition. They defeated Cortown comfortably by 2-12 to 0-10 in the decider at Walterstown in late September to bring that particular title to the club for the second time. Pat's, who had Meath goalkeeper Cormac Sullivan at midfield, led by a point (1-3 to 0-5) at half-time, thanks largely to a goal from Fergus Minogue after 20 minutes, with Martin Kirk, Daithi Whyte and veteran full-forward Ivan Curran sharing the points in that period. Whyte and Kirk gave St. Patrick's a good start to the second half when they pointed to increase the advantage, but Cortown enjoyed a purple patch which enabled them to score four points in succession and Pat's found themselves trailing narrowly with 18 minutes remaining. The response from the Pat's players was very positive. Minogue fired over a point to leave the sides level, before team captain Whyte found the back of the net to restore Pat's lead. Cortown cut the deficit to two points, but Pat's, who had beaten Simonstown Gaels by 2-4 to 0-3 at the semi-final stage, soon took a firm grip on the proceedings, created plenty of chances and started to find the target with consistency. Cortown had no answer as the east Meath side posted six points, with five of them coming from play, to copper-fasten their advantage and run out comfortably winners by eight points. Minogue was the winners' top marksman with 1-4 and was closely followed by Whyte who finished with a personal tally of 1-3. Whyte also had the satisfaction of receiving the Feis Cup from County Board Irish Officer Cathal Joyce. The victorious St. Patrick's team in the final was: D. Mooney; E. Russell, P. Rothwell, C. Calvey; R. Russell, R. Kearns, N. Flynn; C. Sullivan, C. Duffy; S. Kirwan (0-1), M. Kirk (0-2), M. White (0-1); F. Minogue (1-4), I. Curran (0-1), D. Whyte (1-3). Subs: JP Ryan for Kirwan, N. Mooney for Curran, J. Kenna for White. Any hopes of making it back-to-back Feis Cup titles were ended when St. Pat's were eliminated by Trim from the 2002 competition, going under by the narrowest of margins on a 0-11 to 0-10 score line. In the All-County 'A' League, St. Pat's enjoyed a very satisfactory campaign in Div. 1, achieving a number of good results which left them in the running for a long way. They eventually finished in third position behind Dunboyne and Dunshaughlin on 13 points after winning six of their 11 matches, drawing one and losing four. Nobody in the Stamullen club will argue against the fact that 2002 was a less that smooth year, but the fact that they won a trophy in the shape of that Feis Cup triumph and can again look forward to playing their football in the highest grade next year must be a source of considerable encouragement. "The last time we won the Feis Cup it was in very similar circumstances to this year," said club spokesperson Myra O'Flaherty. "That was the 1967 competition and we won the final the following year. This time we won the 2001 Feis Cup in 2002. "As far as this year is concerned, we won that competition, we held onto our senior status and we finished third in the All-County 'A' League Div. 1. So, when all is considered, that's not so bad at all. We are positive and are hoping to go further in the 2003 Senior Championship." Tweet

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