Breakthrough beckoning for Rock'
December 30, 2010It was a really good year for Rockcorry, who stormed through the back door to reach the semi-final stage of the county IFC, only to lose therein to a strong Tyholland outfit. Rock' also pushed hard all year in the intermediate league, featuring prominently in and around the Top Four all season only to narrowly miss out on a semi-final spot.
Considering that the club has never played senior football before, it could be contended that the current crop is one of their best ever…
But the players haven't time to be distracted by such musings and speculation. They have a job to do. Their goal is to bring senior football to the club and they need to give this their full attention in the coming season. They have the players at their disposal, backed by a strong committee and backroom. The time has never been better. Johnny Reilly was moved from the forwards to centre half back in 2010 and he delivered a series of impressive displays in his new role at the heart of the defence. Reflecting on the year gone by, he notes:
"We were disappointed to lose the championship semi-final to Tyholland. We were confident after the nature of our win over Eire Og in the previous round that we could get to the final, but it wasn't to be. That was a blow but our season wasn't over yet because we still had the league to focus on and we were sitting in fourth place with every chance of making the semi-finals.
"If anything, we were more focussed on the league this year. That was more important; that was what we set out for - a good run in the league. We knew we had a chance of getting up senior through the league. Unfortunately, we came up short in the end, but hopefully we can do even better next season. "
Tom Daly took charge of the team again and he was joined on the line this time around by Cormac McFadden and Ballybay man Davy McGregor (trainer). Paul McKeown captained the team in the league and Noel Carroll was captain for the championship.
Rockcorry received a massive boost in mid-September when they captured some County Board silverware in the shape of the Reserve League Division Four title, beating Killanny by 2-13 to 1-5 in the semi-final on Wednesday September 8th and Toome in the decider six days later, 0-11 to 0-8. For a club that has been starved of success over the years, this is a significant success, as Johnny concedes: "Rock' hadn't won a trophy at adult level in about ten years, so it was great to win the Division Four league. We had about five or six lads who played on both teams and a win like that should give the club confidence. The club has great support and the local people really get behind us. The facilities are good too, with some drainage work carried out on the pitch a few years ago, so things are going well and hopefully we can bring senior football to Rockcorry."
The club's minors also got to a Division Three championship decider in 2010, but were edged out by Emyvale (2-14 to 2-11) on Tuesday September 7th.
Rock' - who were holding their own in the intermediate league with wins over the likes of Tyholland, Inniskeen, Aghabog and Eire Og - opened their 2010 Monaghan IFC programme with a comfortable 0-21 to 0-8 win over Currin at Aghabog in mid-June (12th). However, without midfielder Mark Daly, they fell to a 0-7 to 0-5 defeat to Doohamlet after a replay, with the following personnel on duty at Castleblayney on Thursday August 19th: Jamie Smith; Gary Calvert, Damien Matthews, Colin Reilly; Keith Daly, Johnny Reilly, Niall McKeown; Barry Patterson, Liam Connolly; Stephen McGuirk (0-2), Martin Carroll, Noel Carroll (0-2); Mark McGuirk, Paul McKeown (0-1), Dwayne Rooney. Subs: Ryan Sharkey for M Carroll, Anthony Tate for L Connolly, Colin Quinn for P McKeown.
The original game had finished all-square, 1-8 apiece, six days earlier at the same venue. Those two epic encounters with the O'Neills set the Rock' men in good stead as they embarked on the scenic route… In the loser's section, there were wins over Emyvale (0-14 to 0-10 in Monaghan on August 28th) and Eire Og (3-13 to 2-6 in Clones on September 5th) to set up a semi-final clash with Tyholland at Emyvale on Saturday September 11th. Unfortunately, the team failed to rise to the occasion as they fell to a 1-12 to 0-8 defeat on the day. It was a very disappointing loss but the experience of playing on such a big stage is sure to serve this young Rockcorry side well in the coming years.
Between April 21st and May 19th, Rockcorry put together a run of six successive victories in the intermediate league, seeing off Eire Og, Aghabog, Emyvale, Tyholland, Currin and Inniskeen. A draw with Aughnamullen brought the unbeaten sequence to seven and that series of results was instrumental in securing the club a comfortable finish on the final Streamline Coaches IFL table.
It was Johnny Reilly's first year at centre back on the team and 'Jock' took to the new detail like the proverbial duck to water. "I was always a forward before but it worked out the best. I was happy enough with it. We played three or four matches in the Ulster league in the lead-up to the intermediate league and those games helped us a lot. They tried me out at centre back in those games and it went well, so they kept me there for the year. I prefer it to the forwards. I suppose I knew from playing centre forward what would be expected. It took a while to get used to it but it wasn't too bad and I'm enjoying it."
Others to impress for Rockcorry in 2010 included Noel Carroll, Niall McKeown, Mark Daly, Keith Daly and Paul McKeown, but Johnny is quick to point out that it was a team effort and everybody contributed to the overall performance. There's a buzz in the clubhouse these days and the objective is clearly defined. "We're mad for senior football," says Johnny. "We'd never even been in an intermediate league or intermediate championship semi-final before, so this has been a good year for us and we feel we're getting close if we can keep it going."
Johnny broke onto the first team five or six years ago, having enjoyed great success coming up through the ranks, collecting county medals at U12, U14, U16 and minor levels in both league and championship. In 2003, he had a particularly memorable season, garnering a total of four mementos comprising an U16 and a minor double. In his debut year with the adult team, Rockcorry reached the JFC final, losing to Drumhowan, but they still got promoted to intermediate ranks by virtue of finishing top of the junior league. The Rock' centre half also captained Cootehill Comprehensive School to an U14 title.
Looking back at the team preparations last year, he enthuses: "We started training around the end of January and it was the toughest training we've ever had. We never had a dedicated trainer before this year but Davy came in and made a real difference. It was the best training I've done since I started playing football and we were in good shape. If we had Davy for another couple of years, we should continue to make progress.
"I suppose what we're looking for now is a bit more consistency. From a personal point of view, I'd love to win a senior medal with Rock' We'd love to go up and play senior football, but it would be nice to do so as winners, by winning an intermediate league or championship. We should be there or thereabouts over the next year or two. If we keep it going, hopefully Rockcorry will soon be playing senior football for the first time." Tweet
