Senior football proving elusive
November 27, 2011When you're so close you can almost touch it - and yet the prize keeps slipping agonisingly through your fingers - life can become ever-so-slightly frustrating. When you're knocking on the door and it refuses to open, you can lose hope pretty quickly. Or you can take decisive action and kick the door down. That's what Rockcorry will be planning to do in 2012.
In 2010, Rock' reached the semi-final stage of the county IFC only to be beaten by Tyholland. This year, they again negotiated the back door with aplomb to arrive at the penultimate stage once more. Corduff provided the opposition and Rock' pushed them all the way only to bow out after a replay. Their second-half performances in both those games were not up to scratch and there is clearly a bit of work to be done if the villagers are to take the final step into senior football. A 10% improvement across the board would probably see them there…
In the 2011 IFC, they opened their campaign against Currin in Monaghan on June 12th and fell to a 1-10 to 0-9 defeat. Rather than lose hope, they recovered with three successive victories in the back-door route: Drumhowan were defeated by 0-10 to 0-5 in Aughnamullen on July 17th; Eire Og were crushed at Tyholland on August 21st (0-15 to 0-3); and Donaghmoyne were edged out by the narrowest of margins at Cremartin seven days later, 2-4 to 0-9.
The semi-finals beckoned again and Rockcorry were drawn against 2010 junior champions Corduff, with the winners to face either Carrickmacross or Tyholland in the decider. At Clontibret on Sunday, September 11th, Rock' had one foot in the decider until a last-gasp converted free gave the Gaels a 0-7 each draw. The following Friday, at Inniskeen, Rock' misfired in the final quarter and exited the competition on the back of a disappointing 0-13 to 0-6 defeat. A campaign that had promised so much, therefore fizzled out with barely a whimper.
The side on duty against Drumhowan in the championship was: Jamie Smith; Owen Fitzpatrick, Damien Matthews, Colin Reilly; Stephen McGuirk (0-2), Barry Patterson, Keelan Clerkin; Mark Daly (0-3), Martin Carroll; Fergal McGeough (0-3), Gary Calvert, Noel Carroll; Dwayne Rooney, Niall McKeown, Paul McKeown (0-2). Subs: Colin Quinn for F McGeough; Lorcan Smyth for M Carroll; Pauric Reilly for C Reilly.
Looking back on the death of the dream, midfielder Mark Daly admits the players were bitterly disappointed when their promotion bid came unstuck: "We were very disappointed. We had a good chance against Corduff the first day but didn't play well in the second half. I felt we let it slip. We gave them a free with the last kick of the game and they equalised. I suppose we were close but in fairness a draw was probably a fair result. Heading into the replay, we were happy enough and we thought we still had a very good chance. I don't think there was any kind of mental hangover from the drawn game; we were confident but just didn't do ourselves justice."
What went wrong? How could Rockcorry draw with a team one day and then lose to them by seven points five days later? "I don't want to make excuses but we had one or two lads carrying knocks from the first game and the management had to change things around a bit. We also had four lads who were involved in the minor final, so we had to make changes.
"You can make all the excuses in the world but at the end of the day we were in a good position at half time, trailing by just three points having played against the wind, but we just didn't perform when it really mattered. Maybe, as a team, we need to take a long, hard look at ourselves and ask some difficult questions. Did we want it enough? When you lose two semi-finals in a row, you have to question the mental toughness of the team and ask if there is any way we can strengthen our attitude and our approach."
As it turned out, Rock Sarsfields subsequently won the Division Two minor league final with a thrilling 2-12 to 2-7 victory over Killanny at Drumhowan - a big boost for the club on the back of last year's reserve championship success. And, at the time of writing, the minors were also due to face Magheracloone in a championship semi-final second replay. All in all, Rock' are arguably holding as strong a hand as they've ever held. Mark sees no reason why they should rest on their laurels, though:
"It took us a long time to get to an intermediate semi-final in the first place. While it's an achievement to get there, you win nothing and the days of moral victories for Rockcorry are over. With the bunch of players we have at present, we need to kick on and win promotion. If we don't, then this team will have failed…"
Cormac McFadden served as team manger in 2011, with David McGregor as trainer / selector. Twenty-ten manager Tom Daly was replaced on the backroom team by coach Mickey Conlon. "Mickey looked after most of the ballwork, while Davy took over the coaching," Mark notes. "I think all the lads were happy enough with the set-up and with how training went. The team spirit was good and there was a good bond between the players, which helps.
"It's just a pity we never really got going in the championship. The first day against Currin, we conceded an early goal and never got motoring. We weren't great against Drumhowan and the Eire Og game was routine. It didn't click against Donaghmoyne but the lads showed great spirit to hang on and battle to a semi-final place. We hadn't set the world alight but we had got to a semi-final and we thought we had a chance against Corduff because both teams are evenly-matched.
"It was disappointing to concede the late point in the drawn game but we closed the gap to two points five minutes into the second half of the replay and, with the wind at our backs, we should have been able to kick on. For whatever reason, we started chasing the game and lost our shape completely. In the heel of the hunt, we didn't have the composure or mental toughness or wherewithal needed to win a championship semi-final.
"We probably are in a better place than we've ever been before and this is the best team I've played on, but the way I look at it is that close misses are no good and this team has to kick on and win something. That's why you play football at the end of the day. You play football to try to win trophies and the Rockcorry senior team hasn't won anything since 1996. We came up short again this year. With the players we have, we have to push on and get over the line. Otherwise, the opportunity will pass us by. Unless you win something, you are going nowhere, really. We have to look at ourselves and ask why we aren't kicking on and getting to an intermediate final."
What's the target for 2012, then? "It has to be the same: promotion. The minors are after having a good year and you would be hoping that these lads can come into the team and that we'll lose none of the current players. We should have a strong squad and senior football is achievable. But the attitude needs to change and we have to find a way of getting through these big games. We're not too far away. The difference between a winning team and a losing team could be the smallest of things. We just need to fine-tune things and make the right changes. Look at what Dublin did this year when they got their approach right. Rockcorry just need to make one or two small changes - maybe it's as simple as the attitude, belief and will-to-win - and we could be pushing hard for senior football." Tweet
