For far too long now Blackhill has been regarded as one of the 'minnows' of Monaghan Junior Club football. People seem to forget that the 'Emeralds', as they have always been called, are one of the oldest clubs in Co. Monaghan, having been founded at Easter 1917, and will, in just over a decade, be celebrating their centenary. A brief reminder of their proud history might not be out of place here, and it is this - the club was founded in 'McGeough's House', at Tattygar, and what better place to meet than in the home of the world famous John 'Runner' McGeough, who was the brains behind the formation of the club and who was elected its first President. A lot of water has passed under the proverbial bridge since those far off days and the great John McGeough went on to train several teams preparing for All-Ireland finals and semi-finals. He had been ably abetted by people like Abe McMahon, Mickey Loughran, Packie Caulfield, Felix McMahon, Mick Caulfield, Jack Conlon, Johnnie Mulligan and others. Their later performances in Monaghan football included victory in the Intermediate Championship victories in 1932, 1933, 1950, and 1952, the Dr. Ward Cup in 1943, and the Eoin O'Duffy Cup (their first major achievement) in 1918. Since their last county success in 1953 it has been quite a struggle, and very often the club was on the verge of extinction, but the spirit in the area has always been remarkably strong and the success of the past year has come about through sheer hard work and determination on the part of a few dedicated officials and players, who have kept the flag flying and who are determined that their efforts will eventually be rewarded with success. At the beginning of the year very few would have tipped Blackhill to do so well in the 2004 Junior Football Championship, but 'do well' they truly did, and reached the Final of the competition, to the surprise of everyone, by sheer determination and some very skillful football. The Junior Championship has always been one of the most difficult titles to win in Co. Monaghan, with so many clubs in the lower echelons striving to raise their status and enter a higher grade of football. Blackhill have always been fully aware of this and, when they entered the 2004 title race, they knew that their task was not going to be an easy one. And so it proved. The Dr. Ward Cup (League) competition opened on Sunday 29th February and Blackhill suffered their first defeat, going down to Aughnamullen by 2-10 to 1-3. Come March, however, and Blackhill gave an indication of things that were to come when they overcame the eventual Junior champions, Cremartin, on their own ground, by 4-9 to 1-11. That score-line was no fluke, and it certainly gave a great boost to the Blackhill players, and one that would later spur them on to even greater victories when the season really warmed up. Blackhill led by 2-6 to 1-2 at the interval and the winning team on that occasion just has to be recorded - it read:- Alan McArdle, Brian McShane, Ciaran Woods, PJ McShane, Michael Woods, Brian McGuinness (0-2), Michael Griffin (0-1), Darren Woods (0-3), Colin Woods (3-1) and Stephen Duffy (1-1). Sub used:- Peter Walsh. That amazing win was followed up with a 1-6 to 0-6 victory over Toome on Sunday 11th April, when the team showed quite a few changes -- Alan McArdle, Paul McShane, Ciaran Woods, Peter Walsh, Gerard Kennedy, Brian McGuinness, Michael Woods, Mark Duffy, Eamon Byrne, Darren Woods, Colin Woods, Terry Woods, Stephen Courtney, Stephen Duffy and Tony Comiskey. Subs used:- PJ McShane, Brian McShane and Martin Comiskey. Blackhill led by 1-3 to 0-3 at the break and their scores were - Colin Woods (1-2), Darren Woods (0-2), Tony Comiskey (0-1) and Stephen Courtney (0-1). Then, however, came a trio of defeats by Killeevan, Corduff and Oram. The side were now beginning to take shape, however, as the line-up against Killeevan showed:- Alan McArdle, Brian McShane, Ciaran Woods, Peter Walsh, Michael Woods, Brian McGuinness, Pauric Kennedy, Martin Griffin, Eamon Byrne, Terry Woods, Stephen McQuaid, Stephen Courtney (0-2), Stephen Duffy (0-3), Colin Woods (1-2) and Darren Woods (0-1). The slide was stopped when we overcame a fancied Killanny side by 5-13 to 0-9, one of the best score-lines we recorded against strong opponents during the entire year. At this stage the Championship intervened and our first outing was against one of the red-hot favourites to take the title, Corduff at Carrickmacross. Very much the underdogs, things went as expected and we went under by 1-11 to 1-5 on the last weekend in May, but the 'back door' now beckoned and we were going to make the best of it. The opportunity came when we were drawn to meet the recently formed Feargal O'Hanlon's club in the 'loser section' and we recorded a runaway win by 6-16 to 0-0, but realised that an awful lot could not be read in to that result as the opposition were still enduring their growing pains and will take some time to find a proper foothold in Monaghan junior competitions. Nevertheless, a win was a win and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The team that had lined out:- Alan McArdle, Brian McShane, Michael Woods, PJ McShane, Colin Woods (0-1), Martin Griffin, Gerard Kennedy, Mark Duffy (1-1), Eamon Byrne, Ciaran McMahon (0-1), Fergal Toal (1-3), Martin Comiskey (1-4), Stephen Duffy (2-0), Tony Comiskey (1-3) and Stephen Courtney (0-3). Subs used:- Paul Murphy, Ciaran Woods, Vincent McNally and Terry Woods. A few more Dr. Ward Cup (League) games followed before we met our next opponents in the Championship, Killeevan. Our good form was continued in this one and again we came out on top, just as we would do again against a highly fancied Currin side in the next round - the quarter-final stage -- much further than any Blackhill team had gone in recent years -- and our opponents here would be Killanny, a side that had knocked out the favourites Corduff at the quarter-final stage. The venue was Castleblayney and the date was Sunday 15th August. We had beaten Killanny before and knew that we could do so again, and so it proved as Blackhill again came out on top, with a place in the Junior Final now assured. A somewhat unsuccessful league campaign followed the semi-final victory over Killanny, but our eyes were set on the Championship. Coming through the 'winners section' of the Championship was our near neighbours Cremartin, and the Final with them was fixed for St. Mary's Park in Castleblayney on Sunday 5th September. What a build-up there was for this one, with the local newspaper describing it as 'something akin to a parochial derby, with near neighbours Blackhill and Cremartin meeting to decide the destiny of the Packie Boylan Cup'. The result was a massive crowd at the Castleblayney venue on the Sunday, probably the largest crowd ever seen at a Monaghan Junior Championship Final. Unfortunately, from the Blackhill point of view, tragedy struck in the very first minute of this 'local derby' contest, when Damien Woods, leader of the attack and the one player we were really depending on to spearhead a Blackhill victory, was stretchered off the field following a collision with another player. It was a blow from which Blackhill never fully recovered and they were eventually beaten on a score-line of --Cremartin 1-9, Blackhill 1-3. Nevertheless, it was a great achievement for this small club to have done so well and to have reached the very last hurdle in the premier competition of Monaghan Junior Football. That team did Blackhill proud and will always been fondly remembered in our catchment area. They lined out as follows:- Alan McArdle, Peter Walsh, Stephen McQuaid, Martin Griffin, Michael Woods, Brian McGuinness, Niall Loughran, Mark Duffy (0-1), Eamon Byrne, Stephen Duffy (0-1), Darren Woods, Barry Callan, Colin Woods (1-1), Tony Comiskey and Stephen Courtney. Subs used:- Martin Comiskey and Terry Woods. Despite defeat, the achievement of 2004 can only do good for the Blackhill club, and what was accomplished during the past twelve months can and will, surely be built upon in the year ahead. For those in Junior competitions in Monaghan who will imagine that Blackhill is something of a 'push-over', they better think again, for this young team has plenty of potential and will surely improve with age. The founding-fathers of "The Emeralds', mentioned in our two opening paragraphs would surely feel proud of this current panel of players and their achievement in reaching the Junior Championship final of 2004. They would feel prouder still when this side matures and goes one step further in 2005 by capturing that elusive title that is the prime goal of all junior clubs in Co. Monaghan -- the junior Championship and the Packie Boylan Cup. Year in review The Year 2004 brought mixed emotions for Blackhill Emeralds G.A.A., their players, officials and supporters. First of all there was great pride and joy when the club reached the junior championship final for the first time in thirty five years. There was also great sadness at the untimely death of club chairman Phil Courtney. The late Phil was involved with the club for well over thirty years as a player and official and his sudden passing robbed the Blackhill club and indeed Monaghan of one of its greatest Gaels. The championship season got under way on the 29th May with a visit to Carrickmacross and a meeting with Corduff. Beaten by six points in their first outing the back door system beckoned for the Emeralds. When the draw was made Blackhill were paired with new boys Feargal O'Hanlon's and eliminated the Monaghan town side to set up a meeting with Killeevan. The game took place in Cremartin and after a good hours football Blackhill were victorious by two points. Currin were next in line with a semi-final awaiting the winners. Blackhill marched on winning by 2-9 to 0-11. The semi-final against Killanny took place in Castleblayney on the 15th August with Blackhill finishing six points ahead at the final whistle thus ending a thirty five year gap since their last appearance in the final. St. Mary's Park, Castleblayney was the venue for the 2004 Junior Championship Final between Blackhill and neighbours Cremartin. The pairing attracted one of the biggest crowds to a junior final or indeed any championship final in Monaghan for quite some time. Blackhill suffered a body blow in the opening minute with an unfortunate injury to centre forward Darren Woods who was stretchered off. It was a blow from which the Emeralds never recovered and were beaten in on the scoreline Cremartin 1-9, Blackhill 1-3. The Blackhill team that appeared in the final, Alan McArdle, Peter Walsh, Stephen McQuaid, Martin Griffin, Michael Woods, Brian McGuinness, Nial Loughran, Mark Duffy, Eamonn Byrne, Stephen Duffy, Darren Woods, Barry Callan, Colin Woods, Tony Comiskey, Stephen Courtney. Subs used Martin Comiskey for Stephen Courtney and Terry Woods for Nial Loughran. In the Dr Ward Cup after a good start the team lost their way with a number of narrow defeats while in the reserve championship Blackhill were beaten by Truagh by a single point. In the juvenile grade our Under 13 side were beaten by Corduff in the final while Drumhowan defeated our Under 15 team also in the final. - Blackhill G.F.C. 2004 Juvenile Season It all began back in February when John Costello and myself, took the U13 team out and put them through their paces to prepare for another season. Following a good league campaign we reached the semi-final, which we duly won, setting up a meeting with Corduff in the final, who knocked us out in the semi-final of the U12 last year. Unfortunately they repeated the feat once again. The next competition was U12 John Costello and Kieran Donnelly took charge of this group and like our U13's had a very good league campaign and also reached the final, but Cremartin took the spoils in a very close and entertaining game. Our U14 team took the stage guided by Johnny Courtney and Paul West in a historic moment for Blackhill as they were the first juvenile team to play division one football in the clubs history. In this world of top flight football we acquitted ourselves very well, reaching the semi-final after winning a play off for fourth place, where we were beaten by a very strong Monaghan Harps team, who became eventual winners. Our U15 team which I took charge of, with a lot of help from Paul West reached the final but were beaten by a very strong Drumhowan team. Mac Malone and Pauric Loughran took charge of the U16 team who had mixed fortunes, they started very well, but hit by injury we faded away. Mac and Pauric also took charge of the minor team and worked very hard with a team who are all minor next year. The fruits of their labours were a place in both league and championship semi-finals but unfortunately were beaten in both by Doohamlet. It was another very successful year for Blackhill juveniles. I would like to thank Paul Murphy and both Pat and Francis Merrick for their trojan work with our U8s and U10s ensuring a bright future for Blackhill. Paraic Craig Tweet

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