Laragh United put together a concerted effort in 2003 and were desperately unlucky not to reach the final of the intermediate football championship. Centre back Paul Brady captained the team and believes that, even though silverware proved elusive, there are many positives to be plucked from the '03 campaign. Laragh were genuine contenders again in 2003. They were pipped in the IFC after a semi-final replay but did enough to suggest they're capable of returning to the top table during the months ahead. Looking back upon the hectic events of the season just ended, inspirational captain Paul Brady has the trace of a smile on his face. It wasn't a great year … but it was a pretty damn good one! "It was the best year we've had in a long time," the trusty centre half back confirms. "The feelgood factor has returned to Laragh and there's a buzz here again. There's a bit of enthusiasm in the air and we're really looking forward to the challenges that 2004 will bring." It's been exactly 20 years since Laragh's Golden Era drew to a close; 25 years since it began. The club has four county senior football championships to its credit - three of those were won in successive seasons, 1982-84; the first arrived in '79. Since then, things have been quieter in and around Stradone but hopes are high that the 25th anniversary of Laragh's first SFC and the 20th anniversary of their most recent championship success will prove a potent catalyst for a return to form in '04. Certainly, the Orange & Whites began to turn the corner with some impressive displays last term. As captain of the team, Paul Brady was disappointed not to get his hands on silverware but nonetheless encouraged by the level of progress demonstrated: "We wanted to win something, so we're disappointed to finish the year empty-handed. We had a new management team - Laurence Brady, Ray Cullivan and Jimmy Carroll - in place and were quietly confident. In fairness, after the bad year we'd had in 2002, the only way we could go was up!" Laragh set about the task at hand admirably and reached the semi-final stage of both the intermediate championship and Division Two league. Unfortunately, the semis proved a step too far. The IFC defeat was especially cruel as Laragh brought Ballinagh to a replay before succumbing by a point. A classic case of so near and yet so far! With senior football looming on the horizon, how frustrating was that defeat? "Obviously, we'd love to have won, but it wasn't a major surprise. You could put the defeat down to inexperience on the part of some of our players. There is a lack of experience in the team at the moment, but 2003 was a worthwhile learning experience for us all and will prove beneficial to the team in the future." Are Laragh happy then with how 2003 panned out in general? There was no promotion, but a marked improvement on previous campaigns materialised. "You can take good and bad things from any year," Paul points out. "We were very disappointed to lose the semi-final. In a lot of ways, I think it's easier to go out in the first round … but when you get within touching distance and falter it can really hurt. "However, we can draw a lot of positives from the year. The management team brought us along nicely and we're happy with our improvement. Considering how low the club was, it was a decent year. We've taken great encouragement from it and we're confident of building upon that performance in 2004." There's great hope in the area that this could be Laragh's year, and the 2003 run provides a solid platform upon which to build. "Yes," Paul agrees, "but we're under no illusions. We know we're going to have to work even harder this year and it's going to be anything but easy. Our main objective is to get back to Division One. "That's not to say we'll be treating the championship lightly, because we won't. We'll still give the championship our best shot. But we need to get back up playing Division One football as a matter or priority. Playing against top quality opposition every week would be a big help." Ideally, Laragh would like to win a league and championship double, a prospect aided by some long-overdue continuity on the sideline. "We've the same management again this year," Paul explains. "It's the first time in a long time that we've kept the same backroom team for successive seasons and it can't be a bad thing. It's a strong management team and hopefully, they'll get a good response from the players…" How good are the players? Are they good enough to hold their own in the higher echelons? "I think we've a very good crop of players. We're probably just lacking experience of winning games. Before being relegated, we were getting dragged into relegation dogfights in Division One and couldn't get past the group stages of the SFC. We were low on confidence going into 2003 but subsequent performances have raised our self-belief. We have players with intercounty experience at underage and senior level, and we can get stronger as a team." After the winter break, there's always a fresh start for every team. For Laragh, it's no different. The team recommenced training in early February and the mood in the camp was upbeat: "In 2003, we set out to make a good start in the league and, even though we lost our first game to Killinkere, we then had a good run of results and that got our confidence up. So we'll be looking for a good start again. The players know they're good enough, so it's a matter of putting the work in." Amazingly, Laragh played a total of seven games in the 2003 Cavan intermediate football championship. Both the quarter-final win over Cootehill and the semi-final defeat against Ballinagh went to replays. Prior to that, United lost their first group outing to eventual double-winners Denn before bouncing back with victories over Cornafean at Killygarry and Kill in Breffni Park to book their place in the business end of proceedings. "Those games should stand us in good stead this year," Paul notes. Winner of an IFC medal with Laragh in 1994 and an U21 souvenir with Laragh-Knockbride amalgamation St Brigid's in '97, Paul Brady was wing back on the superb Cavan side that romped to Ulster under 21 championship glory in 1996, before losing to Kerry in the All-Ireland final. He was on the senior panel when Martin McHugh led the Breffni County to provincial success in 1997 but eventually had to opt out due to time constraints (he was living in Limerick at the time). Paul is a computer technician in the computer services department at Dundalk IT. Tweet

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