Even the best laid plans in football can be thrown off course by a shortage of personnel. Naomh Mairtin know that better than most after a difficult 2008 campaign. By James Rogers. This time last year the Monasterboice outfit would have been looking forward to the season ahead with some optimism. Despite a poor start to the 2007 campaign, former Louth captain Nicky Malone had taken charge at the halfway point and helped the side to a number of superb victories that suggested better things lay ahead. With another former inter-county star, Benny Reilly, joining the club on a transfer from the John Mitchels, a good panel seemed to only get stronger. The reality of the situation was though that the Mairtins were facing an uphill struggle from the word go. The long-serving McDonnell brothers, Paul and James, announced their retirements along with Eddie Martin and Barry Murtagh while Paddy Loughran and JP Rooney would be unavailable also having opted to go to Australia for 12 months. To make matters worse, the Monasterboice men suffered from rotten luck in terms of injuries. New recruit Reilly spent the bulk of the year on the sidelines along with Mark McCormack while the likes of ace marksman Francis McCullough also missed a portion of the season. What that meant was that the Mairtins struggled for much of the year in the league but in the end they were quite happy to preserve their senior championship and Division One status - no mean feat considering some of the difficulties they had. After missing out on a place in the latter stages of the championship with a narrow one point defeat to Glyde Rangers in Dromiskin, the Monasterboice men looked in real trouble in the league as they languished at the bottom of the table with one of the worst score differences in the division. However, with a number of players back in action, including JP Rooney, the Boice Park men hit 11 goals in their last two matches against the Sean O'Mahony's and St Joseph's respectively to help them avoid relegation. It was hardly the type of honour they were hoping to be fighting for come the season's end, but chairman Mick Fanning insists the side were happy to consolidate their position in the finish up. "I suppose you'd have to be happy enough with how we finished the season," said the Cockle Road man. "We got off to a bad start in both the league and the championship but having said that we had a lot of retirements and injuries as well as other players away in Australia. "It was always going to be tough losing eight or nine players like that, without taking into account other injuries picked up throughout the year. "We finished well though and put up some huge scores in the end so hopefully that bodes well for next season," said Fanning. The year had actually started quite well for the Monasterboice men with victories over Dundalk Young Irelands, Oliver Plunketts and Mattock Rangers as well as a draw with the Geraldines helping them into the Sheelan Cup final against an unbeaten Roche Emmets at the start of April. The game in Dromiskin didn't exactly go the Mairtin's way, however, as they found themselves 2-5 to no score behind after a quarter of an hour. In fact, it took until the 19th minute when Brian Berrills fired wide for the Boice Park outfit to register their first shot at goal. To their credit, the Monasterboice men fought back well either side of half time but they only ever got to within two points of their opponents before Roche found another gear to pull away from them once again as the North Louth outfit ran out 2-13 to 1-12 winners. That was a defeat that the Mairtins never really recovered from, in truth. There was an opening round league win over Kilkerley Emmets but Nicky Malone's men then lost by a point to the Newtown Blues before going down by the same margin at home to Naomh Malachi on a 2-7 to 0-12 scoreline. Slow starts were becoming a common feature of Naomh Mairtin's play and that trend continued into their opening championship clash with St Patrick's when they took 23 minutes to open their account with what was their first shot as they went down heavily to the holders on a 4-12 to 0-6 scoreline. Things didn't get any easier the next week when they lost to local rivals Mattock Rangers by 2-16 to 1-6, leaving them immediately in danger of relegation to the intermediate grade. With league action resuming at that stage, the Mairtins then lost their next four games to Dundalk Gaels, St Patrick's, Cooley Kickhams and Mattock Rangers respectively to leave them with just two points from seven matches and in danger of the drop there too. Then on June 22nd they threw themselves a championship lifeline with a dramatic 1-7 to 0-9 victory over Dundalk Gaels in Dowdallshill. The Monasterboice outfit looked dead and buried as they trailed their opponents by 0-7 to 0-1 approaching half-time. However, a fisted goal from David Delaney two minutes before the break saw the start of a sequence which saw them hit 1-6 unanswered as they held their opponents scoreless for nearly 40 minutes. Brian Berrill hit three second half points along with two from Francis McCullough and another from Ollie Ginty as the Mairtins dramatically turned the tables on their opponents before holding out for the narrowest of victories. There was then a long gap until their next outing in the league against St Brides on July 27. They lost out to the Knockbridge men but then three days later claimed only their second league victory of the season with a 1-8 to 0-8 win over St Mary's. This was followed by a 3-5 to 2-6 victory over Sean O'Mahony's in the championship which left the Mairtins still in with a chance of a place in the latter stages going into the final round of group games. However, any hopes they had of achieving that goal was ended when they went down by the narrowest of margins to Glyde Rangers on a 1-11 to 0-13 scoreline. It brought the curtain down on a championship campaign that never delivered on its promise but it must also be remembered that the only sides who beat the Mairtins were the holders and sides who would eventually go on to contest a final and semi-final respectively. There was still quite a bit to be played for in the league, however, with the club still very much in relegation trouble entering the last two matches. However, with JP Rooney back from Australia the Mairtins excelled in their two final games, beating the Sean O'Mahony's by 5-14 to 1-5 in the Point Road before rounding off their campaign with a comprehensive 6-16 to 0-7 win over St Joseph's a week later. Those two victories meant that they were comfortably clear of relegation by the finish and that, according to Fanning, was a testament to the younger players introduced throughout the year coming of age. "This year was always going to be tough for us because we had to bring a lot of young lads in but they came good in the end and the return of players from injury and having JP Rooney back also helped," said the chairman. "We were happy just to consolidate our position in the league and championship in the end but we were unlucky too because we lost a good few games by just a point and we probably should have beaten Glyde in the championship." Fanning believes the club is going in the right direction though. The club introduced a number of young players throughout the year and the experience stood to them as they brought U-21 Championship finalists St Brigid's to a replay and were unlucky not to beat them. "We have a very good underage structure at the club and that's what probably helped us get through the year. "The experience they've gained throughout 2008 will be invaluable to them in the future and we'll be much better placed to challenge next year as a result. "We were very satisfied with the last two games, in particular, when we got back to full strength and the most pleasing thing is that the oldest man on the panel in those matches was 29. "The youngsters we have coming through are a big boost to the club and it's pleasing to think that 18 of our U-21 panel are still eligible for next year. "We're lucky to have some good men working with them. James Howell has done a great job as minor chairman while Frank Keenan has worked very hard with them as manager of the junior team." While results may not always have gone Naomh Mairtin's way on the pitch this year, the club was honoured to host a number of championship matches throughout the campaign. Fanning admits that work is already underway at Boice Park to ensure there are even more games held there in the future. "We've started developments at the ground already. At present we're building a wall around the pitch while we're also looking to build a new stand in the not-too-distant future." Things are certainly looking up for Naomh Mairtin at present and just as at the end of 2007, things are looking optimistic for the year ahead. With a bit more luck, they might just fulfil their huge potential in 2009. Tweet

Most Read Stories