Déjà vu: already seen; also called paramnesia; the experience of feeling sure that one has witnessed or experienced a new situation previously (an individual feels as though an event has already happened); a feeling of having experienced the present situation before; what happened to O'Raghallaighs' footballers in 2008. Scientists investigating the unsettling phenomenon known as déjà vu - whereby the subject is convinced that history is repeating itself - could do worse than travel up to the Gaelic Grounds to interview some of the O'Raghallaighs players about their recent experiences. The Hoops have just relived their 2007 season to an uncanny extent, bordering on Groundhog Day surrealism. Gerry Robinson contacted key attacker Barry Flanagan to look back on the oh-so-familiar events of '08. Yet again, O'Raghallaighs were in the shake-up for intermediate championship honours. Yet again, their brave run in the erstwhile knockout competition came to a halt at the semi-final stage. Yet again, it was Dreadnots who inflicted defeat on the town side. Yet again, the margin was just a single point. Looking back on 2008, full forward Barry Flanagan knows that O'Raghallaighs are there or thereabouts and is hoping that the often-knocked-upon door will soon be prised open: "We have been close in the championship for years now. This was only my second year on the team but the lads have been in semi-finals, quarter-finals and finals for five years now, so we're not too far away. We have to keep going. We know we have the players to get up to senior football. If the attitude is better next year, and we have a bit more luck on the injury front, we can win the intermediate championship." The IFC has become a Holy Grail for the Hoops. And they have been so, so close in recent seasons. In 2004, Dreadnots squeezed them out in the decider. For the past two years, the Clogherhead men have emerged at O'Raghallaighs' expense from extremely close semi-final battles. O'Raghallaighs also reached the quarter-final and semi-final stage in 2005 and 2006 respectively. They surface from their group perennially, but are finding the final step very difficult to take. "We had a very difficult 2008 with injuries to key players," Barry continues. "The likes of Eoghan Farrelly [wrist] and Damien Boyle [collarbone] were missing for the knockout games and that didn't help. Those guys would have made a big difference. It was tough luck. We were really hoping to win it, but we weren't prepared for that. It was a tough season - between the injuries and people playing soccer, we didn't quite have the numbers. "The soccer affected us badly. Lads were coming and going and weren't quite sure what they wanted. In January and February, we had at least 30 lads out training every night, but that gradually dipped down to the mid-20s or even around the 20 mark sometimes. We lost a few impact players to the soccer and then the injuries hit and we came up short in the end." O'Raghallaighs were in Group Two of the 2008 Louth IFC. They finished second, with seven points from five outings. In their opener, against Hunterstown Rovers at Dunleer on Sunday May 4, they produced an impressive fourth-quarter revival to prevail by 2-8 to 1-7, with No.14 Flanagan bagging both majors. A week later, at the same venue, Geraldines were defeated by 1-11 to 1-10. After a 0-10 apiece draw with Oliver Plunketts on Sunday June 22, O'Raghallaighs made it seven points from eight with a 5-15 to 1-11 annihilation of Sean McDermotts on Saturday August 9. Barry hit a hat-trick of goals in that one. With qualification to the business end assured, the final group match against Na Piarsaigh at Stabannon on Friday August 15 would determine who topped the section and advanced directly to the semi-finals. The Dundalk side won by five points, 1-11 to 1-6. The Joes were accounted for at the quarter-final stage at the Clans on Saturday August 30 (1-12 to 1-11) but Dreadnots ended the run with a 0-10 to 0-9 result at Stabannon three weeks later to spell an exceptionally frustrating end to the season for the men from the Gaelic Grounds. O'Raghallaighs had started their competitive year slowly with just one win from five outings in the ACC / Sheelan Cup, albeit against senior side Sean O'Mahonys (there were also draws with Dreadnots and Hunterstown). In Division Two of the league, O'Raghallaighs managed only three wins from their eleven matches and finished fourth from bottom with a paltry return of only seven points resulting from a collapse of Tommy Cooper proportions. The indifferent league form was a source of great disappointment to everybody concerned but the players can surely take heart from their latest championship run. "We held a players' meeting during the last week of October and it was pointed out that we hadn't done well enough. We know we got to a championship semi-final, but the league really reflected more accurately where we are at and how we are progressing. We know we have to give a greater effort next year and we know we have to improve upon our league form in particular. Hopefully, we won't have the same bad luck with injuries. "The performances in Division Two weren't nearly good enough. We should be pushing for promotion. The championship covered us for the year, but the reality is that we flopped in the league. We got seven points from our first four games and after that we lost every single game - seven in a row. Most of those defeats were only by a point or two, which shows that we could have gone a lot further if we'd really pushed ourselves harder." Every team says they will step up to the plate next year. Will O'Raghallaighs actually deliver on that promise? "It's easy to say, but hopefully we'll see an improvement. We have a much better chance if we can stay relatively injury free. We definitely have the players to win an intermediate championship. Losing to Dreadnots by one point with 14 men, and a couple missing through injury - that tells its own story. I think we could have gone further than a semi-final. Next year, we will be looking at a league and championship double because we have the players to play senior football." Barry's own superb form saw him finish the year as second highest scorer in the IFC and he trained with the Louth seniors for a while (having represented the Wee County already at minor and U21 levels), but the O'Raghallaighs target man isn't much into personal accolades. "I was happy with the scores but it's a team effort and I was disappointed we didn't get to a final at least. Personally, I wasn't consistent enough over the season, but it was only my second year and hopefully I have a lot of years ahead of me to do something with the club. We have a nice team with an average age in the mid-20s, with a few more experienced lads to lend a guiding hand and teenager like Boylo, myself and Robert Smith coming through. There's still plenty there, but we'll have to deliver in the next year or two." It would mean a lot to this great traditional club to return to the top table. In 2009, everything will be geared towards that objective. "We really have to give it a good go next year," Barry concedes. "I think a lot of the lads are going to be much more focussed. We have a decent squad of players with plenty of ability - not just to get up senior but to stay there. Without being complacent, we know intermediate is there for the taking. If we take each game as it comes, we should be close. "We started well last year but couldn't keep it going. We particularly need to improve in the league. The teams that get to the final in the championship tend to be up at the top of the league. If we get into a winning habit and keep the lads motivated, we have the footballers here to win an intermediate title." The O'Raghallaighs team that beat Hunterstown Rovers by 2-8 to 1-7 in the opening Group B game of the 2008 Louth IFC: Shane Toal; Kevin McCormack, Cathal McGinty, Graeme Murray; James Moonan, Ciaran Brassil, Damham Finnegan; Robert Smith, Neil Clarke; Ciaran Carolan, Brian Smith, Tony Grifferty (0-1); Graeme Leech ((0-2), Barry Flanagan (2-1), Damien Boyle (0-1). Subs: Craig McEnteggart (0-1), Anthony Briscoe, Chris Smith (0-1), Eoghan Farrelly (0-1) Tweet

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