John Mitchells demonstrated their true worth in the group stages of the 2003 Louth junior football championship. But a lacklustre semi-final performance in mid-August put paid to their promotion hopes. Club chairman James Sweeney reflects on the ups and downs of another year in the life of the Mitchells. When John Mitchells set out their targets for the 2003 season, there was only one thing on their mind: promotion - by any means possible! League or championship, it mattered not, so long as the Mitchells could earn a place in the middle grade for '04. However, it soon became apparent that the JFC represented the mid-Louth club's best chance of making the step-up. Inconsistency in the league meant they were soon out of contention there, so a major emphasis was placed on the championship. In the premier competition, the Mitchells were going great guns, showing the type of form and character that suggested they were more than good enough to land the Christy Bellew Cup. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be... A below-par semi-final performance against eventual champions Dowdallshill at Clan Na Gael Park prematurely ended the White & Red odyssey, leaving everyone associated with the club to reflect on what might have been. They had emerged from the group stage unbeaten - with two draws and a win - and certainly looked like potential champions at times. Mitchells made light of the fact that they were pitted in an extremely difficult section (alongside both Dowdallshill and Glen Emmets, as well as Annaghminnon Rovers) to book their place in the last four, but failed to do themselves justice against the 'Hill in Dundalk on Saturday August 16th, slipping to a deflating 2-11 to 2-5 defeat. Thus, a year that had promised so much ended on an anti-climactic note, much to the obvious disappointment of club stalwart James Sweeney, who served as chairman during the season just ended: "We had a nice run in the championship and with the new format we got a few extra games under our belt. We played four championship games altogether, which wasn't bad, but it ended in a disappointing manner. At the end of the day, I think we should have been in Louth village for the final in September. We were definitely good enough but under-achieved in the semi-final. "We'd shown our worth by remaining unbeaten up until then and our performance in the drawn game against Dowdallshill showed our true mettle. But unfortunately we fell flat on the night in the semi-final and that was effectively the end of our year." John Mitchells were in Group A of the 2003 junior football championship. They kicked off with a thrilling 1-18 to 2-15 draw against Glen Emmets at Tallanstown in early July and got two more points on the board a fortnight later when disposing of group whipping boys Annaghminnon, 4-10 to 3-6. Going into the last group game against Dowdallshill, there were still a number of possible permutations and the competition remained wide open. The game was played at Dunleer on August 8th and ended all square, 1-9 apiece. With three teams (Mitchells, Dowdallshill and Glen Emmets) locked at the top of the table on four points apiece and the spectre of multiple play-offs looming, the County Board held an emergency meeting and decided to scrape its original plan for the competition and allow all three teams through to the semi-final stage (where they would be joined by Group B winners Westerns). True to form, Mitchells were drawn against Dowdallshill, who they had only just played in the final round of group games. Still, it was a game they felt confident of winning, as the chairman notes: "In the drawn game, the lads had really put it up to Dowdallshill, so we still thought we had a 50/50 chance of going through, but we were outplayed on the night and could have no complaints. "I suppose the fact that we finished level with Dowdallshill at the top of the table and had drawn our group game against them showed that there wasn't very much between the two teams. If we'd continued to play to our full potential we could well have won the junior championship. "We started off with a great draw with Glen Emmets in an excellent game of football at Tallanstown and were full value for our seven-point win over Annaghminnon. From what I hear, the draw was also a fair result in the last group game. I was unable to attend that match myself but from the reports I heard the lads gave a tremendous account of themselves and pushed Dowdallshill all the way. "They played like a team worthy of a place in the final that night and justice was done when both teams were allowed through to the semi-finals. Both deserved to be in the knock-out stage but it was a pity we were drawn together again straight away. "We went into the semi-final unbeaten, but the wheels came off completely that night. We didn't get going at all and Dowdallshill were on top from start to finish. In fairness to Dowdallshill, they deserve credit for their performance that night and they proved it was no fluke when they went on to win the final. They missed nothing against us ... they were ruthless in front of the posts and fair play to them!" When Dowdallshill went on to win the championship outright, it provided a little bit of consolation to the Mitchells (at least they had been ousted by the eventual champions) - but not much! As James points out: "At the end of the day, there's no substitute for a win. Our intention was to win the championship ourselves, so the overall feeling in the camp is one of disappointment. "Our plan from the start of the year was to give both the league and championship a good shot. We had a bad run in the league though, and we started to talk about how we were due a championship! After all, it's a long time since 1998 [when the Ballybailie men famously swept to an emphatic junior league and championship double] and we wouldn't mind some more silverware to raise morale." The '98 double that James refers to really was something else. John Mitchells went through the entire year unbeaten and were expected to more than hold their own at the higher grade, but the cracks began to surface even before they'd kicked a ball in intermediate fare. "After we won the junior double, spirits were high because we'd had a great year and there was genuine cause for optimism. We beat the Brides in the championship final that year and it's frustrating when you stop and look at the progress they've made since then because they could never beat us in the junior championship. "Unfortunately, though, we weren't able to build on the 1998 success. Instead, the winning team fell apart through emigration and injury and we went back again. It was a shame because it's very hard to get out of junior grade in the first place and we'd done it in such style. Now we're struggling to get back out again..." Away from the actual field of play, John Mitchells received another blow in 2003 when their application for national lottery funding was turned down. James takes the story up: "We had great aspirations for some development work at Ballybailie but got a slap across the face from the national lottery. We had the plans drawn up and put our proposals forward but we were told we didn't qualify. "We hoped to move the ditch southwards, put in some covered accommodation and build a perimeter wall, but we really were depending on the national lottery money. A lot of funds were handed out to clubs in the county and all we wanted was a drop in the ocean by comparison to what some of them received, so we're disappointed to have been overlooked. "Still, we're not giving up that easily. We're going to knuckle down and try to fund the development ourselves next year." Speaking of next year, John Mitchells will - as ever - be determined to get their hands on some silverware. Says James: "Our aim will be to put past disappointments behind us. We'll go all out to win the junior championship and we know we can do it. I think it's time for us to stand up and do our talking on the pitch. We need some success to give us all a boost and we have the players, so hopefully 2004 will be our year. "If we did move up to intermediate, I believe John Mitchells would be able to hold our own. On our day, we'd be well able to compete with any intermediate team. There's only a kick of the ball between most intermediate and junior teams anyway." A lifetime servant of John Mitchells GFC (as player, referee and administrator), James Sweeney was delighted to see the club's U10s contesting a mid-Louth league final against O'Connells in 2003 and is happy with the quality of player coming through from successive Baile Talun sides: "At one stage we had the backbone of the Baile Talun team, but that comes and goes in cycles. We've a decent crop of young players coming through all the time, so our big challenge is to hold onto them. "I'd like to take this opportunity to compliment the men who were over the team in 2003 on their tremendous efforts. Enda Kerr and his selectors Des Halpenny and Paul Curtis did great work during the year and showed a lot of patience with the team. You couldn't fault their effort. If everyone knuckles down again next year, hopefully we'll get the rewards we deserve..." Tweet

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