It was a tricky year for Pearse Og. Crowned Louth senior hurling champions for the first time in 2002, they were always going to find it difficult to scale the same heights. Alas, they relinquished their county crown, but it was nonetheless a satisfactory season for the Green & Gold, as 2003 team captain Padraig Larkin relates to Gerry Robinson. The sheer euphoria that accompanied Pearse Og's historic Louth SHC breakthrough will never be forgotten in the Holy Family parish. It truly was something special. Pearse Og's determined efforts against red hot favourites Knockbridge in the 2002 county final were legendary ... so were the celebrations that marked their landmark success. In the world of gaelic games there's always another season around the corner, however, and the new county kingpins were presented with the challenge of doing it all again in '03. For the first time ever, they were the team to beat and the other clubs in the Wee County went all out to shoot them down. On this occasion, the Dundalk club failed to rise to the challenge, surrendering their championship crown against Wolfe Tones at the semi-final stage of the premier competition. While that was undeniably a disappointing result, there are many positives to be plucked from the smouldering ashes of the '03 season. For a start, Pearse Og's form in general was impressive, their displays in both the Armagh and Louth leagues providing no end of encouragement. The club also served Louth hurling in the most important way of all: its players backboned the county team throughout the year. One of those hurlers was Padraig Larkin, Pearse Og club captain in 2003 as well as an ever-present with Louth. While naturally disappointed at surrendering the Paddy Kelly Cup (with one of their poorest performances of the year), Padraig believes 2003 was still an important arc on Pearse Og's learning curve and is confident they can return stronger than ever in '04. Looking to the battles that lie ahead, Padraig notes: "Up until recently, Pearse Og have always been seen as the underdogs but that is no longer the case. We have made a lot of progress, winning a county championship and getting so many men onto the Louth team. "We're right up there now alongside Knockbridge as the two strongest teams in the county. They won the title back in 2003 but we're definitely their closest challengers. We've beaten them regularly in recent seasons and we know we're every bit as good as them, if not better. "After the disappointment of being beaten so easily this year, I expect the hunger to be back in a big way next year. The enthusiasm will be there and our preparations will be even better than before. We may have been a little complacent in 2003, but that won't be the case next year. Our aim will be to get to the county final at least. And with the quality we have in the team, I've no doubt we'll achieve that." Ominous words emanating from the Pearse Og camp - and understandably so. On the evidence of what they achieved in 2002, they possess the wherewithal required to win county titles. Now it's just a matter of getting it right on the day ... and there's no reason in the world why the present team shouldn't do precisely that on any given occasion. The captain agrees that after the spectacular high of the previous season, 2003 was always going to be a tough year for Pearse Og: "We knew it was going to be difficult and that everyone else would be gunning for us, but we still believed in our ability and intended to get to the county final. We were very disappointed to lose to Wolfe Tones in the first round. That certainly wasn't part of the plan! But we can't complain because we were beaten by the better team on the day and we have to take it on the chin." Still and all, the semi-final defeat was difficult to come to terms with as Pearse Og had fully expected to win. Says Padraig: "We had beaten them well in the league six weeks earlier and we thought we'd do the same again. In hindsight, maybe some of the lads were already looking ahead to the final, which is always a dangerous thing to do. We beat the Tones in the 2002 semi-final at Ardee, but this time they were more determined and they fully deserved to beat us." Was it perhaps a case of Pearse Og losing some of their hunger after feasting on the spoils of victory the previous winter? "No, the hunger was still there. The spirit in the team was good and we had good turn-outs at training. We were full of enthusiasm and the players put the work in. Everything looked good for us ... sometimes it's simply a matter of losing to the best team on the night and I think that's what happened. "But we still got to the league final, which is a big boost. All we have to do next year is demonstrate the same level of consistency in the championship..." While '03 was somewhat disappointing, the previous year was anything but as Pearse Og resoundingly justified their existence with a magnificent county championship triumph. "It was a massive year," Padraig concurs. "It was the first time we won it and to beat Knockbridge in the final as complete underdogs was a wonderful feeling. "Things just fell perfectly for us. The final was played late in the year and we had something like three months to prepare for it after our semi-final against Wolfe Tones. We trained hard three nights a week, with all out energies directed towards winning that one game. We knew we had it in us and we proved ourselves with a great victory on county final day. It was well celebrated too, I can tell you!" On top of everything else, victory secured the club major representative honours at intercounty level. Pearse Og had 13 players on the Louth panel at the start of the '03 season and five or six of those lined out regularly for the Wee County over the course of the year. Six Pearse Og men were on the team that lost narrowly to Meath in the Leinster junior championship. Padraig Larkin was one of those called in. As reported in greater detail elsewhere in this splendid tome, the Wee County performed gallantly but were right out of luck in both league and championship: "We were unlucky. We had a good national league and missed the final on points difference. We only lost two games all year - against Monaghan and Mayo - but Sligo pipped us on scoring averages. "In the championship we played Meath for the fourth year in a row. We were winning up until the last few minutes but they got a couple of very late goals and that turned the game on its head. We were very disappointed. We were really determined to beat them this time, but lost it right at the end. Joe Power and all the players were devastated at the final whistle, but hopefully we can get it right next year..." Padraig also played for Louth four years ago and was delighted to be called back into the fold. He played every game with the county in 2003, starting the season in midfield before eventually reverting to his more customary full back berth. The 2003 Pearse Og captain believes there's plenty to look forward to in the coming year, both at club and county levels: "I can see Pearse Og having a big turn-out with Louth again. I'm hoping to start training with the county again myself around January or February and we'll take it from there. Hopefully we'll get plenty of hurling with Louth before the club season gets going again. "In fact, we've never got as much hurling. We have a game every week in the Armagh league from April to September and then the county scene keeps us going as well. This is the most hurling that any of the clubs in Louth have played and there's two extra games each year now with Termonfeckin emerging, so it's all a pretty positive state of affairs." Padraig (28) has been hurling with the club since he was ten and (like many of the current side) has been on the first team since Pearse Og was formed in 1989. Last year was the greatest in the club's history and, while the success wasn't repeated in 2003, there would appear to be many great times on the horizon for Pearse Og Hurling Club. Tweet

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