It was a good year for all on the Point Road. Focussed in their approach, the O'Mahonys enjoyed a brave run to the latter stages of the IFC and proved that, on their day, they're a match for any intermediate side in the Wee County. Outgoing manager Paul McLaughlin was happy with the response from his players. Sean O'Mahonys had a spring in their step going into the 2003 season. And why not? The Dundalk side had been promoted to Division 2A at the end of the previous year's league campaign and were hopeful of consolidating themselves as one of the top intermediate teams in Louth. This they achieved with a gutsy championship run (halted only by eventual champions Dundalk Gaels in a quarter-final replay) and some impressive results against the top teams in Division 2A At the time of writing, the league programme had not yet been completed and O'Mahonys were in danger of slipping back to 2B. However, in general, the mood on the Point Road is one of optimism, especially with so many young players emerging onto the team during the course of the season. Paul McLaughlin has just completed a busy five-year term in charge of team affairs. Looking back over the ins and outs of his latest year in charge, he is clearly upbeat: "We have raised our standards in the way we prepare for matches and the overall approach and attitude of the players. Training went very well during the year and that's a big step in the right direction. We're happy with the preparations and the amount of interest being shown in the club. Hopefully, the lads will keep putting the work in ... the next step is to try to get the balance right." Two-thousand-and-three was Paul's fifth year at the helm. He was assisted in his managerial duties by Barry O'Brien and the team went into the year with a very definite idea of what they wanted to achieve: "We were trying to hold our own. That was our ultimate priority and we managed it to a certain extent. We got promotion in 2002 and we knew it would be a greater challenge playing in 2A, because there's not much between any of the teams in this league. All the teams are on a par and there's never much between the top and bottom of the table. We knew it was going to be very tight all year and that's exactly how it proved. "There were no cheap points to be had and every game was a big one. We were also trying to blood youngsters all the time and it's a very delicate balancing act." Indeed, there's plenty of young talent coming through, which is extremely positive. When O'Mahonys faced O'Connells in the league on Sunday October 12th, FIVE of their six forwards were aged 19 or younger! They still only lost by a goal and all those players will be a year older and wiser in 2004... However, unfortunately that defeat edged the Point Road side closer to the spectre of demotion: "When two teams out of seven get relegated, there's not going to be much room for comfort," Paul notes. "It was a very good, competitive league all year and the interest was still there right down to the last few games, with a number of issues still to be determined. The league was very worthwhile and we got a lot of good games under our belt." In this respect, the championship served O'Mahonys well too. They came through their group as runners-up to qualify for a quarter-final clash with fellow town side Dundalk Gaels. There was nothing between the teams, but the more experienced Gaels progressed after a replay and went on to claim the silverware. "We were disappointed to lose, but we still had a good run and it took the eventual winners to stop us. We gave as good as we got up until the second half of the replay, so we can hold our heads up high. We were five points up at half time in the drawn game but failed to score at all in the second half. We never got going at all and they pushed us back and got the win they deserved. If we'd managed to get one score it might have made a difference but, as it was, there was no spark." It was a bizarre game. What went wrong? "I think we made the mistake of trying to hold on to the lead and invited them onto us. If we'd gone behind sooner, perhaps we'd have got going again. But, instead we were hanging on and conceded a poor goal very late in the game [the 58th minute] ... too late for us to recover. If we couldn't score for 28 minutes, we definitely weren't going to get a goal in the last two minutes! We can't complain though, because the Gaels definitely deserved to win on the strength of their second-half display." In the drawn quarter-final, O'Mahonys had trailed by five points late on but rallied to equalise. Had the game lasted another couple of minutes, they could well have gone on to win it. "It was a good effort considering that there were two divisions between us the previous year. We pushed them close and we're happy with that. What was the team's objective at the start of the year? Were they gunning for championship glory? "We wanted to stay in our division first and foremost, but of course we set out to win every game. Our target in 2002 was promotion, but we knew it'd be more difficult this year. You get punished for poor performances in Division 2A, as we found out..." How optimistic are the Seans to have so many young players breaking onto the scene? "It's going to take more time, but these lads have plenty of ability. It's important to give them matches, but when you're chasing points the temptation is to play safe and stick with the more experienced players. We have to ease them into it and we have to give them games, though. We've a small enough panel, and can't afford to lose anyone." How difficult will it be to hold onto these lads? "We're hoping to keep them. There are a lot of distractions, but we're spending time with them and we're keeping them on the right track. Even though they're so young, they're showing plenty of enthusiasm, which is a good sign." Did the players seem to enjoy their year? Did they get a buzz out of pulling on the jersey? "They did. But we started training in January and there were still four league games remaining to be played by mid-October, which was very disappointing for everybody, especially as there was one period where we had no game for a month! "I think most clubs are disappointed with the fixtures, because you want to play your games in the summer time. There are more games to play in a season now with the championship on a league basis. We played six games in the championship in 2003, whereas before we were used to maybe one or two. So it's great to be getting those games, but disappointing to see the season so drawn out..." O'Mahonys qualified for the knock-out phase of the IFC by beating St Fechins in their last group outing in Ardee. Elsewhere in Group A, they also accounted for Dreadnots (0-9 to 0-8) at Castlebellingham and St Mochtas (3-13 to 1-7) at Dowdallshill, having lost to table-toppers O'Connells in their group opener at Rassan. The original quarter-final was played on Saturday August 16th and finished Dundalk Gaels 1-6, Sean O'Mahonys 0-9. Gaels won the replay by a goal, 1-8 to 0-8, at Pairc Clan Na nGael on Sunday September 7th. Earlier in the season, O'Mahonys had beaten Gaels in the Grogan Cup and the Point Road outfit also won away to Dreadnots and home to Oliver Plunketts in the league, as well as holding O'Connells to a draw. All in all, they held their own against the grade's top teams. Understandably, the manager is far from crestfallen: "The club is in a very healthy position. We've done a lot of work on the field and we're back playing on the pitch on the Point Road now, which is important not just for games but also as a training base. New dressing-rooms were built ten years ago and we have excellent facilities ... floodlighting and a great surface. Things are looking good for the club on that front. "We're hoping to spend more time with the underage members to try to bring them along. We've already started with young lads from six up to U10 and U11 on Monday evenings and that's going very well." Having given five years of his time, Paul intends to step aside as first team manager next year, to allow a new face to come in and freshen things up. Will the new manager be taking over a crop of players good enough to win silverware? "I think we still need to give our younger players time to adjust. The long-term goal of every club is to play senior football and we're no different, but we may be short one or two players in key positions at the moment. The most important thing is to stay intermediate, bring the young players through, and take it from there. "We're good enough to hold our own. But the panel is small and we can't afford to lose players or to have anyone out injured. That makes things very difficult." One young man who had an exceptional year was John O'Brien, who also starred with Louth's outstanding and ultimately unlucky minor team: "John is a great lad with a good attitude. He's very talented and at times we may even have asked too much from him - but he never let us down. I had to play him literally everywhere over the course of the season and he served us well in a variety of positions. We're fortunate to have a player like him. "John played at centre back in the league against O'Connells and did a great job on Mark Stanfield. It was impressive stuff and if we keep the players coming along, they can blossom into big players for this club." There's no silverware on the Point Road at the moment then - but oodles of satisfaction! "Over the past few years we've been very successful in generating an interest in the club and in boosting the numbers at training. In a way, this is just as significant as winning trophies. The lads are showing a tremendous interest in Sean O'Mahonys and the effort is being put in by all concerned, so we're very happy in that regard," Paul concludes. Tweet

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