It was another excellent year for St Brides. The Knockbridge outfit again reached the business end of the SFC and demonstrated remarkable consistency in Division 1A of the league. Corner forward Ray Kelly was outstanding throughout and was called into Louth's championship panel for his troubles. Having narrowly lost the previous year's county final, St Brides went all out to win the 2003 Louth senior football championship. Yet again, they went tantalisingly close, this time losing to St Marys after a replayed semi-final. While it was a disappointing defeat, the Brides' general form over the year proved that 2002 was no flash in the pan and clearly identifies the men from Knockbridge as genuine Joe Ward contenders. Ace scorer Ray Kelly was called into the county senior panel on the back of some exceptional form for his club. Reflecting on the events of '03, he says that, having proven themselves as genuine top-grade material, the Brides are desperate for senior silverware. Furthermore, he admits that disappointment was the order of the day when St Marys emerged victorious from a largely one-sided SFC semi-final replay at Castlebellingham on Friday August 29th. On that occasion, Knockbridge managed only one score in the first half, en route to a demoralising 1-9 to 0-4 defeat: "It was really disappointing because we were hoping to go on and win it. Our aim was to build on last year but for some reason we never played as well as we did in '02. We didn't pick up where we had left off and we were very slow getting into our stride." Having said that, the Brides did successfully negotiate the group phase of the competition (by virtue of a play-off defeat of Stabannon) and pulled off a major surprise when toppling fancied Newtown Blues at the quarter-final stage. Thereafter, they were also involved in what was arguably the Game of the Championship, the drawn semi-final against the Marys at The Grove on Sunday August 24th. An engrossing free-flowing game of football finished on a scoreline of St Brides 1-14, St Marys 0-17. Ray Kelly bagged 1-4 and the Brides led comfortably with time running out, only for the Ardee side to strike late and force the replay (wherein the Brides' championship aspirations would come unhinged for another year). "Over all, we were disappointed with our run," Ray notes. "When you get to a semi-final, you're always going to have one eye on the final and we were looking forward to back-to-back county final appearances. We played our best football of the year in the drawn semi-final but the Marys refused to give it up. It was frustrating not to come out of that game with a win after playing so well, and we never reached the same heights the second night." From a psychological point of view, Ray believes that drawing the first game was almost the equivalent of losing it: "A lot of it was in our heads. Failing to win the first semi-final left us deflated, whereas the Marys had a spring in their step for the replay. When we were four points clear late in the game, we should have put them away but we let them back into it and they never gave us the same chance the second night. They had their homework done and were by far the better team..." The progress Brides have made in recent years has been nothing short of astonishing. They were junior in 1998 but gained promotion in successive seasons to take their place in the 2000 SFC. The Knockbridge side quickly settled into life in the top grade (knocking St Marys out of the '00 SFC competition after a replay) and have consolidated themselves as one of the strongest senior sides in the Wee County. Five years ago, St Brides escaped junior ranks by finishing runners-up in both league and championship ... these days they aim much higher! As Ray relates: "From the start of the year in both 2002 and 2003, our aim was to win the senior championship, and it'll be the same again next year. We know we're there or thereabouts and we felt we could do it this year. We went all out for it and we started into training the first week in January. "The club did everything it could to give us every chance of winning the Joe Ward. They bought new weights and we were training hard three nights a week from the start of the year. We went up to the beach on Sunday mornings and they looked after us with breakfast and everything. You certainly couldn't fault the effort that was put in." Sean Woods was in charge of team affairs once more, assisted by Robbie Ashfield and Ollie Devan. The Brides got their championship campaign off to a rocky start when losing to St Josephs by 1-14 to 1-9 at Dunleer but bounced back with consecutive victories to force a three-way play-off in Group A. Firstly, Stabannon were accounted for at Haggardstown (0-10 to 1-5) before the 2002 finalists closed out their initial group programme on July 18th with a 1-15 to 2-7 win over senior newcomers Naomh Malachi at Louth village. This left three teams - Brides, Joes and Stabannon - tied at the top of the group table with four points apiece. The Brides were drawn against Stabannon in the first play-off for the right to finish top of the group. The match proceeded at Dromiskin on Friday July 25th and the Red & Whites prevailed with five points to spare, 1-8 to 0-6. Aaron Hoey registered 1-3 and Ray Kelly returned three points for the winners. Victory earned the 2002 finalists a quarter-final clash with Newtown Blues, who were many people's fancy to take the Joe Ward. A low-scoring encounter took place at Ardee on Friday August 8th and the Brides showed tremendous resolve to edge out the champions of 2000 and 2001 by 1-5 to 0-7. Gaels all over the Wee County were now sitting up to take notice but unfortunately the Brides' run ended at the penultimate round. Looking back on the '03 campaign, Ray Kelly admits the Brides didn't exactly make a blistering start: "Losing the first game to the Joes in Dunleer by four points was a bit of a wake-up call. And only Barry Corcoran saved a penalty in the second game against Stabannon we would have been out. But we hung in there and beat the Malachis and then Stabannon in the play-off. "When we beat the Blues in the quarter-final that gave us a great lift. You know when you beat the Blues in the championship that you're in with a great shout. Breen Phillips came into our dressing-room after the game and he was clearly shocked. He could barely talk but he said they had been flat out and that they were convinced they were going to win it out. "But we battled hard and our defence won us the game by only conceding seven points. We were full of confidence after the Blues game and we carried that in against the Marys. The first semi-final was a great game and we produced some wonderful football - the best we played all year. We should've gone on to win it and we were very disappointed leaving Castlebellingham that night..." They were even more disappointed after the replay. Of course, St Brides are an excellent league side. It was through the league that they gained promotion to senior football in the first place and their Division 1A form in 2003 was extremely consistent. At the time of writing, they were still in the chase for the Cardinal O'Donnell Cup. Brothers Aidan and Ruairi join Ray Kelly on the St Brides team. Their father Gerry Kelly captained the last St Brides team to win a championship - the 1967 JFC-winning XV. Now with a seasoned senior outfit (still with an average age of only 23/24) at their disposal, the Brides are hoping to bridge the gap with a senior championship title. "There'll be another senior championship up for grabs next year and we'll set our sights again," Ray promises. "With the team we have at the moment, this is the best chance in 60 years of bringing a senior championship to Knockbridge [The Brides captured their sole SFC in 1943] and it's a goal we fully intend to realise. Hopefully we'll pull it off over the next two-three years, because this team should be here to stay." Ray himself has been on the St Brides first team for eight seasons. So far in the club colours, he has collected Division 2 (Eddie Toner Cup) and Division 1B (McShane Cup) league honours as well as an U21 championship. Ten or eleven of that U21 championship-winning side are on the current senior team. Having previously represented the Wee County at minor and U21 levels, Brides attacker Raymond Kelly was drafted onto Louth's 2003 senior championship panel in March. He was in Croke Park for the Wicklow and Dublin games and also travelled to Navan for the ill-fated Qualifier against Cavan. With the new management regime in place, the Knockbridge man confides: "I hope to get a chance under Val Andrews. And, if I get the chance, I hope to take it!" Tweet

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