Wolfe Tones hurlers enjoyed a satisfactory year on all fronts, giving a good account of themselves in the Dublin league and reaching the final of the Louth SHC. Inspirational captain Diarmuid McCarthy is confident that the Reds can do even better in 2004. The hurlers of Wolfe Tones can look back on '03 with much satisfaction. For the second year, the Tones competed in the Dublin hurling league and this time the Drogheda representatives gave as good as they got, With a series of spirited performances against capital opposition, Wolfe Tones did Wee County hurling proud. They also looked the part en route to the Louth senior hurling championship final, easily scalping defending champions Pearse Og in the first round (1-10 to 1-3 at Castlebellingham on July 13th) before annihilating competition debutants Termonfeckin (5-19 to 1-4), in a semi-final at Drogheda seven days later. Unfortunately, despite starting brightly, Wolfe Tones lost their way in the county decider and succumbed to a 0-11 to 0-5 defeat at the hands of Knockbridge at The Grove on Friday August 15th. It was a huge disappointment as Tones have now lost five county SHC finals since last capturing the Wee County crown in 1996. Diarmuid McCarthy normally occupies one of the central diamond positions for Wolfe Tones. He captained the club in the 2003 county final from centre back and the Drogheda side outplayed the 'Bridge for the first 25 minutes. But their performance level dipped fatally after the break and ultimate honours eluded them. Despite the obvious disappointment of losing their biggest game of the year, Wolfe Tones are reasonably content with their 2003 lot. Diarmuid enthuses: "We were struggling a few years ago but some young lads have come through and given us a real boost. The age profile of the team is coming down at last, and that's great to see. "The two Coyle brother - Patrick (16) and Finbar (19) - have broken onto the team, as well as Neil Sands (21). So the young players are there if we can keep them interested. The key to that is to give them plenty of games, which we're able to do through our participation in the Dublin league." In general, the 2003 captain was pleased with how the Tones fared: "It was certainly an improvement on the previous year. In 2002, Pearse Og knocked us out in the first round and this time we set our sights on getting past them. We were happy with the manner in which we beat Pearse Og. "However, after beating both them and Termonfeckin so well, we felt we had a good chance against Knockbridge. But we failed to perform on the day in the final and we didn't do ourselves justice. That was the only disappointing aspect of the year - everything else was very positive." Certainly, the Tones had a very productive innings in the Dublin league, which accounted for the majority of their games over the course of the season. The last game of their Dublin league campaign was a two-point defeat of O'Tooles in Drogheda on Sunday morning, September 28th. It was an apt conclusion to a programme of fixtures that saw the Tones only narrowly miss out on promotion. "Another couple of wins would've been enough to earn us promotion, which would have been a huge achievement," Diarmuid notes. "We're in Intermediate I at the moment, which is effectively Division Three out of a toal of eleven divisions, so we're doing pretty well. "Playing in the Dublin league is a really worthwhile exercise and we're giving a good account of ourselves. We played 14 games and finished third on the table. We also played six Cup games on top of that, which makes up a total of 20 games in Dublin altogether, starting in mid-March. Those matches are of enormous benefit to us. We struggled a little bit in our first year competing in Dublin - mainly due to the logistics involved in playing in an outside county - but we were more organised this year and it went very well." If Wolfe Tones are to prosper, participation in the Dublin league is vital. "It's very, very important to us," Diarmuid confirms. "We only get four league games in Louth and there's often months between them. We played the first game in April and still hadn't played our final game by October. It was more or less irrelevant by then as the finalists were already known, but it would still be nice if we had the chance to complete our programme. "Only for the Dublin league games I don't know what we'd do. We'd be sitting around inactive all year and it would be very difficult to keep lads interested in the club. In Dublin, the games are rattled off every second week with cup games on alternative weekends. That's the bulk of our games for the year. "We only played three meaningful games in Louth this year - you can't have fellas slogging away at training all year just for three games. No matter how good the training is, you won't get any better just from training alone ... you have to play the matches." Tones definitely got the matches in 2003. Up to 30 competitive outings is ample satiation for any team. Diarmuid McCarthy agrees: "All things considered, it was a worthwhile season. We played our first game on February 22nd and hurled right through into October. We had a game every week and that's what it's all about ... keeping lads playing and maintaining a level of interest. You can only run lads around the pitch so many times before they decide they have better things to be doing! If you don't give them games, they'll eventually get fed up..." The team was managed by John Sweeney, who brought in Gerry Giblin as his assistant. Management and players say down in early January and decided that they'd undertake some proper pre-season training on the St Nicholas pitch in Rathmullen. Training was a hard slog at times, but was of great benefit in the long run. "It stood us in good stead when we went to play in Dublin. A good start is half the work," Diarmuid notes. Indeed, Wolfe Tones' participation in the Dublin league began to take on a whole new dimension, as the team captain explains: "Originally the whole idea of going into the Dublin league was simply a means of getting more games but as the year went on we saw that we were in with a chance of promotion and suddenly it was a whole new game. We were in with a chance of winning a trophy outside the county and our season took on an added significance." While the Reds were trophy-hunting on two fronts, they never lost sight of their main objective for the year: "The Louth championship is always the big one and that was our priority, but it would be nice to go outside the county and win something. When we're playing up in Dublin there's less pressure. The public eye is off us to an extent and we can relax, so it's very enjoyable. "There's a lot more pressure on when we're playing in Louth. We've lost so many finals at this stage that lads are beginning to wonder will we ever win it again!" Wolfe Tones last scooped the Louth SHC when they defeated pre-split Naomh Moninne in the 1996 final. Since then, they've been regular challengers but don't seem able to produce the goods on county final day. The 2003 decider was a case in point: "We only trailed by seven points to five at half time and turned around thinking we were in with a great chance," Diarmuid notes. "Knockbridge are fast and lively up front and we felt we did really well to limit them to seven points in the first half. But we didn't even add to our half-time tally and ended up losing 0-11 to 0-5, which is very poor for a hurling match. "Our backs did well to hold them to eleven points, but we didn't do the business at the other end." Diarmuid is optimistic that the Tones are good enough to turn the corner next year: "Our aim will be to win the Louth senior championship and to get promoted out of Division 3 of the Dublin league. The championship is a target every year, but we've also come to realise that silverware in Dublin is also a realistic aim." Though still only 31, Diarmuid has been on the Wolfe Tones first team for 15 years. He first played for the county when 17 and his senior intercounty career continued right through until two years ago, interrupted only by a couple of serious knee injuries. During his career to date, the Wolfe Tones clubman has won an array of honours. At club level, he's garnered county U14, U16 minor and (four) senior championships as well as two Kilmacud Crokes All-Ireland 'Sevens' shields. He has also collected two national league souvenirs with Louth and various tournament medals. In 1994, Diarmuid captained Wolfe Tones to the Louth senior hurling championship. When he won his fourth county medal in '96, he could've been forgiven for thinking the SHCs would continue to flood in thick and fast. But it hasn't worked out that way: "I did think I'd have won more by now but we're struggling to put it together in the final. But who knows? Maybe I'll still win a few more. Even though I'm 31, that's relatively young in Louth hurling terms. If you look at some of the lads playing, I'm still young in Wolfe Tones years! "I can go on for a few more years and I can still win a few more, especially with the young lads we have coming through on the team." Diarmuid's love of hurling comes from his father Diarmuid McCarthy Snr., a native of Cork city. After losing the 2003 All-Ireland final to Kilkenny, the Rebels will be hoping to bounce back in 2004 ... at local level, Wolfe Tones will be hoping for something similar. Tweet

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