If awards were handed out for loyalty, dedication to the cause and commitment, then St Marys stalwart Eddie Gray would have to build another new house - exclusively for silverware storage! The man who inspired the Deesiders to victory in the 1995 county final has sweated countless oceans of perspiration for the Marys over the course of a fifteen-year senior career and is convinced that there's another Joe Ward Cup win in the current crop. Judging by the swashbuckling manner in which they finished their 2002 campaign, he might not be too far wrong! The affectionate, involuntary quiver in his voice gives the game away: Eddie Gray is a Marys man - not just to the marrow of his bone but right through to the core of his very being. St Marys GFC is his soul mate. When he makes mention of the club, his voice is imbued with as much passion as it is laced with reason. He will fix your gaze intently and will speak ever so eloquently about the club that he would, one suspects, almost die for. Oh, and did I tell you to behave? No? Well, let me warn you then before we go any further: don't ever say a bad word about the Marys in his presence. Do that and this writer won't be held accountable for the consequences! As far as Eddie Gray is concerned, 2002 was another one that got away. After getting off to a sluggish start (failing to record a win in any of their opening three Cardinal O'Donnell games), St Marys' produced the sort of league form that suggests they're more than capable of winning a senior championship. They even took three points from Mattock! Had that form been reproduced in the premier competition, then the race for the Joe Ward Cup would've been a mere formality - something along the lines of Rock of Gibraltar pitting his supernatural stamina against a field of three-legged donkeys! But it was not. In the championship, the Marys floundered. They struggled to find their best form and paid the ultimate price, bowing out after a disappointing 0-10 to 0-9 play-off defeat to Cooley Kickhams at Haggardstown on Saturday July 13th. And that was that. The Marys had led by 0-6 to 0-3 at the break but lost their way upon the resumption, conceding six points on the trot. They rallied with tremendous spirit late on (significantly, after the talismanic Eddie Gray had been thrown into the fray) and hit three late points. But, as the cliche goes, it was both too little and too late. Imagine the frustration rebounding off the clubhouse walls at resplendent Pairc Mhuire! After that game, the Marys embarked on a superb run in Division 1A of the league, displaying the sort of form that would have given Collon a real run for their money in the SFC. And all this without the considerable presence of former county star Alan 'Gidger' Rooney who missed the entire season through injury! Eddie took the bitter blow to heart and is still clearly crestfallen when reflecting back upon the disparity between what was and what could've been: "There was great morale and a brilliant buzz in the camp at the start of the year and I felt that we were going to win the championship. I really thought we'd do it. After going out of the championship, we decided we would have to win the league. We were well motivated for every match and we played some great football. [Nowhere was this more apparent than in the magnificent 2-11 to 3-7 revenge attack on Cooley at Pairc Mhuire on Sunday October 6th.] It's just a real pity the way things went in the championship because, if we'd progressed to the knock-out stages, I believe we could have won it." For the initial phase of the competition, St Marys were in a tricky looking Group A. They kicked off with a draw against Cooley on June 2nd (0-12 to the peninsula side's 2-6) and hammered Stabannon two weeks later (0-13 to 0-7) before slipping up against Mattock Rangers (0-16 to 2-8) on July 4th. The Marys only needed a draw from that final outing to book a Last Eight spot but didn't hit form until the game was well inside the final quarter. Gray bagged a goal as a nine-point deficit was reduced to two, but time ran out - as it so often does. Defeat consigned the Marys to a quarter-final play-off against Cooley, wherein the narrowest of defeats put paid to their championship ambitions, for another year at least. Most Ardee supporters left the Haggardstown venue that evening wondering would the result have been different had Eddie Gray and Dermot Duffy been on the field from the start - and a lot of them were nodding their heads... Going out of the championship always hurts. But bowing out without playing to your full potential hurts infinitely more. As Eddie admits: "Of course we were disappointed. In the first game against Cooley in Knockbridge, we had them beat until the last kick of the ball when a 30-yard free flew into the top corner. We should have won that game and it came back to haunt us." The Marys performed much better in the second game against Stabannon and victory there left them in a decent position going into the last game. That was against neighbours and 2001 competition finalists Mattock, a team the Marys have never had reason to fear (and were a match for in all competitions in 2002). Again irritation was the order of the day: "They beat us by two points - and we only played for ten minutes in the second half! A draw would have put us through but we should have won it. We'd have beaten them if we'd played at all - that's the frustrating thing about it. We even had three good chances to steal it towards the end. "We were confident that we could beat Collon. You have to be confident in the championship. But we didn't play at all. Only for that, we could have taken them - I was devastated to see them go on to win the championship! "We knew we should have been in the quarter-finals and that realisation probably worked against us from a psychological perspective going into the play-off." Full forward the previous season, Eddie spent most of the 2002 campaign as a third midfielder (named at left half forward but blatantly "feeding off the middle"). Towards the end of the league, as his influence on proceedings became even more pronounced, he was named in the middle of the park. All this at the end of a long, hard season. As others weakened and the demands of a hectic club season took their toll, the Marys - to their eternal credit - just kept getting stronger. By mid-October, they were joint top of Division 1A (alongside Mattock), in pole position for a place in the Cardinal O'Donnell Cup final with only the Brides and Stabannon left to play. Their season was spilling into November, having commenced a full ten months earlier: "We started out on the pitch in late January/early February," Eddie confirms. "The year before we had done a lot of gym work with Paddy Carr but this time the emphasis was more on football. "The high ball doesn't suit us. The only way the Marys have ever played effectively is with nice low chest-high ball and that's what we concentrated on. Jim Clifford took the training and his assistant was Gerry Rooney. Both are from Ardee and they're two real gentlemen to work with. It was their first year in charge and we definitely improved. They had us playing some very good football by the end of the season and if we can build on that then we can go all the way again. "We beat Mattock by fourteen points shortly before the championship final. We were all fired up for that game and wanted to set the record straight. We annihilated them. That's what we're capable of - it's just a matter of getting it right on the day for the championship." Eddie knows what he's talking about. He's been playing senior football for 15 years, since he was 16 and has accumulated all the major honours available to a senior player in the Wee County - Cardinal O'Donnell Cup, ACC Cup and a senior championship - as well as various other medals and accolades (most observers reckon he was the best player on view in the 1995 county final when the Marys tamed St Patricks). He has always been totally committed to gaelic football . . . but to St Marys first and foremost. There was only one time he was unavailable for selection - because he was on the other side of the world! During the best part of two years in Australia in the mid-nineties, he was one of eleven Louth men on the Michael Cusacks side (also featuring fellow St Marys exponent Micheal Malone) that garnered Coast and New South Wales championships. All that time, however, he couldn't wait to get back home and pull on the blue jersey again. His future plans? "There's a few years left in the engine yet! So far so good. I was happy when I got back into training last year and won back my place in the team. I think there's definitely another championship in this Marys side and if things happen for us in 2003 it could be our year. "We've definitely left a few behind us, so it'd be nice to make amends for those. Since 1995, we should have had one or two championships and we also lost the finals in 1989 and '93. We have a lot of good players here at the moment - Niall Sharkey and Alan Doherty are as good as you'll get anywhere in the county - and a lot coming up through the ranks "But there are a few just pushing the wrong side of 30 now so next year could be make-or-break for some of us. I'd like to think we could give it a real go next year, and I see no reason why we can't." The senior member of the team is Brian Scott, a tenacious player who has always led by example from the full back line. 'Scotty' has been a tremendous servant to the club and has - at various times over the years - proved the bane of every decent forward in the county. When Brian's father passed away towards the end of 2002, the club rallied behind him . . . just as 'Scotty' has rallied behind the Marys for most of his adult life. As Eddie notes: "Sadly, Brian's Dad, Mick, passed away on the day of the All-Ireland final. Brian was always up at the field, he was at all our games and supported the Marys through thick and thin. "Brian was a truly great man. He was always there for the Marys and he was deeply proud of the service Brian gave the team. He was a true supporter in every sense of the term. He'd come up and watch us and no matter how badly we ever played, Mick never had a bad word to say about any man that pulled on the Marys jersey." That's exactly the kind of bond and spirit that has always epitomised Ardee St Marys, and separated them from the rest of the clubs in the county. The team represents the town; and the town represents the team. Eddie Gray is an integral and essential part of it. Marys ready to march again Former St. Mary's defender Gabriel McKenny refereed the Louth SFC decider last summer. With some conviction, he says the Ardee lads have the potential to soon figure again on the main stage. Although better known these days as one of Louth's top referees, Gabriel McKenny knows all about the cut and thrust of playing senior championship football, having figured in three blue riband finals with St. Mary's. The fact that he insists the current crop of lads from Ardee are heading in the right direction might cause some folk to sit up and take notice. Reflecting on the past year, Gabriel says that the only thing predictable about St. Marys' championship performances in 2002 was their unpredictability. Things pertaining to yo-yos, rollercoaster rides and the undulating terrain around Ardee springs to his mind in reflecting on the club's year just gone by. Like many another staunch supporter of the Marys, Gabriel is keeping his fingers crossed that the club's premier team can demonstrate a greater degree of consistency in their performances in the coming season. The buoyancy experienced in the performances that saw the Marys storm to the top of Diision 1A of the league is encouraging, however, plus the fact that the team secured its first win in the senior championship since the new format was introduced a couple of seasons back. "At least we improved our record in the first round of the championship - that's something the team can build upon for next year. There's a relatively young panel in place and breaking their duck in the championship will have helped their confidence and their self-belief also. Considering expectations weren't terribly high at the start of the year , the club's win in their second round group match against Stabannon was well received and removed some of the not-so-nice taste out of the mouths of the faithful down Ardee way when the end-of-season post-mortems kicked in in full. And then, of course, there was the draw achieved by St. Mary's in their opening group match against Cooley Kickhams back in early June. It might have been enough of a leg-up to get the club really motoring. Instead, Ardee proceeded to be more sluggish than turbo-charged. In fairness, St. Mary's could and should have gained both championship points against their opponents from the north of the county. Cooley's David Thornton proved to be the spoilsport though when he scored a shock goal after his shot flew through a ruck of players and into the Ardee net in the dying moments of added-on time at the end of the second half, thus handing his side a 2-6 to 0-12 draw. Thornton's major, ironically, was a copycat version of his opening goal for Cooley which arrived in added-time at the end of the first-half. The 'Marys trailed by 0-5 to 1-5 at the interval but proceeded to dominate the second half, playing fluent and high-tempo football which had the Kickhams on the backfoot for long periods. Five unanswered points by Robbie Keenan, Niall Sharkey (two) and Alan Doherty (two) appeared to launch St. Mary's on the cusp of a morale-boosting opening win. It wasn't to be however for in spite of the fact that Cooley only managed to score a single point before Thornton's late, late leveller, St. Mary's just couldn't quite gain enough leverage to ease them well free of Cooley's clutches as the final minutes drew closer. "The draw with Cooley the first day was crucial. If we had won that game, we would have gone into the quarter-finals considering how we did against Stabannon but you have to hand it to Cooley - they showed the sort of experience that got them to semi-finals and finals over the years. "We didn't go into the match in that confident a mood but nevertheless the way things worked out, we seemed to be well in control at half-time even though they had got a late goal just before the break. The lads played some great stuff in the second half but then let them off the hook with the last kick of the game. Their goal at the death shouldn't really have been conceded. We must have had at least seven fellas on the line. In the end, it was a big factor in us missing the boat in the championship." Needless to say, the man who refereed the 2002 county SFC decider prefers to look at the glass as being half-full rather than half-empty when assessing Ardee's potential based on what transpired in the summer of 2002. For instance, he says the composure and cohesion demonstrated by the team in their win over Stabannon was a delight to behold. "From early on in that match, it was fairly obvious the lads knew they had it well within themselves to win the game. We were always in control even though they had a chance to get a goal midway through the second half. Mary's stepped up a gear after that bit of a scare and I don't think they were flattered by their thirteen points to seven winning margin," Gabriel reflects. Given that Stabannon would, traditionally, have enjoyed the upper hand in championship tete-a-tetes with St. Mary's (as in the 1997 final and during Stabannon's halcyon period during the nineties), their achievement in winning the clash on June 16th understandably ushers in a certain feel good factor about the club when year-end reviews are called for. Father of current county defender and St. Mary's stalwart Alan McKenny (22), Gabriel says the fact that only a couple of players survive from the successful 1995 team means that the Ardee outfit does, in many respects, resemble erstwhile county kingpins Stabannon. "Stabannon aren't the force they used to be. Even they would admit that. They've lost quite a number of their former big names just like us and they're rebuilding just like us. The two clubs will have to be patient as their younger players gain experience and confidence," explains Gabriel who despite only taking up refereeing in 1997 has enjoyed a meteoric rise up through the ranks in the interim. Meanwhile, there is the sneaking suspicion that as far as the current state of play around Ardee goes, Gabriel would like to see greater competition for places on the St. Mary's team and a better division of labour up front where the team has tended to rely on the accuracy of Niall Sharkey a tad too much. In this latter respect though, Gabriel believes that emerging teenager Darren Clarke should blossom into a fine foil for the team's aforementioned top-scorer. "The team's reliance on Niall (Sharkey) for scores was obvious at various times during the championship but Darren is definitely one for the future and I think the county team manager Paddy Carr recognises that too," he adds. On the question of St. Mary's and their narrow failure to beat local rivals and last year's beaten finalists Mattock Rangers (2-8 to 0-16) in the third game of the group (July 4th), Gabriel pleads the fifth amendment as he was on holidays at that time. "At the start of the year I fancied Mattock to at least get out of the group because they had impressed me early on in the league and seemed to have even improved from last year. It was noticeable too that they improved as the championship carried on through the summer and even though we don't have a bad record against them, I thought the experience they gathered in 2001 was going to really stand to them." As things transpired, Rangers dominated matters for most of the derby clash and led by nine points before a late rally by the Pairc Mhuire-based side closed the gap to two points. Sadly despite another five star display by Niall Sharkey in scoring seven points and an excellently taken goal by Alan Doherty, St. Mary's ended up losing. Defeat to their neighbours from Collon meant they had to meet Cooley Kickhams once again in a group play-off tie to see who would meet Dundalk Gaels. The game took place on July 13th in Haggardstown with Ardee suffering a heart-breaking 0-9 to 0-10 defeat even though things looked rosy when they led by 0-6 to 0-3 at the interval. However six unanswered points by Cooley on the restart heralded the beginning of the end of St. Mary's championship campaign, this despite the fact that the Marys were on level terms with six minutes left to play after they fired over three opportunist points. However, a late point from Cooley's Niall Clinton ultimately won the day for the border club. Still, Gabriel remains philosophical about the team's short-term future. "We haven't seen the best of this current team just yet. I think their displays against Stabannon and in the games against Cooley plus their magnificient finish in the league showed glimpes of the kind of potential that's there.There may be just a bit too much expected of this team right now. "The team of 1995 has practically disappeared and a lot of rebuilding needed to be done after '97. We've a few good young lads coming up from minor ranks but things won't slot into place overnight. A lack of self-belief showed up in the play-off with Cooley but there was nothing wrong with the commitment shown by the players and they're all keen to learn from the experience of 2002. I think they'll be a real force in the next couple of years." Tweet

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