Gerry Robinson meets up with Andrew Rogan, one of the finest footballers to come through the O'Raghallaighs production line in many's the long year. Andrew Rogan did the O'Raghallaighs club proud last season when the gifted midfielder took his place on the Louth senior football panel. The 21-year-old is one of the most promising young talents in the Wee County . . . a fact which augurs extremely well for the famous Drogheda club's future prospects. A year ago, Rogan was inspirational as his club annexed the 2001 Louth Junior Football Championship. He had already represented his county at all other levels but his huge performances for the club in '01 catapulted him into Paddy Carr's plans for the county seniors. These were massive steps forward in the advancement of a promising career. Okay, 2002 could be perceived as a slight blip . . . things didn't go quite according to plan. Rogan failed to break into the Wee County's starting fifteen and the club struggled to come to terms with the extra demands of intermediate football. Still, they did manage to retain their intermediate standing in dramatic fashion and such trials are essential arcs on any player's learning curve. The Drogheda man finished the year as both a better player and a stronger character. In Rogan (who was voted 2001 county U21 Footballer of the Year by the Louth Supporters Club), O'Raghallaighs have a priceless asset, a man who could one day spearhead an assault on senior football. With Rogan in their ranks, this famous club could revisit glory days... Looking back on the 2002 season and O'Raghallaighs' ultimately fruitful bid to preserve their newfound intermediate status, Rogan reflects: "When we set our stall out at the start of the year, we decided that we'd be happy to survive. We knew that if we could get a foothold in intermediate, we could then build upon that. "It was a bit unfortunate the way things went for us at the start of the season. We lost a couple of league games by two or three points early in the season - games that we could have won - and those defeats left us under pressure and fighting for our lives. If we'd won those games, it would have made a huge difference. "When we won our opening game in the championship it gave us real hope that we could turn the corner and enjoy a successful season. There was a break from the league then, while we concentrated on the championship, and that did us the world of good. It was nice to get away from the weekly grind of the league and our battle against relegation and it allowed us a new lease of life..." O'Raghallaighs took on Annaghminnon Rovers (their predecessors as junior champions) in their first group game in the intermediate championship and duly recorded a fine victory. The batteries were well and truly recharged now and a spring returned to the step . . . a swagger and vigour that was eerily reminiscent of the previous summer. It was short-lived though, fading quicker than a snowball in a microwave oven. In their next championship outing, O'Raghallaighs were "badly beaten" by neighbours Oliver Plunketts. They performed admirably against St Kevins and led for virtually the entire contest but ended up losing by a handful of points. Next up were the Fechins and again narrow defeat was the O'Raghallaighs' lot - "another game we could have won," Andrew notes ruefully. Gradually the wheels came off the wagon, almost culminating in demotion. However, the O'Raghallaigh refused to give up the ghost and we're left celebrating at the end of the season when victory over Annaghminnon Rovers in their final league game guaranteed them another year of intermediate football. Mission accomplished: "Our target was mainly to avoid being under pressure at the end of the year - which we failed to do. As it turned out, we were fighting a relegation battle virtually all season and never really got to relax or settle into our stride. But it all finished well for us in the end. "We knew that if we could stay up and get a year of intermediate football under our belts and see what it was all about, then we'd be making real progress. We had a lot of young players on the team, all of whom wouldn't have played intermediate before. We were going into it blind, not really knowing what to expect, so it was important to stay up because next year we will be even better prepared for the challenges of the intermediate grade." As Andrew and his team-mates quickly learned, there really is a world of difference between junior and intermediate fare. "When you've been playing junior all along, you don't realise that it's such a big step up to intermediate B, and that definitely caught us out. We weren't expecting Division 2B to be so competitive. We weren't braced for the shock and as a result we didn't fight like we could have. We lost a lot of games that we definitely would have won in 2001. But the important thing is that we survived and next year we'll know exactly what to expect." That JFC victory in 2001 really was something else! It was the first time O'Raghallaighs had won the junior title in ten years. They had to do it the hard way, but boy did they do it in style! Andrew Rogan recalls: "Our first game was against the Westerns [favourites for the title] and we were eight points down at half time. To come back and win that by a point gave us the confidence to go on and win the championship outright. After winning that game, we knew we could do it. "We had to take the difficult route through the junior championship, playing three games. The first-round win was the crucial one, though, and we were always confident of beating Dowdallshill [semi-final] and Young Irelands [final]." In the final, O'Raghallaighs recorded a comprehensive victory, with towering midfielder Rogan and influential full back Jack McKeown vying for the Man of the Match award. Such matters are mere trivialities, however; the main thing was that O'Raghallaighs had struck gold and were destined for intermediate football. "We got the breaks at the start of the game and that set us up nicely. When they came at us, we were able to move up an extra gear and thankfully it was an easy enough victory in the end." Two-thousand-and-two was Andrew's fourth full season with the O'Raghallaighs first team (the previous year he broke into first-team reckoning after originally featuring with the second team). The 2001 JFC was his first major win with the club - the closest he came previously was an under 16 championship final when Clogherhead stole the spoils with a last-minute goal. Andrew represented Louth at U16, minor and U21 levels and was called into the senior panel by Paddy Carr in the autumn of 2001. He trained with them right through their 2001/02 schedule and says it was a "great experience". The O'Raghallaighs clubman adds: "You don't realise - until you go in and train with them - the unbelievable effort that's being put in. When you start doing it yourself it opens your eyes and you can appreciate what intercounty footballers put themselves through. "As the first O'Raghallaighs player to train with the county seniors in a long time, I was very proud to represent my club at that level. The club gave me a lot of encouragement and were behind me 100%. "From that, you try to bring different ideas back to the club and help improve things for them." The only games Andrew played with Louth were the O'Byrne Cup first-round clash with Westmeath - a match which, appropriately, was played on his club's home pitch in Drogheda's County Grounds - and the meeting with Dublin in the same competition. "I would love to make it as a regular but I know it's going to be very difficult. I'm going to keep my head down and keep working hard and hopefully I'll be able to impress the county selectors and persuade them that I'm good enough." Andrew has three younger brothers all aiming to follow in his considerable footsteps: Patrick is playing under 16 and minor with O'Raghallaighs, while Bernard (U10) and Joe (U9) are affiliated to fellow parishioners Oliver Plunketts. Finally, what are Andrew's remaining ambitions as an O'Raghallaighs player? "With the players we have now and the infrastructure that's there, we have to aim for a prolonged run at intermediate level. We've taken a step towards that by hanging onto our intermediate status and hopefully we'll be a better team for the experience of 2002. With the young talent coming through in the club, we could then make it up to senior one day. That's my ambition: to play senior football with the O'Raghallaighs. And I really think we can achieve that." Andrew Rogan has already achieved more than most in a relatively short career, so don't bet against it! Tweet

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