St Kevin's never quite caught fire in 2002. However, in an interview with Gerry Robinson, team captain Michael Grogan insists there's no reason why the spark shouldn't return next year. Despite suffering demotion to Division 2B at the end of a disappointing league campaign, St Kevin's will once more contest the intermediate championship in 2003 - wherein they are capable of rocking quite a few boats. The Philipstown men were strangely out of sorts in '02 . . . but you'll get these things. They never got into their stride and their season fizzled out in the blink of an eye - almost a non-event. This came as a pronounced disappointment in light of their impressive performances of the previous couple of seasons, when the Kevin's knocked loudly on the door to senior football. But they're putting this disappointment behind them and will use the long dark winter months to regroup and take stock. Come springtime, they'll be ready to give it another crack. Michael Grogan captained the team in 2002. Naturally, he's a little crestfallen when called upon to remember the events of a season the Kevin's would readily forget: "Getting relegated from Division 2A was a big disappointment for the club. "We just didn't get going at all, only in fits and starts. We played well a couple of times - very well, in fact - but it was never really enough..." The Kevin's were wedged at the foot of Division 2A all year, having got off to a disastrous start, losing seven games in a row. They tried gamely to turn the corner but finally bite the bullet in their third-last league game of the season against Oliver Plunketts. The red and blacks led that game by 0-4 to 0-1 at the interval but were unable to hang on after the break and a 0-8 to 0-6 reversal consigned them to relegation to 2B. It was a definite setback because the Kevin's had hitherto appeared very much on the up and up. They contested the 2000 intermediate final and were decidedly unfortunate to be undone by an injury-time goal at the semi-final stage in 2001. They ascended to Division 2A at the end of that season, however, and were widely regarded as on the brink of achieving senior status. Big things were predicted for 2002, but never materialised. Where or how did it go awry? "You could start making a number of excuses about missing lads [a few of the players from the previous year were abroad] and other fellas being injured [the influential Anthony Ruane missed most of the season and (county) goalkeeper Paul Brennan was ruled out for the latter part of the year], but where do you draw the line and stop making excuses? "Every club has injuries and misses players at various stages, so I think maybe this time we just have to hold our hands up and admit we just weren't good enough. Once you start to lose a few games and the heads go down, you can get stuck in a rut and it can be very hard to pick it up again." St Kevin's were in Group A of the 2002 Louth IFC. They kicked off their campaign with a narrow 2-14 to 3-8 defeat to Oliver Plunketts on June 9th. Having led by 3-6 to 0-5 at the break, the Kevin's lost their way after the restart and only managed to add two more points to their half-time tally. It was a game they should have won. Ultimately, it cost them a semi-final spot. Three weeks later, the below-strength Philipstown men were over-ran by St Fechins - Michael Grogan was their only scorer in the first half and they ended up losing by 0-13 to 0-2. On July 12th, Kevins were much too strong for Annaghminnon Rovers, who they thumped 1-15 to 1-5. They rounded off their fixtures with a deserved defeat of O'Raghallaighs - but it wasn't enough to prolong their involvement in the competition. "The championship game against the Plunketts in Castlebellingham really took its toll. To lead by ten points at half time but let it slip was demoralising. We lost badly to the Fechins but then won the last two games to almost get back into contention. But we were relying on results from other games. "In the end, the Plunketts and the Fechins went through. It was frustrating because, as it turned out, if we'd held on in that first game against the Plunketts we'd have topped the group and would've been straight through to a semi-final. "We were disappointed because, while you never get anything easy in the championship, it wasn't the most difficult group in the world. When we looked at the group at the start of the year, we were confident, especially having reached a semi-final and a final the previous two years and losing both games by a kick of the ball. "We had also been promoted to Division 2A in 2001, so we were in high spirits going into the new season, on the back of two encouraging campaigns. "Pat Crehan and Stephen Matthews took over the team and we got stuck in early. We were slogging it out in the dark and the muck back in February and were getting regular turn-outs of 20-plus for training. It all looked very encouraging at that stage." Competitively, the Kevin's got off to a good start. The wheels, however, slipped off the wagon slowly but surely. Reflects Michael: "We won our first two games in the Grogan Cup, but then slipped to two defeats. We never got going again and lost our first seven games in the league. We tried to make a fight of it at the end and beat O'Connells but were relegated [with three games left] when we lost to the Plunketts." Disappointment should not be mistaken for despair. The Kevin's have slipped a division, but they are still intermediate and it's far from a crisis situation in Philipstown. As Michael Grogan points out: "We have done well in Division 2B before, so there's no reason why we should be downbeat going into the new season. There's no reason to throw in the towel. We're still an intermediate team . . . we'll still be contesting the intermediate championship next year and we'll be trying as hard as ever to win it. "If we get a few early wins under our belts and get the momentum going, then we'll be in with a chance. You don't become a bad team overnight and we showed what we're capable of in 2000 and 2001. What happened in 2002 was unfortunate but you play this game to win and sometimes when you're losing you feel like you're getting nothing out of it and it's very difficult to find the motivation. It turned out to be a very testing season for us but we're determined to put it behind us." Twenty-six-year-old Michael spent most of the year at centre half back. The 2002 captain has been a regular on the team for three seasons. His brother Kevin captained the club last year and his late brother Philip also represented the Kevins with distinction. Father Benny, meanwhile, is in the Hall of Fame and played senior football with the club, having captained the red and blacks to a famous JFC win. Michael would love to follow in his dad's footsteps: "It's definitely a dream of mine to play senior football with the Kevin's. We were beating Collon year in, year out at one stage and we see the progress that Glyde and Dreadnots have made, and also the Malachis have gone senior for the first time. It is something we can achieve. "It's all about getting into the right frame of mind. When you establish a winning habit, it makes all the difference in the world. We haven't managed to win a trophy since the Old Gaels Cup in 1990, but hopefully we can get off to a good start next year and turn things around. "I see no reason why we can't challenge in the intermediate championship again next year. Last year marked the introduction of the new league system for the intermediate championship and it didn't seem to suit us. We were always a team for the big occasion. Now that we know what the new system is all about, though, I think we'll cope with it a lot better next year. "We proved over the previous two years that we could compete with the best intermediate teams in the county. And we still have all those same lads, so I don't think anyone should be writing us off just yet..." Tweet

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