Dreadnots came a long way in the course of three short seasons. They may not have realised their incredible dream of capturing junior, intermediate and senior championships in successive years (instead suffering relegation back to intermediate ranks) but, as Gerry Robinson points out, they certainly didn't shame themselves during the course of five appearances in the Wee County's 2001 SFC. For a while, the fairytale continued unabated. Dreadnots belied the lowly status they held less than two years previously when they set the early stages of the '01 Louth Senior Football Championship alight with victories over Cooley Kickhams and Lannleire. Following those excellent performances, the Clogherhead men looked a great bet to reach the quarter-finals, but Lady Luck deserted them in the vital moments. A narrow defeat to St Josephs condemned them to a three-way play-off with the Joes themselves and Cooley. The Dromiskin/Darver side once again proved Dreadnots' nemesis in the first play-off. In the second, they were unable to repeat the opening fixture heroics and fell to Cooley. When their season ended with demotion from Division 1B, it was considerably less than they'd deserved. So near and yet so far, but it must be said that Dreadnots still did much better than anybody had expected on their return to senior football. The legacy of their 2001 championship displays is that they are not opponents to be taking lightly and they'll be back sooner rather than later. Having won the 1999 junior championship and the 2000 intermediate title, Dreadnots went into the 2001 senior competition guarding a two-year winning championship sequence. For the first time ever, the Wee County's premier competition was played initially on a league basis and, amazingly, the fishermen stretched their winning streak despite being pitted against the might of Cooley Kickhams in their opening fixture. Cooley I Group A featured Dreadnots, Cooley, the Joes and Lannleire. Dreadnots opened their account with a sensational 1-6 to 0-7 victory over the Kickhams at McGeough Park on Sunday June 10th. Understandably, they made a jittery start, failing to register a score until Darren Malone landed a 19th minute free. That point kept them well in touch as they had restricted their fancied opponents to a mere three points up until that stage. Dreadnots had been unfortunate not to get a goal in the 17th minute when Gary Shevlin's goalbound effort was tipped onto the post by Cooley's debutant 'keeper Niall Gallagher. As Dreadnots gradually found their confidence, Kenneth Shevlin, Gary Shevlin and Chris Mulroy all popped over crucial scores. With five minutes to go until the interval, Cooley were 0-5 to 0-1 ahead but then Shevlin did succeed in finding the net with a powerful shot from close range. Five minutes after the restart, Kenneth Shevlin chipped over a free to give his side parity. Game on. Gary Shevlin then cancelled out David Thornton's point. In the 47th minute Dreadnots hit the front for the first time when Chris Mulroy split the posts with an excellent effort that was followed two minutes later by another from Mark Caffrey, 1-5 to 0-6 in Dreadnots' favour. Cooley pulled one back but Kenneth Shevlin responded immediately and Dreadnots held on comfortably for a famous victory, with full back Derek Shevlin not putting a foot wrong all evening. And to think that Dreadnots only had 18 fit players to call upon for that game! Lannleire The words 'flash in the pan' were being bandied about liberally in that precise order by those who still doubted Dreadnots' worth as a senior power. They were forced to gorge on humble pie when the lads from the beautiful fishing village repeated their first round win with another great victory exactly one week later, this time at the expense of Lannleire, 0-14 to 2-7 at the Gaelic Grounds on Sunday evening, June 17th. On this occasion, it was a free from Kenneth Shevlin five minutes into injury time that secured victory for the Clogherhead men, who fought back from a seemingly impossible position, having conceded two first half goals. When Lannleire struck their second goal in the 20th minute it gave them a seven-point lead and they still held a two-point cushion as the match seeped into injury time, but Dreadnots' never-say-die spirit saw them through. At half time, they trailed by three points, 2-4 to 0-7. They started well with points from midfielder Darren Malone and Kenneth Shevlin but the concession of an eighth minute goal soon had them on the back foot. In the 24th minute, they really looked dead in the water, staring a 2-4 to 0-3 deficit square in the face but a rally before the interval culminated in scores from the ever-reliable triumvirate of finishers Gary Shevlin (2), Chris Mulroy and Kenneth Shevlin, to leave them only three points adrift as both sides trundled off the field to meet their managers briefly before hostilities resumed. Two minutes into Half Two Mulroy fired over but Dreadnots still found themselves trailing by 2-7 to 0-10 in the 58th minute. They showed amazing patience in the dying moments, picking off four unanswered points (three of them in injury time) to claim a second major scalp. Firstly, Stephen Marley scored from play. Then, a minute into added time, Kenneth Shevlin drew his side within the minimum. Malone burst through to fire over the equaliser in the 63rd minute and Shevlin then sent Dreadnots players and supporters to nirvana with his late, late conversion. Two wins out of two, Dreadnots went into the last round of matches with a place in the last eight looking very likely. The only way they could fail to go through was if they lost to the Joes and Cooley beat Lannleire. Unfortunately, that's precisely what happened! The Joes I In Drogheda on the final Thursday in June, Dreadnots came agonisingly close to getting the result they needed but instead lost by three points, 1-11 to 1-8. Once again, they showed amazing resilience and fighting spirit. Having trailed 1-4 to 0-5 at the break and by four points with five minutes to play, the seasiders dug deep and Gary Shevlin's 55th minute goal brought them within the minimum. However, the Joes were fighting for their championship lives and they got two late points to ensure a three-way play-off (Cooley hammering Lannleire by eleven points in the evening's other Section A fixture). The Joes II The draw for the play-offs guaranteed Dreadnots two chances of progressing to the knock-outs. They would play the Joes with the losers getting a second opportunity, against Cooley. They met St Josephs for the second time in three weeks on Thursday July 19th, Collon providing the backdrop. Dreadnots were far superior in the first half and established a 0-7 to 0-3 interval lead but they were caught napping in the opening five minutes of the second period, conceding four unanswered points. This gave the Joes the belief they needed to go on and register a 0-13 to 0-9 victory in what was the much-clinched game of two halves. Cooley II This all brought Dreadnots right back to where they started - a meeting with Cooley Kickhams. Only this time the losers would not be thrown a lifeline. The teams returned to the scene of their opening round battle but this time McGeough Park in Haggardstown saw the Cooley men prevail. First half goals from Kenneth and Gary Shevlin in the 2nd and 17th minutes gave them a platform for victory and the latter was also very unlucky when his 30th minute effort flew back off the butt of the post. Had that or Kenneth Shevlin's 33rd minute effort found the back of the net then it could have been a different story. As it was, Dreadnots lost to Cooley by 1-11 to 2-4 on Friday July 20th and thus ended their magnificent 2001 voyage. The relegation that followed was not in keeping with their championship heroics ... Tweet

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