In many ways, it was the same old story for St Mochtas in 2001 - a creditable enough league showing and a championship outing in which they simply failed to perform to full potential. Gerry Robinson speaks to full forward Gervaise Marron about what was, what is and what might have been. On Sunday July 8th St Mochtas took on Sean McDermotts in the preliminary round of the 2001 Louth IFC at Tallanstown. They lost by two points, 2-9 to 1-10 . . . this in spite of the fact that they enjoyed territorial supremacy for much of the sixty minutes. Unfortunately, their dominance in the possession stakes was not backed up by economy in front of the posts and the Louth village side's downfall owed much to their hitting of 15 wides as against their opponents' four. Such profligacy is fatal in championship fare, a lesson they learned to their cost for not the first time. And while the Seans went on to take Naomh Fionnbarra to a replay in the county final, St Mochtas were left regretting another missed opportunity. Mochtas led 0-3 to 0-1 after 13 minutes but they were architects of their own destruction through the concession of goals at crucial times - the 16th and 40th minutes. Both these scores had massive bearings on the eventual outcome. To their credit, Mochtas continued to plug away in spite of their obvious lack of rhythm and coherency, and they were rewarded with the awarding of a late penalty, which was duly converted. But it was too little too late and the fat lady was already clearing her throat in anticipation of her opening verse. There was no way back. Twenty-four-year-old Gervaise "Jacko" Marron from Tullycahan contributed four points from dead ball situations that day. Casting his mind back, he is the first to admit that his team didn't do enough to deserve to advance: "On the day, we got what we deserved. It was disappointing to be knocked out so early in the competition but that's the way things have been going for us these past few years and we know we have nobody to blame but ourselves. The best team won on the day." But Mochtas had a lot of possession and could have won had they displayed a greater degree of accuracy. "That's true, but it's all about putting scores on the board. They took their chances whereas we didn't, so they were the best team. You can't really argue with that. We know we got what we deserved. "They are a young, fit team. They did a lot of training leading up to that game and were a lot better prepared than we were. To win championship matches, you have to score goals. They scored their goals and all we got was one at the very end when it was too late. We had our chances but didn't take them. We can have no arguments because the best team definitely won." Gervaise has been a regular on the St Mochtas first team since he was 18 - last season was his seventh. He broke onto the team in 1995 and his first year went pretty much according to plan as the Mochtas secured their objective of promotion to intermediate ranks by plundering the junior championship. "We stayed intermediate for two years and then went back down again. We came back up through the league three years ago and have been intermediate ever since." They've been struggling to move beyond that level but they can't remain intermediate forever. When time comes to bid adieu to the secondary grade, which direction will they move in, up or down? "We have a good blend of youth in the club at the moment and I think that if we stick together we could eventually be good enough to move up. "The attitude within the club could probably be a lot better, though. Although, in fairness, this is often not the players' fault. Last year, we had a lot of lads doing final exams and they couldn't really participate fully or put in the required effort. But maybe in another couple of years, when all those exams are out of the way and we have a fuller panel to choose from, we will be a better team." Age is very much on their side. At 24, Jacko is one of the oldest players on the team. Does he believe the Louth village outfit can take a leaf from the books of the likes of Dreadnots, Brides and Glyde who showed what can be achieved with a concerted and focused effort, with all the individual units pulling together in the same direction as a team? "Other teams have shown us what can be achieved when the effort is put in. We know that if we got everybody together we could make progress. It takes a team effort though and we know we'll have to put in the effort on the playing field and in the training ground. "We had a lot of people based up in Dublin during the year and they weren't available for collective training. They did a bit on their own but that's not the same thing. Our whole season was probably affected by the fact that we had small turnouts at training. We only have a panel of about 20 at most to begin with, and we were down to maybe half of that for the majority of the sessions, which isn't an ideal situation for building team morale. "It's a small parish and there are two clubs here - ourselves and Annaghminnon - so we're limited straight away to picking from half the parish which certainly doesn't help." Gervaise is one of those players who has played in just about every position for his club over the years, but the all-round utility man rarely strayed from the edge of the square during Season '01. He has won U16, minor and U21 county championships. Mochtas players represent St Josephs at these levels and he was in the same company as Ollie McDonnell and David Reilly on those all-conquering sides. Playing alongside such talent, did he secretly wish he was from Dromiskin? Or Darver even? "No way. At the end of the day, you want to be playing with your own local team and there's no point in me playing for anyone else." Jacko is a member of a family steeped in Mochtas GAA. His father played for the club and his brother Paul is a half forward on the current side. It's a tradition likely to be upheld for many generations to come. Gervaise represented Louth at both minor and U21 levels (the Wee County losing to Kildare and Wicklow respectively in the first round) but says he never harboured any real aspirations to play for the seniors. How does he think the Mochtas will fare next season? "We have to look at getting promoted into Division 2A. We'd also like to get a good run in the championship because we've acquired a habit of getting knocked out in the first round, but promotion in the league will be our first priority. We finished mid-table last year so now we have to look at taking it to the next level. "We've been losing key games narrowly, so it's not as if there's a dramatic improvement needed. At the end of the day, we know we have the players. All we have to do is prepare a little better and then hope for the rub of the green." Tweet

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