Oliver Plunketts may have surrendered their senior status in 2006 but the Slane Road outfit gave a decent account of themselves at the top table. Ultimately, it was a harsh County Board ruling rather than any ineptitude of their own that led to the Plunketts' demotion and the Drogheda club can step back to intermediate ranks with their heads held high. Veteran campaigner John Moroney was disappointed that the eight teams in Division 1B were presented with such a difficult assignment. Alas, it was all too brief. After two years at the top, Oliver Plunketts bade farewell to senior football in 2006. For the second successive season, the Maroons gave a commendable account of themselves in the senior championship (they were in the group that produced both county finalists) but this time the more-difficult-than-usual task of trying to preserve their status proved beyond them. It went down to the wire in '05, when the Plunketts stayed up with a victory in the last round of the league, but this time the clubs in 1B were asked to play by a totally new set of rules. Five from eight would be relegated to intermediate football (as opposed to two every other year) to facilitate restructuring of club football in the Wee County in 2007. As they were in the most competitive section in Louth with sanctuary so difficult to reach, it was hardly a major surprise that Oliver Plunketts took a hit. But it was no walk of shame. Far from it, in fact. To an extent, they were victims of fate as a number of very decent sides surrendered their senior standing as part of the drastic shake-up. There were always going to be casualties and it was just unfortunate that the Drogheda men had to be amongst these. While accepting his team's fate, experienced Plunketts talisman John Moroney pulls no punches in assessing the circumstances that led to Oliver Plunketts' relegation after a brief stay at the top: "I think it's wrong to relegate five teams out of eight. It's a ridiculous scenario and it was the same for Division 2B clubs, who never really had a proper chance either. Whoever came up with this idea should take a good look at themselves… "Because of the ruling, we knew it would be a tough year. Our main focus was on the league but things didn't work out as well as we'd have liked early on and we had a few bad results which cost us in the end." Plunketts were pitted in Group B of the SFC. They lost their opener to St Josephs by 1-10 to 0-7 but bounced back with a resounding 0-12 to 0-4 defeat of Dreadnots in Drogheda at the end of June. With qualification for the knockout stage for a second successive year still very much in their grasp, they approached their final group outing against 2003 and 2004 champions St Patricks in a confident frame of mind. After a mighty effort, the south county club fell to an unlucky 1-15 to 2-9 defeat. Reflecting on the championship campaign, John notes: "We were missing a number of players against the Joes and didn't have much of a chance. We played well against the Dreadnots but fell a little short against the Pats." The fact that both teams who emerged from the group went on to contest the '06 county decider gives a fair indication of the task that Plunketts had been presented with. "The Joes had been underperforming for a few years and it was no surprise to see them do so well. We led for most of the match against the Pats but tired in the last ten minutes or so. They came back into it and the wind also picked up in the second half and that was also a factor. It was disappointing to lose it so late on but fair play to the Pats - they kept going and did what they had to do to turn it around." As they had contested a quarter-final against Mattock Rangers in '05, it would be the second successive year that Oliver Plunketts had been beaten by the eventual winners. Of course, this is of little consolation when you lose your senior status: "It was very difficult to stay up," John reiterates. "We dropped some points that we shouldn't have dropped and that came back to haunt us. We left ourselves with too much to do. "While the teams in Division 1A were able to field second-string teams in the league, we were under pressure from the start. It was hard on the teams in our division - the two teams that moved up to 1A at the end of the previous season were guaranteed senior status, whereas those who slipped down were in the dogfight." It was simply a case of being in the wrong place at the right time and what transpired subsequently - even though each of the eight teams concerned had an equal opportunity and knew the story from the outset - was akin to a lottery. "I think it was a bit rash to do it over one year," John Moroney continues. "It was very drastic and everyone was placed under enormous pressure for the entire season. Even with two teams going down it would have been difficult - but five was ludicrous. "Division 1B was always very competitive and all the teams take points off each other. We were all at a very similar level and it was so close that there was never going to be any guarantee that the teams in the top three places were better than those going down. "To make matters worse, we all knew that once you went down it would be very difficult to get back and a lot easier to stay up. There'll be a lot of very strong intermediate teams in 2007 and more of a comfort zone for the senior clubs." Former county footballer Richie Culhane was in charge of team affairs on the Slane Road in '06, with Michael Matthews and Gerry Watchorn as selectors. "Our aim was to concentrate on the league and take the championship as it came. Even though our main focus was on the league, we probably peaked around the middle of the summer and slipped back once we went out of the championship because some players disappeared and that affected the team. We were also depleted at the start of the year as we had injuries and some players were in England." Oliver Plunketts looked to be well in contention for a Top Three place in mid-September (with about half of their league programme still remaining), but when they unluckily drew a must-win game with Kilkerley Emmets on Monday night, September 25 (Kilkerley got the leveller deep into added time) their prospects suffered a severe blow and it suddenly looked as though any two from Kilkerley, Sean O'Mahonys and Dreadnots would join league leaders Naomh Mairtin as survivors. On paper, Plunketts have a very strong best starting XV. Their SFC displays in 2005 and '06 prove that they can compete with teams at the highest level. "On our day, we feel we're as good as anyone else," says John. "Hopefully we can learn from games like the one against the Pats and that will bring us on. We're good enough to win senior silverware if we get it right, but unfortunately it's a big 'if' now…" At the end of the day, senior is the only place to be: "You want to be playing against the best teams in the county. We have good young players coming through and we want them to play senior football so that they will continue to progress. "When I came through onto the first team, there was a situation where we had a big gap, where nothing had gone through in front of us. We went in as minors and the rest of the team was made up of lads who were close to retirement. There was nothing in between. When those lads retired, we found it hard to replace their experience and it took a while to get out of intermediate football. "It was great to finally play senior and hopefully we can respond and get back again. We have one of the best underage set-ups in the county, but we know we have to be playing at the highest level to keep them interested…" John Moroney joined the Plunketts first-team panel when he was 15 and had been there for the best part of 14 years. He played junior football in his first season (the club had just slipped from senior to junior in the space of two years). In addition to underage honours, he has won two Macardle Cups, a Donagh Cup and three Grogan Cups as well as appearing in an U21 final, a junior final and two intermediate deciders. The Oliver Plunketts stalwart has worn the county colours at U21, junior and senior level (under Paddy Clarke) but injuries dictated that his Louth days were few and far between. If he stays injury-free, John could play an important role in the club for a few more years and he hopes the men in Maroon can go on and establish themselves as a senior force: "If we had stayed up this year, we could have become very strong. Going down is a big blow and now it's all about how we react. Can we come back? We have a lot of great young players and a core of experience so we can still have a say in senior football. If we keep the talent coming through and hold onto the older lads, we'll have a good balance and I'd be very hopeful. "It might be just around the corner for us…" And with the club claiming underage titles at U9, U10, U13 and U16 who could argue with him. Tweet

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