O'Raghallaighs enjoyed a mighty run in the 2006 Louth intermediate football championship before losing to eventual Seamus Flood Cup winners Naomh Malachi at the semi-final stage. Determined to book a return to the top flight, the Hoops have been hovering around the doorway for a few years now and midfield powerhouse Anthony Briscoe is confident that they could be on the verge of realising their dream. From junior also-rans to genuine challengers for a place in senior football, O'Raghallaighs have made remarkable progress since the turn of the millennium. Though they don't yet have the trophies to prove it, the Hoops' success story has been as striking as just about any in the Wee County in recent times. The 2001 JFC winners contested an intermediate decider in 2004 and clinched promotion to Division 2A (winning the 2B title and the Grogan Cup) the following year. They also made the latter stages of the IFC again in '05 (losing a quarter-final replay to the Malachis) and marched through to a semi-final in 2006, falling to champions-elect Naomh Malachi again. The North Road men made light of their higher league standing in '06 as well, pushing Dundalk Gaels hard all season for outright 2A honours. Over the course of the season, taking both league and championship into consideration, O'Raghallaighs were arguably the most consistent intermediate team in the county (though Naomh Malachi, Dundalk Gaels and O'Connells could lodge legitimately strong claims to that same title). What really matter, however, is that the Hoops are close. So close. The current squad is on the cusp of bringing senior football back to the famous Drogheda venue and Anthony Briscoe, proud club captain in 2006, is confident that they can take the final step. While it won't be easy in '07, with some quality sides dropping down from senior to create a much stronger middle section, Anthony is convinced that the O'Raghallaighs are moving in the right direction. Thus, there is a sense of disappointment in the clubhouse that they fell at the semi-final stage of the 2006 IFC: "We didn't do as well as we'd hoped," the captain insists. "We were hoping to go all the way but we came up against a team that probably wanted it more than we did on the day. We're not too far away. The Malachis went on to win it and fair play to them. You have to give them credit for the way they came back after losing the final in 2005 and I hope they do really well at senior level." Gracious in defeat and a very sincere individual, Anthony is nonetheless driven by a fierce will to succeed in the famous Green & White. He's bedded into the club exceptionally well since joining five years ago and is now an O'Raghallaighs man through and through. Strong and honest, he is as impressive in his sincerity off the pitch as he is on it. He's not afraid to shoulder some of the responsibility for the team's '06 downfall, either: "A few of us didn't perform very well on the day, including myself, and you won't get away with that in a championship semi-final. Hopefully we can learn from it." O'Raghallaighs acclimatised to Division 2A immediately and were locked in a battle with the Gaels at the top of the table all year. Considering that two clubs from the division would possibly slip to junior, this was most encouraging. "The main thing was to avoid the bottom two," Anthony confirms. "We were in a similar situation two years ago when we got to the intermediate final but had to beat Sean McDermotts in a play-off to avoid the drop to junior, so we had to make sure there was no repeat of that." Was it quite a comfortable league programme? "We played well in some matches but there were definitely others where we scraped through. Na Piarsaigh beat us twice as well - they seem to be our bogey team in the league, while we can usually get the better of them in the championship. "I think one of the most encouraging things is that we have plenty of young lads coming through. Apart from myself, (full forward) Paul Farrelly and (full back) Cathal McGinty as well as a few minors, the bulk of the team are in their early-to-mid twenties, which bodes well for us. Graham Leech is 21, Daimhin Finnegan is 23 and lads like Ciaran Brassil and Andrew Rogan have been very consistent performers for years already. O'Raghallaighs were in Group B of the 2006 Louth intermediate football championship. They opened their account with a hard-earned 2-7 to 2-5 victory over Sean McDermotts at Ardee on July 11 and fell to a surprisingly-heavy defeat (0-15 to 0-6) to Hunterstown in Dunleer three weeks later. This put them under pressure but they responded well with back-to-back wins over Na Piarsaigh (1-7 to 0-8) and Glen Emmets (1-16 to 0-5). This was enough to confirm passage to the business end of the competition but the group wasn't quite done and dusted as there was a tie at the top and the winners would progress to the semi-finals while the runners-up would have to content themselves with a quarter-final berth. O'Raghallaighs squared up to Hunterstown for the second time at Collon on Saturday August 26 and this time they managed a one-point victory, 0-10 to 1-6. This was a massive success as it meant that O'Raghallaighs avoided the daunting prospect of having to defeat O'Connells AND Dundalk Gaels to reach a second final in three years. However, it proved to be a thorny prize as Naomh Malachi were men on a mission and rather convincingly saw the Hoops off in the first leg of a semi-final double bill at Dowdallshill on Sunday October 1. O'Raghallaighs were within touching distance at the break (0-7 to 1-3) thanks to Anthony McGee's volleyed goal on the half-hour, but they never really got motoring thereafter. The result means that O'Raghallaighs will be contesting a twelve-team IFC in '07. "It's going to be hard with so many strong teams coming down but the clubs who were intermediate last year also have a chance. The tendency has been for teams who've just come down from senior to do well in intermediate football, but we've been to a final, a quarter-final replay and a semi-final, so we're hoping to break the mould. "In the last few years O'Raghallaighs have gone back to the drawing board with regards to bringing youth through. We didn't have the structures in place previously, but the conveyor belt is operating nicely now. Clubs need to do this and I see no reason why a town team - especially in a town the size of Drogheda - can't put these structures in place. With a steady flow of talent coming through, we can make an impression next year and into the future." Assisted by Aidan Lambe and Kevin King, Josh Carolan did an exceptional job as manager in 2006. Anthony also pays tribute to a diligent committee who ensure that the players want for nothing and groundsmen Benny Markey and Noel Smith. These, he says, are the people who keep the club ticking over. "We brought in Damien McKenna, an ex Irish international boxer, as trainer and he got the fitness levels up. He also taught us to be more self-disciplined, both in terms of the team and from a personal point of view. We had a good enough run in the championship and were there or thereabouts in the league all year, so it wasn't a bad year, though we're obviously disappointed that we didn't manage to win the intermediate championship. "We beat O'Connells by six points and also beat Stabannon in the lead-up to the semi-final and we thought those performances were good. We felt that we were playing well and fancied out chances of getting to the final. Unfortunately, on the day, we didn't perform to our ability." Five years after scooping junior gold, O'Raghallaighs are so close to senior football they can almost touch it. Tweet

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