The emergence of Mattock Rangers as a major force in Louth football has been one of the big stories of the decade. The Collon side have been consistently among the challengers for the top honours over the past seven years and in 2002 and 2005 claimed the Joe Ward Cup. Not only that, but in the process they have played some skilful and entertaining football while also producing some of the county's most talented footballers. Unfortunately for the Collon side, the emergence of St Patrick's has seen the peninsula men move ahead with three senior titles, but according to Mattock manager, Fergus Flynn, the battle for the 'Team of the Decade' title is not over yet. While many have written off the Collon team as one on the decline, the view in the Mattock camp is different and they are determined to add to their collection of Senior Championship titles. Fergus, who also doubles as club secretary, points to the fact that over the past two seasons Mattock have only lost out to the team that went on to win the Joe Ward Cup. Added to that is the fact the the squad are relatively young and have a couple of emerging players which should see them continue to be a force over the coming years. Although the prospects look good for Mattock they will still end the 2007 season somewhat disppointed as Fergus feels they could have made a bigger impression. "We were very disappointed to go out in the semi-final stage as we really believed we could win." Mattock got off to an impressive start in the compeition but by the time the championship got down to serious business, they were somewhat disrupted by the loss of two of their main players. "Having defeted St Marys and Newtown Blues in the early stages it was looking good for us", admitted Fergus who then saw his plans hit when Mark Brennan and David Reid travelled to America. "David and Mark going to Chicago was a big blow for us and it was hard to lift the lads for the game against Naomh Mairtin, which we were very disappointed to lose. However, we bounced back to earn a draw against St Bride's in the following game. "We faced St Joseph's in the next round and we never have easy games against them as they seem to have the Indian Sign over us. However, in the end we won by two points but missed out on going directly to the semi-final on score difference." Mattock were strongly fancied to easily account for Naomh Malachi in the quarter-final but were made to fight all the way before overcoming the underdogs. "We had been hoping for a two-week break by which time David and Mark would have been back but it didn't happen and the game was close the whole way. "When they got a penalty late on it didn't look good but the goalkeeper pulled off a great save and we came through with a point to spare. "We were boosted by the fact that the two lads would be home for the semi-final and again our hopes of a two-week break didn't materialise which meant that we only had one training session together as a full squad. "Some people said we should have played them and others said we shouldn't so we were in a 'no win' situation. The reality is that we don't have a big panel and they are players of inter-county standard who had been playing football throughout the summer." Unfortunately for Fergus and his selectors, Gerard Hanratty and Derek Hickey, the gamble didn't pay off as a great start from St Patrick's saw them through. "Pat's had a great start and scored 1-1 in the opening minutes which effectively proved the difference between the teams in the end. With 53 minutes gone we were only three points down, but just never managed to claw back that goal. We did have a good spell during the game but weren't able to get the scores when it mattered." Despite coming up short this season, the manager is optimistic that there is more success in this squad. "We are still fairly confident that if we put in the effort there are championships in this team. The likes of our more experienced players, Christy Grimes, David Brennan and Niall Callan are still around the 31 mark so they still have a lot to give. "The rest of our squad are still in their 20s and with some good young players coming through we are looking to bring the Joe Ward back to Collon. "We have the likes of Ryan Leneghan who played at centre-half-back on the county minor team and will be looking to establish a place on our first 15. "There is also Padraig Bannon who is only 16 and has played a number of games this year and was also brought into the county Minor team." Martin Sherlock is one of a number of players coming through from the underage ranks and with Fergus not expecting any retirements he feels that there is plenty to come if he continues as manager. Another factor that the manager believes could help his squad next season is the reduction of the number of players in the county panel. "Like everyone else, we are big supporters of the Louth team and love to see our players involved at that level. However, it puts a lot of demands on the lads and doesn't help the preparations for club teams. "The thing is that inter-county players are training all year round even though there are no National League games before Christmas. With more of our players getting a break I think they will be fresher next year and if the hunger is still there we are confident that we can compete." The inter-county situation was particularly difficult in terms of the league this season. Fergus was disappointed with the way the new format operated as is did little to help teams prepare for the championship. "I don't think the structures helped any team with county players. There was a time when we had to play without seven lads who were involved with the county at senior, minor or U-21 level and for most games we were short four or five. "It was the same for others including St Patrick's and I remember looking at the league table at one stage when both of us were at the bottom, yet we had won two tough championship games." Despite the disappointments of this year, Mattock can look forward with optimism to the 2008 season when they intend to be back challenging for the top honours. Mattock Rangers are U13 Division 3A Champions for 2007. Mattock Rangers U-13 team beat Glyde Rangers Tallenstown in a keenly contested Division 3Achampionship final in Darver.   Glyde started the match very well and were 1-1 to no score up after five minutess but goals from Brian McCarthy and John McKeown brought Mattock back into the game and they lead by five points at half time.   Glyde again started the second half very well and hit three unanswered points to reduce the deficit to two points, but a brace of goals from John McKeown (man of the match) and 1-1 from Terry Donegan and Aarron O'Brien put Mattock back on top and they went on to win 7-9 to 4-9. Great displays from Ciaran Taaffe in goals,  Dean Reid and Mark Cunningham at the back, the midfield pairing of Terry Donegan and John McKeown and Brian McCarthy up front were instrumental in the victory. Tweet

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