Although they missed out narrowly on a place in the knockout stage of the intermediate football championship, Roche Emmets were nonetheless reasonably pleased with their season's work in 2007. It was always going to be a difficult year, slipping down after a decade in the top flight, but goalkeeper Aidan McCoy, who acted as club captain, reckons '07 is definitely a year in the bank for the men from Pairc Roiche. It was a year for Roche to take stock; a time for rebuilding, transition and consolidation. Vitally important was that the Blue & Whites stopped the rot that had seen them enter freefall for a couple of seasons. Roche enjoyed spectacular highs at juvenile level in the early 'nineties and at senior level towards the end of the decade, but they break-up of that side hit them hard and - with Wee County football being restructured - they eventually surrendered their senior status at the end of a difficult 2006 season. Back on the second rung for the first time since annexing the 1997 IFC, they had a potentially treacherous year to negotiate. They had to find their feet again, first and foremost. It was imperative that they started to win matches; crucial that new talent was blooded; important that the comparative veterans in the side hung around to impart their experience and help ease the younger lads into the demands of adult fare. All in all, long-serving goalkeeper Aidan McCoy believes the year was a success. A last-gasp O'Raghallaighs goal may have denied Roche a place in the business end of the intermediate knockout but, by and large, they did what they had set out to achieve: "We wanted to start rebuilding and we managed to do that," says the dependable custodian who doubled up as a proud club captain during the year gone by. "We had been senior for a few years and it was a big change to come back down to intermediate, so we had to learn how to adapt to that. We went for outside management and that was a good idea. Pat Rice came in, with Noel Callan and Noel Treanor as selectors. It certainly helped to have such a strong backroom team in place." Did Roche set their sights on bouncing straight back up to senior level? "That would have been nice, but it wasn't our priority. We set out to win as many games as we could but realistically out main priority was to try to consolidate and to bring a few minors through. We brought new players in and they did well. They have a year under their belts now and they will be even better in 2008. Even though we were disappointed with the way things finished up in the O'Raghallaighs game, we were happy enough with what we got from the year. We only lost to Dundalk Gaels by a point and to Dreadnots by two points, and we can draw a lot of positives from that." Roche Emmets found themselves in Group B of the IFC - a five-team section that would produce both finalists. They opened their programme with a narrow 0-12 to 0-10 defeat to Dreadnots on Saturday April 21 and followed up with a 1-12 to 0-8 win over Hunterstown a week later. Three months later, Dundalk Gaels provided the opposition in Round Three and the town side prevailed by 1-7 to 1-6 at Stabannon on Sunday July 29. After a routine victory over St Kevins at Castlebellingham, Roche went into their final group outing against O'Raghallaighs knowing that a win would guarantee a quarter-final play-off place. The match was played in Louth village on Saturday August 25 and Roche struck ten successive points to roar into a 0-13 to 0-8 advantage with only ten minutes left. The Hoops pulled back two points before slamming home a goal on the stroke of the hour. That strike gave the Drogheda club the point they needed to advance whilst sending Roche Emmets packing. It was an abrupt end to the year but one the new breed at Pairc Roiche should learn from. What was it like leading the team out onto the pitch as captain? "It was a great honour. I've been playing senior with Roche for twelve years and it really was an honour to captain the team. I enjoyed it and, even though we were down to intermediate, it was a good year for us." Even apart from the captaincy, is there an extra responsibility on the older players in the side to provide leadership? "Yes, some of the older players are hitting their 30s now, yet we were the fresh faces in the team when we won the IFC in 1997. Lads like the Cravens and myself are the oldest in the team now and we have to help bring the minors through. There's plenty of young talent in the club, so I think we'll be okay." During their stay in the top flight, Roche became genuine Joe Ward challengers and were unfortunate not to contest at least one final around the turn of the millennium. They reached SFC semi-finals in 1999 and 2000, with the core of the side that had garnered three MFCs in the early 'nineties. Aidan collected a minor medal in '91 and also garnered IFC, ACC Cup and Cardinal O'Donnell Cup medals. "The senior championship was really the only one we missed out on," he notes. "We peaked around 1999/2000 but then slipped back a bit. It goes around in circles. So I'm sure Roche can come back with a good team again soon." A former Louth U21, who also had a stint with the Wee County seniors (as, of course, has his brother Shane), Aidan is looking forward to the future. With the likes of the O'Connells and Barry O'Hagan coming through, Roche Emmets are in pretty good nick. And, as long as the more seasoned campaigners stick around to lend a helping hand, they should have no problems re-establishing themselves as a senior power. In the meantime, they have at least another year of intermediate action to look forward to and their goalkeeper is relishing the challenge: "We're hoping to push on. Our first aim will be to get out of the group and then see where we go from there. We know what it's all about now so we're going to aim a little higher. Once you get into the quarter-finals or semi-finals, you never know after that. From a semi-final, you are only two hours away from senior football." Of course, it's best to let nature take its course to a degree. While it would be fantastic to nick an intermediate crown, it would be much better to build gradually towards one and move forward with sustainability and genuine prospects of prospering at senior level. Aidan agrees and is content that the target should be consistent improvement rather than a specific piece of silverware: "I definitely think we improved a lot during the year and that is very satisfying. That had to be our main objective after the disappointment of going down. We took one or two lads through from minor to play adult football for the first time and they acquitted themselves very well. If we can keep finding one or two more each year, then we'll be doing alright. The way we did it in '97 was ideal - we went up with a team that was capable of competing at senior level and that's the way we want to go again." The cull may have sent Roche tumbling as club football in Louth was restructured, but they have regrouped well in their new surroundings and should be back sooner rather than later. Tweet

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