St. Mary's decline as a footballing force continued apace in 2007 when they suffered relegation for the second year in succession. However, the Rochfortbridge club's achievements at underage level would suggest that it won't be long before they turn the corner. Former senior kingpins St. Mary's, Rochfortbridge are facing up to the reality of junior football this year following their shock relegation from the intermediate ranks in 2007. St. Mary's play-off defeat to neighbours and arch-rivals Milltownpass last September saw them drop back to the junior ranks a mere 12 months after they relinquished their senior status. Their rapid demise has surprised many, but according to PRO Vinny Bagnall, they are intent on climbing back up the ladder just as quickly. "We're very hopeful that we'll be able to do a Rosemount on it," says Vinny, who feels the 'Bridge can take encouragement from what Rosemount achieved last year after they too had experienced a dramatic fall from grace in the preceding years. "We have a good underage structure now and with the experience that's in the squad, we're hoping to bounce back. Our pride has been dented over the past two years and our goal is to get back to winning ways in the year ahead. We'll be very disappointed if we don't win the junior championship at our first attempt." Bagnall, who has been involved with the 'Bridge in a variety of capacities down the years, attributes the club's demise to a combination of factors. "We were very unfortunate last year in that David Mitchell, Damien Gavin and Alan Gavin missed a lot of football through injury. On top of that, the attitude of some players wasn't what it should have been. And I suppose you could also say that we have paid the price for neglecting our underage structures for a few years. But we've put this right in the past four or five years and I'm glad to say our underage is now as strong as it has ever been." Under the guidance of former Milltownpass and Westmeath star Jim Whelahan, who has been reappointed manager for the coming season, St. Mary's endured a torrid time of it in last year's intermediate championship. They opened their campaign with a 2-4 to 4-7 defeat to Kilbeggan Shamrocks and then hit rock bottom when receiving a 0-4 to 2-22 drubbing from Shandonagh. After their dismal showing against the Ballinea men, St. Mary's regained their spirit and pride with a 3-9 to 1-10 victory over Caulry in their next game at Castletown-Geoghegan. The 'Bridge were slow to settle and conceded an early goal to Alan Rigney before battling back with goals of their own from Kenneth Berry and Robbie Kenny to trail by the minimum at half-time, 2-2 to 1-6. On the restart, St. Mary's reeled off four points without reply to open up a three-point gap, but Caulry responded to leave the minimum between the sides. Points from John McNamara and Thomas Geraghty restored Rochfortbridge's three-point cushion before veteran attacker Ian Cunningham made victory safe with a late goal. Sadly for the 'Bridge, that was as good as it got as further defeats to Tang (0-7 to 2-15) and Moate All-Whites (1-7 to 1-10) left them facing a relegation play-off against Milltownpass. The stakes were high for both clubs and this was reflected in the huge crowd that flocked to Castletown-Geoghegan for the do-or-die derby clash. In the end, the game came down to scoring power and Milltownpass had the better forwards, particularly in their diminutive corner forward Andy Devine, who had a hand in most of their scores. The 'Bridge led by 0-6 to 0-5 at the end of a keenly contested first half, but Milltownpass resumed with four unanswered points to take control. Ian Cunningham and Emmett Brennan then exchanged points before a Robbie Kenny effort left just two in it, 0-8 to 0-10 However, despite referee Peter Daly playing six minutes of injury-time, the 'Bridge could not make up the deficit and their players were desolate at the final whistle. By contrast, St. Mary's underage teams enjoyed a successful year with the under 16s winning a Division 2 league title and the minors reaching the club championship Division 3 final. The under 14 side reached the semi-final of their championship where they lost to a physically stronger St. Michael's team, and they also acquitted themselves well in a 'catch and kick' tournament in Killarney. Co. Kerry. The club also held a very successful under 8 and 10 blitz in September in which teams from Mullingar Shamrocks, Tyrrellspass, Coralstown/Kinnegad and St. Mary's participated. Tyrrellspass won the under 10 blitz, while St. Mary's came out on top in the under 8 competition. The under 16s, who were coached by Ray Lyster, Owen Nugent, Gerry Byrne, Ernie Alford, Declan Darcy and Ger Gavin, provided the year's highlight when they defeated St. Malachy's/Ballinagore by 2-15 to 2-11 to claim the Division 2 league title at St. Loman's in October. St. Mary's fell behind early on, but they recovered to lead by 0-11 to 0-6 at the interval with Eoin Gorman, Jake Byrne, Colin Gavin, Ger Glennon and Paul Rabbitte all getting on the scoresheet. Byrne put further daylight between the sides when he blasted to the net shortly after the resumption and the game looked over as a contest when Gorman tagged on a quick point. But St. Malachy's/Ballinagore refused to wilt and an unanswered 1-2 brought them back into contention. However, a Cian Kinsella goal put St. Mary's back in the driving seat. St. Malachy's/Ballinagore kept the pressure on when they scored their second goal, but despite being reduced to 14 players, the 'Bridge made sure of victory with a late point from Colin Gavin. Many of the same players also won under 16 premier championship medals with the St. Mary's-Tyrrellspass-Milltownpass amalgamation Clann Braonain, who defeated Mullingar Shamrocks by 0-11 to 0-7 in the decider at The Downs. St. Mary's had no fewer than nine players on the team that started the final - Dwayne Leavy, Jake Byrne, Eoin Nugent, Paul Carey, Wayne Gahan, Paul Rabbitte, Colin Gavin, Ray O'Sullivan and Eoin Gorman. The St. Mary's minor team, which was managed by Damien Gavin, Kenneth Gunning and Ian Cunningham, were unlucky not to bring another title back to the 'Bridge when they lost their club championship Division 3 (13-a-side) final to Rosemount. Despite creating numerous chances over the hour, St. Mary's were unable to avoid going down to a 1-6 to 2-5 defeat. A Brendan Berry goal had the green and whites on level terms at the break, but they were extremely wasteful in the second half and were punished for this when Emmett Heavin scored what proved to be the match-winning goal for Rosemount. "Even though we lost the minor final, it was a big boost in itself that we were able to field a minor team last year. We weren't sure if we'd able to field at the start of the year, so it was a great achievement for the team to get to the final," Bagnall says. The well-known auctioneer adds: "Our underage committee are doing tremendous work and great credit is due to our underage chairman Ernie Alford and secretary Declan Darcy for driving the thing. They've also managed to get a number of the players from the adult team involved with coaching the youngsters which is great to see." 2007 saw St. Mary's develop three new all-weather pitches, which can be used as one large, full-size pitch, at a cost of in excess of EUR250,000. The development was made possible by the securing of EUR160,000 in National Lottery funding and already the club is reaping the benefits. "Since we opened the Astroturf pitches, we have noticed that a lot of the players who had drifted away from the club are coming back to us. They're a marvellous facility and are in big demand with schools and other club teams. "The original plan was to install floodlights and develop a small Astroturf area, but we decided to develop the three pitches instead. Rochfortbridge is a rapidly growing town - there are plans for another 700 houses to be built - and it needed these facilities." St. Mary's plan to further enhance their facilities in the coming years by constructing new dressing rooms, which will be situated at the opposite end of the ground to the existing ones, and a new gymnasium. The St. Mary's under 16 team which claimed Division 2 league honours was: Devon Whitsun; Cian Kinsella, Paul Carey, Wayne Gahan; Cathal Coyle, Eoin Nugent, Dwayne Leavy; Jake Byrne, Ray O'Sullivan; Eoin Gorman, Colin Gavin, Ger Glennon; Eddie Alford, Paul Rabbitte, Brendan Keegan. Subs used: Shane Kiernan, Derry Grimes and Paul Plunkett. The minor side which contested the club championship Division 3 final was: James Leogue; Paul Carey, Wayne Gahan; Mark Kelly, Ger Keegan, Ger Glennon; Aidan Fallon; Liam Hogan; Brendan Brady, Eoin Gorman, Paul Rabbitte; Andrew Cunningham, Ian Kenny. Subs used: Shane Kiernan, Eoin Nugent and Cian Kinsella. Tweet

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