Cooley Kickhams have enjoyed their fair share of success over the past number of years, but as the 2008 season came to a close the club were left to reflect on another year without their number one target - the Joe Ward Cup. Victory over Senior champions, Newtown Blues. in the Cardinal O'Donnell Cup Final was the highlight of the season and saw the club record a fourth success in five seasons, but it is no longer enough to satisfy the hunger for a county title at Fr McEvoy Park. When the ball is thrown in on the 2009 season, Kickhams will be approaching 19 years since they last captured the Louth Senior Championship and it is a barren spell they are determined to end. Many people, including Chairman Adrian Sheelan, felt that the famine would have ended in recent years given the talent they had available to them, but for a variety of reasons, they failed to make the breakthrough. Despite going close on a number of occasions, Adrian does not believe that this particular team has missed the boat and is very optimistic that they will reclaim the title in the near future. "To be honest, I thought we would have won the championship over the last few years as we seemed to get stronger in the forwards which hadn't been the case prior to that. "Unfortunately, it didn't work out for us but I still believe that this particular team has the ability to go all the way. "If you look at the likes of Sean O'Neill and Alan Page they are still only 28 despite playing for a long time and along with the likes of Johnny Clerkin they still have both the hunger and the time to win a championship." Adrian is hoping that the experience of those players, allied to the talent coming through from the successful minor teams will propel the club towards glory in the near future. "A lot of players reach their peak between 28 and 32 and it reminds me a bit of when we made the breakthrough in 1989. Back then we had the likes of Tony McCarragher, Sean Thornton, John McDonald, Liam Reilly, Enda Rafferty, Brendan Burke and Leo McGuigan, who were all in their late 20s. "At present we have players with that experience but also we have a number of exciting young players coming through. There are a lot of good footballers around the 20/21 mark so we have the ingredients, but the challenge is to get the mix right." The chairman admits that capturing the Joe Ward in 2009 will once again be the club's main priority, but if they are to achieve their goal, it will be done with a new management team. After three years at the helm, Gary Thornton, stepped down from the post as senior team manager, but Adrian was quick to praise his efforts in that time. "The current management team left no stone unturned in their efforts to achieve success but unfortunately it didn't work out. "As with anyone in the club who takes on a job, they management team did their utmost but it is not an easy job and sometimes it doesn't work out. Hopefully next year with somebody fresh at the helm it will work out for us. A new manager has yet to be selected and the chairman pointed out that a new system has been adopted this year. In previous years the manager was selected at the Annual General Meeting, but this time it was decided to appoint a committee of seven. Adrian knows that whoever is appointed to the post will have to contend with what he believes is a less than ideal structure to the senior championship, which didn't help the club's cause this year. "There is no denying that we didn't hit our top form this year and while it has to be said that there were a number of factors involved, I believe that the fractured nature of club football meant we were unable to get any real consistency, while it is impossible to get any sort of continuity in the championship. "Somebody really needs to have a look at the structures because playing a league competition without county players devalues it. Apart from the fact that there is nobody going to the games because the best players aren't there, you need those top players to help the young lads improve. "As a result we didn't have our county players with us until just before the championship which makes it very difficult to prepare. Our players involved in the county panel make up the spine of our team so it really affected our chances of getting a settled side." Those factors certainly disrupted Cooley's efforts as despite coming through the group stages they made their exit in the quarter-final stage when suffering a shock defeat at the hands of Glyde Rangers. However, Adrian is quick to admit that the structures were not the sole reason for the club's failure to win the championship. Apart from the fact that they failed to reach their potential as a unity, he feels that the team has played a lot of football in recent years and while they have enjoyed their fair share of success, it may have its toll on the players. "This year's Cardinal O'Donnell Cup Final was our fifth in a row and before that we had defeated Glyde Rangers in 2004 and 2006, along with Nh Malachi last year, while in 2006 we lost to Newtown Blues. "When you add in the three Sheelan Cup titles in that time there is a chance that we are suffering from a bit of mental fatigue but that may be the price you pay for success. Hopefully with a new management team we can freshen things up and I am confident that we will give it our best shot next year. "A lot depends on how the County Board decide to run the competitions and it is my belief that county players should be with their clubs as much as possible. There is no better example than Tyrone and I think Mickey Harte has a great attitude because he lets the players train and play with their clubs as much as possible and it certainly hasn't affected their form in the All-Ireland." In other footballing matters, Adrian is satisfied that the club remains in a very healthy state and although the trophy cabinet may not be as full as he would have liked, there is plenty of reason to be optimistic for the future. Coming to the concluding stages of the season, the Division 4A team were still in contention for league honours and were hoping to bring some silverware home. That team contains a lot of emerging talent and there is further good news in that the U-16 team are competing with the best in the county. The side which won the U-14 Feile two years ago, were very unlucky to go out to eventual winners, St Mary's, in the semi-final of the championship following a late goal. However, they were hoping to make amends as they were in strong contention for league honours coming towards the end of the year. Looking ahead to the future, the club have been busy introducing young players in the area to the game. "Every Friday during the summer months we had training sessions for 4 to 7 year olds and on occasions there were over 60 present so that is very good for the club. The training for 8 to 11 year olds takes place on a Monday and that has also gone really well", said Adrian. All players were presented with a club jersey at the end of the season which Adrian believes is an important part of making them feel part of the club. He points out that apart from seeing the players improving their skills over the year, one of the most satisfying elements of the training has been the social aspect where so many parents come to watch the children train. Away from football matters, the Cooley club has been very busy on the fundraising front once again. A very successful draw was held and the chairman points out that thanks to the very hard work of the new finance committee and others, they expect to clear eu80,000 from the project. This will go to help service the debt for the complex which Adrian is thrilled to see has now become a vital part of the local community. "I know it is a clichÈ to say it, but it really has become the hub of the community. Apart from the football end of things, there is great activity around the place with the all-weather pitches and the function room. We now also have other events such as aerobics taking place, while we now also have a pre-school playgroup for kids from 2 years and 10 months, up to the start of school." Another major project which the club has undertaken is the staging of a poker classic which comes to a conclusion around Easter time every year, and once again thanks to a lot of hard work over eu10,000 was raised this year. Tweet

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