Hunterstown Rovers will be in the chase for the 2007 Louth IFC following a successful Division 2B campaign in '06. The Reds had to take the 2B title to be guaranteed intermediate football next term and they duly obliged, claiming the McGahon Cup. Midfielder Robert Martin was influential as Rovers captured their first piece of silverware in five years. Things could have gone horribly wrong for Hunterstown in 2006. While the intermediate championship offered a possible return to senior football, the spectre of junior fare also hung menacingly over the seven teams in Division 2B. Five of those clubs would be demoted to the basement grade and the runners-up were guaranteed no more than a relegation play-off. Thus, sanctuary could only be reached by winning the division outright. To their credit, Hunterstown Rovers kept going all year and - after a lengthy tussle with Sean McDermotts - they eventually laid claim to the McGahon Cup when defeating St Mochtas in their final league outing of 2006 on Sunday October 22. That win left Hunterstown in an unassailable position at the top of the table and the celebrations began accordingly. It was no more than they deserved as they had been the outstanding team in the division over the course of the year, though the team from the other side of Ardee did push Jim Matthews' team all the way. Ultimately, Rovers are full value for their position in the streamlined 2007 intermediate championship. Indeed, they weren't too far away from booking a place at the top table either. On two occasions, Hunterstown came frustratingly close to securing a berth in the semi-finals of the '06 IFC but it simply wasn't to be as first O'Raghallaighs and then O'Connells conspired to deny them. Reflecting on the reasonably successful programme, midfielder-cum-centre-forward Robert Martin notes: "It was our first trophy since we went senior by winning the Division Two league in 2001, so we're happy with that aspect of it. A trophy is a trophy and it's great to have something to show for our year's efforts." The players knew from the start of the year that they would have to win Division 2B. With teams of the calibre of Sean McDermotts, Lannleire and Naomh Fionnbarra in the same section, this was anything but a formality so a decent start was vital. Jim Matthews took charge of team affairs, with help from selectors Fintan Levins, Gerry Reaburn and Ciaran Matthews and everybody concerned braced themselves for a difficult year. "It was tough," Robert agrees. "Winning the division and staying intermediate was our main goal and we eventually knew that it was going to come down to our home game against Sean McDermotts. Once we won that, it put us in pole position. We had lost to Naomh Fionnbarra the week before but that result didn't have any major bearing on the table as the Seans game was a four-pointer and was always going to be decisive. "When we beat them [Robert gave a Man of the Match display as Hunterstown prevailed by 1-7 to 0-8 on Saturday September 30], we were fairly confident because the teams we were facing after that had nothing to play for. The Mochtas struggled to get a team out for our last league match and we were comfortable enough in the end." Hunterstown finished the year with 20 points from 12 games and the McGahon Cup was theirs - though they had to go and get it themselves! "We were told the cup would be there for presentation the day of the Mochtas game, but I think the O'Raghallaighs player who had it was on holidays or something," relates the Hunterstown powerhouse. "Whatever happened, the County Board didn't have a representative and we had no cup, which was a disappointment and put a bit of dampener on things. But we eventually managed to get the cup down from Drogheda and the main thing was that we had won it and we can now look forward to playing intermediate football again in 2007." In the 2006 IFC, Hunterstown were in Group B. They slipped to a surprise opening day defeat to Glen Emmets (0-12, to 0-10) - a result which would ultimately cost them a semi-final place against Naomh Malachi - but got back on track with a 2-8 to 1-6 win over Sean McDermotts. Now with the bit firmly between their teeth, the Rovers comfortably saw off O'Raghallaighs (0-15 to 0-6) and Na Piarsaigh (4-7 to 1-10) to finish joint-top of the table alongside the Hoops, on six points apiece. Both teams were assured of a place in the knockout stage of the competition but a play-off was required to see who would progress directly to a semi-final as group winners. In stark contrast to the previous group meeting at Dunleer, the Drogheda side turned the tables to record a 0-10 to 1-6 win at Collon on Saturday August 26. It was a sickening defeat for Hunterstown, who were now consigned to a quarter-final clash with O'Connells. The quarter-final at Knockbridge on the Saturday night of September 2 was a thriller but Hunterstown lost by 2-17 to 2-11 despite a rousing revival. The losers had trailed by 1-8 to no score at the end of the first quarter and battled back with goals from Alan Landy and Patrick Matthews to level at 2-10 to 1-13 with quarter of the match still remaining. Unfortunately, they ran out of steam thereafter… "It was disappointing because we probably were the form team going into the knockout stage and we thought we left it short," Robert recalls. "We actually thought we were through to the semi-finals once we beat Na Piarsaigh, as we had already beaten O'Raghallaighs, and we were surprised when we had to play them again. If we'd gone straight through to a semi-final, we'd have been very hard to stop. As it was, we lost the play-off by a point and were caught at the death by O'Connells after fighting our way back into contention." Robert has been on the Hunterstown first team for a decade now and has played in a variety of positions. In recent seasons, however, he normally lines out either at midfield or sometimes on the forty. He had a superb year in 2006, performing wonderfully in every game and demonstrating impressive levels of fitness. Indeed, the whole team looked fit and sharp and the spirit was good in the camp even as the season dragged into October. "It was great," he reflects. "There was a good buzz and everybody pulled together to try to finish top of the table. There's a sense of unity in the club and we all socialise together after the games, which is important too. There's a good bond and we're looking forward to next year." Hunterstown aren't in the least bit daunted by the prospect of a very difficult intermediate championship in 2007: "There will be four or five big clubs coming down and a lot of strong sides still in the grade, as well as St Kevins coming up. It'll be tough, but a lot of the teams will fear Hunterstown as much as we'll fear them. We were senior for four years after winning the intermediate championship in 1993 and we went up again in '99 for a year and in 2001 for two more seasons. We have been up at the top for a while and we have beaten all of those teams. "We won't be afraid of anyone. The new structures will take a lot of getting used to and the first year will be nervy for every team involved but we have a great young team with a lot of lads in and around the 21/22 mark and I think we can have a good year. A lot of young lads have come through in the past five years and they benefited from some good competitive football at underage level with the amalgamation (Hunterstown/Mattock/Glen Emmets). "There's a good committee here and everybody is doing their bit; I'm confident we'll be there or thereabouts in 2007." Tweet

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