Given the astonishing heroics of 2002 and the resultant hangover, everyone associated with Mattock needed a breather in '03. Cue an uneventful season on the playing front. However, Donal Geraghty, who famously captained the club to glory in '02, promises we'll see the real Mattock Rangers again in 2004. Mattock Rangers were never going to live up to expectations in 2003. On the back of what they'd achieved the previous year, a lull was only to be expected. In '02, the Collon men completely rewrote the history books, winning their first ever Louth senior football championship and reaching three other major finals - the ACC Cup, the Cardinal O'Donnell Cup and, most notably of all, the Leinster club championship decider. By anyone's standards, it was a spectacular season. How do you follow on from that? Some observers predicted big things from Mattock again in '03 but, with the benefit of hindsight, this was unrealistic. After the exertions of '02 (virtually a twelve-month season) and also the previous year (when Collon reached the SFC final), there was always a very real risk of burn-out - both in terms of physical fatigue and mental exhaustion. And so it came to pass that the demands of two arduous campaigns took their toll in the shape of an injury crisis that wreaked havoc with Rangers' 2003 championship aspirations. Mattock's bid to retain Joe Ward and return to the provincial club competition came unstuck at the earliest possible juncture. Group stage defeats at the hands of Newtown Blues and St Patricks put paid to any hopes of the outgoing champions contesting the business end of the Wee County's premier competition. While this was naturally disappointing, the upside is that the earlier-than-expected exit at least afforded the players a well-earned break from championship football. Donal Geraghty, who captained the team to 2002 glory, contends that even though it was disappointing not to reach the same heights again in '03, the premature departure won't do Mattock a great deal of damage in the long run. The centre half back notes: "The one positive thing we can take from the year is that we went out of the competition early. We'd been in two finals in a row and those were two very long seasons. But getting knocked out early - even though it's obviously not the ideal scenario - has given us a chance to sit back and recharge our batteries. The break certainly won't do us any harm. We can regroup now and we'll come back in 2004 much fresher and stronger." The defending county champions could hardly have asked for a more difficult group in the 2003 Louth SFC. Mattock were pitted alongside Newtown Blues, St Patricks and Hunterstown Rovers in Group B and it was clear from the off that there would be no easy route into the quarter-finals. Mattock had no chance of easing their way back into it. The opener against the Pats at Haggardstown on June 15th was about as difficult as they come and the Lordship men duly inflicted a two-point defeat on Des Lane's team, 1-11 to 2-6. Rovers got their bid for a place in the last eight temporarily back on track with a facile 4-13 to 0-7 win over neighbours Hunterstown in Drogheda on July 4th but still had to win their final group game to progress to the knock-outs. That match was played at The Grove on July 13th and below-par Mattock (short a number of key men through injury and suspension) were well beaten by the Blues, 2-9 to 0-5. All in all, it was a rather tame exit for the Black & Reds, who endured a frustrating championship to say the least - they were reduced to 13 men in both SFC defeats! With Brendan Reilly's three-year term at the helm expired, Des Lane took charge of the Mattock first team in 2003, with Sean Reid, Damien Reid and Kevin Shevlin as selectors. The prime objective was to hold onto the Joe Ward, but this was always going to be extremely difficult ... even without a spate of injuries to contend with! Donal Geraghty surveys the scene: "In 2001 when we lost the final everyone was saying we'd be back the following year and that you have to lose one before you can win one, but we thought that maybe we had blown it and we knew it was a long way back. "However, the hunger was there and we exceeded everyone's expectations. We were very lucky with injuries all year, though, and that was critical. We only used 17 players all year in the championship, in Louth and in Leinster, which was something like 13 or 14 games altogether. So we were very fortunate in that regard, but this year it went the other way and we had four or five injuries to important players and it's very difficult for any club to deal with that. We can't complain about it, though, because we definitely got more than our share of breaks in 2002." In fairness to Mattock, even if they'd been at full strength, it was still a very difficult group. "It was far from easy," Donal agrees. "When you're up against the Pats, the Blues and Hunterstown you definitely need a few breaks. To lose Christy Grimes for any game is a massive blow because he's worth an average of at least four points but, to be fair, I don't know if we'd have beaten the Pats even if we'd had Christy that day... We can't take anything away from the teams that beat us because they both did what they had to do and fully deserved their wins. "We were also missing Niall Callan, who is a tremendous club player, and Ernie Roche, who was Mattock's Player of the Year in 2001, so we weren't at our best, but we came up against some quality opposition. "Realistically, I don't think we'd have won the championship without those three, even if we'd progressed beyond the group stage. The way the Pats, Cooley and the Blues were playing, we'd have needed to have been at our best to compete." Mattock didn't benefit from an adequate breather between seasons. With their 2002 campaign running through until December 23rd, one season virtually merged into the next: "We were back training in February," Donal continues. "It was probably too soon after the Leinster final and we never got a chance to recover from our exertions. Still, our goal was to win Louth again and to give Leinster another go, but to achieve that was always going to be difficult. The standard of football in the county is so uniform now that it's very difficult to win championships back to back. Also, as county champions, everyone else is raising their game and trying to beat you, so it was a hard year." Remember Mattock also reached the '01 county final, so the players had no more than a couple of months off in the 2001/02 close-season either. Therefore, they went into 2003 having had no more than three months off out of the previous 24! And, bearing in mind that so many of Mattock's bigger names were also involved with various county teams, it was obvious that something had to give... The fatigue of the players also affected their conviction - something this Mattock side certainly never lacked in the past. According to their 2002 captain: "When you go into a game, belief is worth about five points. We had a few close games in 2002 and we came through because we believed in ourselves. Stabannon were always the same in the '90s - they could get the vital scores when the going got tough. "From Mattock's point of view, we have David Reid and Mark Brennan up front and they would walk onto any club team in the county. With players of that calibre, you know that all you have to do is get the ball in and they'll do the rest. Unfortunately, this year we didn't get enough ball in to them..." Donal Geraghty's uncles Paddy and Larry both played for Mattock and Louth, while another uncle, Ollie, won an All-Ireland with Meath in 1967 and a Meath SFC with Seneschalstown in 1972. Donal himself has been on the Mattock Rangers first team for six seasons. He made his SFC debut against the Blues in Drogheda - marking none other than Colin Kelly! Collon were hockeyed that day but have improved beyond recognition in the meantime. What has been the secret of their progression? "I think it's the way we've been able to gradually add one or two players at a time. There was a core there of men like Niall Callan, Christy Grimes, Ernie Roche and David Brennan and we've gradually added players into the mix. I came in with Ivor Sherlock, then we had Robbie Brennan, Mark Brennan and David Reid. Gradually the team took shape. "Even in '03, we continued with that policy. Adrian Reid, [county minor] Sean Gilsenan and Daniel Bannon were all thrown in and the experience they've picked up is a real positive aspect of the season. We have more lads coming on all the time and I think it's a strategy that has worked very well for Mattock Rangers. If you can add two or three good players into a team every year, you'll eventually win something..." What's the target for next year then? "Our goal is to re-group and start playing the football we played in 2002 again - nice fast football with a quick ball into the forwards. We have time to rest, the pressure's off for the new season, and hopefully the confidence will return. "It was disappointing this time around not to have a championship game from the middle of July because we'd grown used to playing in the latter stages of the competition and we missed that. Every team wants to be involved in the big games, particularly the build-up to the county final, and we want more of that. "I think Mattock will be very relaxed going into the new season. We still have all our best players and you don't become a bad team overnight. We're still a relatively young side and we'll be fancying our chances in 2004." Getting out the hurley It is now four years since boys and girls around Collon started swinging their hurleys. This is a short time indeed to learn the skills of this most ancient game, but the results of their labour is clear to see, after another successful year on the hurling and camogie fields of Louth. Gormanston College Indoor Hurling The year started early in January with fifty players taking part every Sunday, for six weeks, in the annual North Dublin Indoor Hurling League being held in Gormanston College. We had four teams entered and each team came home with a set of medals. The Junior Hurling team came first, U10's and U12's came second with the U13 Camogie team coming 3rd. Louth Indoor Hurling Finals There were two groups in this Competition - Junior and Senior. The Junior team reached the Group Finals by beating St. Paul's and Termonfeckin. The Senior team did the same. In the Group Finals, the Junior team won all their games and faced the Friary in the Final, which they won 7-2. Scorers: .Brian Corcoran - three, John Reid - two, Ciaran Maguire and Michael McKeown - one each. In the Senior Group Finals, Collon again finished top of the Group. They were up against Knockbridge in the Final. In what was a very good game, Collon emerged winners 4 -1. Scorers : Graham Condon and Brian Corcoran - 2 each. INTO/GAA Hurling Mini Sevens In the 7-a-side hurling competition, we beat Knockbridge and Termonfeckin and then played Bay Estate Dundalk in the Final, winning on a scoreline : 2-1 to 0-1. Scorers: Tom O'Reilly and Michael McKeown - 1-0 each, Brian Corcoran - 0-1. As a result of this win, the team had to travel to Downpatrick to take part in a Regional Festival with four other Counties. Subsequently, two players were picked from Collon - Brian Corcoran and Keith Hamill - to play in Croke Park in front of 60,000 people, at half-time in the All-Ireland Hurling Semi-Final between Kilkenny and Tipperary. This was indeed a great honour. O'Broin Shield Collon had won the 'B' section of this Competition for the last three years. This year we went one step better and got to the Final of the 'A' Section, where we were beaten on the day by a stronger Knockbridge team. McCreesh Shield Having got to the Final of the 'A' Section of this Competition for the last two years and being narrowly beaten, we were beginning to despair of ever getting any further. Collon started off by winning against Naomh Moninne and Pearse Og, we were then held to a draw by Knockbridge. This meant that we were in the Final against Knockbridge. The Final was a very close game with Collon finally winning. Scorers : Ciaran Maguire 1-0 and Brian Corcoran 0-1. The whole team hurled superbly throughout the day and were deserved winners. A Man of the Match Award was presented to John McKeown, for his superb defensive play. DJ Carey School of Hurling Ryan Lenaghan, Lorcan Kavanagh and Pauric Bannon had the honour of being picked to spend a week in Kilkenny at the DJ Carey School of Hurling. This was a week packed with training, matches, entertainment and meeting plenty of All-Ireland hurling stars, not just from Kilkenny, but from Offaly, Wexford and Waterford. The players were supplied with O'Neills kit bags, rain-tops, polo-shirts and an Azurri jersey. U16 Leinster Blitz Louth took part in an U16 Leinster Blitz held in Longford. Collon had three players on the team. They were Jason Condon, Kevin Conway and Darren Reid. Well done to those lads, they did well on the day. Leinster Indoor 4th Class Hurling Blitz Louth won their section of the Leinster Indoor Hurling Blitz for 4th Class Pupils in the National Basketball Arena Tallaght in January. In this competition, Brian Corcoran and Edward Condon had been picked to play for Louth, as a result of their performance in the Junior Indoor competition held in Dundalk. In the group section Louth played Longford, Wicklow and Wexford. In the Semi-Final they won Laois and then beat Westmeath in the Final. It was an excellent days hurling by Louth. After the Final, Kilkenny All-Ireland Medal Winner, Eddie Brennan, presented each player with a hurley and a sliothar. U12 Camogie The U12s had wins in the League against Kilkerley, St. Kevin's and Cooley, drew with Knockbridge, lost to St. Anne's and reached the Final. But, as in the previous two years, we could not produce the goods on the night and lost. U14 Camogie U14s recorded good wins over St. Anne's, St. Kevin's, Cooley and Knockbridge. In the Final, we faced Kilkerley, who had been the only team to beat us - by one point - in the League. The Final was held in Collon and was a very exciting game, which Collon, captained by Denise Gilsenan, won on a scoreline of 2-2 to 1-1. Scorers : Niamh Reid 1-1, Ciara Monaghan 1-0 and Nicola Matthews 0-1. This was a tremendous achievement by this team, who were very committed and trained very hard all year. Thanks to the players for their great loyalty and support throughout the year and to the parents who helped out in transporting players to matches. The Club is looking forward to the continued support of everyone involved, for the coming year, in an effort to build on the great success of the last four years. - Courtesy of Collon hurling and camogie club Tweet

Most Read Stories