St Joseph's have become the nearly men of Westmeath Junior football in recent years having consistently made it to the last four of the championship while they also contested the decider on two occasions. Many could be excused for believing that the club would lack the hunger and desire for another championship campaign but it is exactly the opposite according to long serving full-back Darren McCormack. Without doubt St Joseph's are one of the top sides in the junior championship and although they have failed to land the coveted title, the Streamstown club are annually one of the favourites for the title. Success in the 2002 Junior Cup was their first adult title and a thoroughly deserved one at that, after years of hard work at underage level had finally paid off. Even though St Joseph's are regarded in such high esteem in their respective grade, the fact that they have not won a junior championship is one that is a bitter pill to swallow, although as Darren explains the team just carry on regardless. "It does knock you back a bit having got so close for so many years, but you have to put that behind you and work hard," said Darren. "We have a very young side who give it their all every year. "At the start of every year the determination is there to go all the way and we are confident that we can make the breakthrough in the very near future." As usual St Joseph's progressed to the knockout stages of the championship with relative ease as wins over St Fintain's/Multyfarnham, Delvin and St Loman's gave them full points after three matches while in their next match they played Mullingar Shamrocks, in what would not be their last meeting of the year. The first quarter of the match was a close affair with Streamstown leading by the narrowest of margins, 1-2 to 0-4, with their goal coming from midfielder Declan Nannery, while his partner in the middle Aidan Lennon chipped in with two points. St Joseph's stretched their lead to two points by half-time as Lennon, Sean Lynam and Alan McDonnell sent over points to leave the score 1-6 to 0-4. A great start to the second half saw the South Westmeath side stretch their lead to eight points as they raised three white flags in succession and although Shamrocks tried their best to get back into the match, the 2002 championship finalists held out for a six-point win. "It was a good win against Mullingar Shamrocks and a great start winning the first four matches. We knew Shamrocks would get to the knockout stages as they were a good young side," added Darren. Next up were near neighbours Loughnavalley and a blistering start by St Joe's set them up for the win as points by Brendan Slevin, Darren Petit (2) and Brendan Nannery left the score 0-4 to 0-0 after ten minutes, although Loughnavalley fought back to narrow the gap by half-time to 0-6 to 0-4 with everything to play for in the second half. County star Aidan Lennon added a goal and a point early in the second half to put some daylight between the sides, while Darren Petit added a point to further stretch their lead. Loughnavalley received some hope near the end of the match when they converted a penalty but it was a case of too little too late for them as St Joseph's continued their winning streak. On Saturday July 12th, St Joseph's arguably produced their best performance of the year when they meet fellow table toppers St Paul's in Rochfortbridge. These teams have had some very close battles in recent years and it was expected that this match would be the same, however that was not the case. A devastating second half display by the Streamstown based club earned them a 19-point win over their fierce rivals after only four points separated the sides at half time. Although the win was a boost to the club, Darren points out that no-one was getting carried away by the result and that there was still a lot of work to do if they were to win the championship. "We knew that St Paul's were better than they had played that day and although it was brilliant win, we knew we had to put it to the back of our minds and concentrate on the games ahead," pointed out the 32-year-old. St Joseph's could now focus on the semi-finals of the championship even though they still had to play Ballycomoyle and eventual champions Milltown. In the last four they would meet Mullingar Shamrocks who they beat earlier in the competition. But for this match they would face a different looking town side such is the wide pick that the Shamrocks have compared top the rural clubs like St Joseph's. Having lost experienced players like Andrew McCormack and Ronan McDonnell over the past couple of years has hindered Joseph's chances in the championship, although their full back feels that is was very satisfying to progress through the 2003 campaign with a dedicated squad. "For our club like ours its hard to cope with losing players, especially lads that would be key members of the team. It makes the rest of us work harder and that was the case last year as all the lads involved were interested," said Darren. The game against Shamrocks was played in blustery conditions and the sides exchanged three points each in the opening twenty minutes with Lennon and Nannery pointing the way for the green and yellows. A goal for Mullingar in the 24th minute put three points between the sides as half time approached but Alan McDonnell and Darren Petit narrowed the gap before the break. Further points were exchanged at the start of the second half before Shamrocks fired over two points and minutes later they went further ahead when they scored their second goal of the evening to leave the rural club with a mountain to climb in the remaining few minutes. St Joseph's pressed hard in the closing stages and Declan Nannery hit the upright before they were awarded a penalty. Unfortunately for goalkeeper Andrew Meares his shot was well saved by his opposite number in the Mullingar goal as time ran out for another year. "The semi-final was very disappointing, we had worked so hard all year and were very confident that we could make it to the final at the very least. We thought the wind would help us but it hardly affected the game at all. We didn't work hard enough on the day and that was why we lost, no excuses can be made," he added. For this year's championship a new format has been introduced with the six junior teams being placed in one group while senior and intermediate clubs that have second and third teams have been placed in another group. The format has caused a lot of debate throughout the county with many feeling that the junior championship is for junior clubs alone. Darren is not of this opinion and he feels that any club with the desire to win the championship and compete in the intermediate grade must play sides that are capable of playing at that level. "The new format is definitely for the better. You have to beat decent teams if you want to play in the intermediate championship. The junior is probably the hardest grade to win and it's no harm to play against sides that are very strong. I do agree that teams should be regulated and that once you play senior or intermediate football you should not be allowed play junior," he stressed. Once again St Joseph's will be one of the favourites for the junior championship and with Andrew McCormack and Ronan McDonnell returning to the squad for the coming year and the lionhearted McCormack leading from full back, 2004 could be the year the Streamstown based club finally make the breakthrough. Tweet

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