Loughnavalley may have ended the year without any silverware but the rural club can be proud of their performances in the Junior championship and Cup. Johnny Longworth, selector of the 2004 side, believes that they can improve. For a club with a relatively small panel to choose from, reaching the quarterfinals of the junior championship and the final of the junior Cup is an achievement in itself. Winning a junior title is one of the toughest tasks placed upon a team and Loughnavalley can verify that fact having been fruitless in their efforts to reach the intermediate grade. But that has not broken the spirits of the club as they set out each year to reach their holy grail of winning the junior championship and Johnny believes that if you do not aim for that at the start of the year, then a team has no business even turning up for matches. "Every team has to set their goal at the start of the year and you have to believe that you have a chance of winning the championship," said Johnny. "There are three or four teams capable of going all the way and I am confident that Loughnavalley are one of those sides." Johnny, who won a senior football championship medal with neighbours St Malachy's back in 1981, feels that the junior teams have been treated unfairly with the new format introduced to the grade last year. "The new format is definitely unfair to junior clubs. The championship could have been easily ran off a lot earlier than it was last year. The delay between matches was way too long and that was due to club's second teams trying to hold off and keep their players for the junior. "We started training last January and it left the year very long indeed, especially as we didn't play a competitive game for almost two months during the summer, which doesn't make sense," added Johnny. Longford native Jim Brady was appointed as manager for the 2004 campaign with Johnny and Mick Kelly lending their considerable knowledge of the game as selectors. Their first outing in the championship against Ballycomoyle in June. An impressive 2-9 to 0-8 victory was recorded over the north Westmeath side but more importantly it was imperative to get the campaign off to a winning start, especially as they would face championship favourites St Joseph's in their next championship match. Loughnavalley were brought tumbling back down to earth as St Joseph's recorded an emphatic win on a score line of 2-11 to 0-4 and it was back to the drawing board for the green and golds after this. "We were delighted with the win over Ballycomoyle as they are one of the teams that can win the championship. The forwards took some fine scores and it gave us great confidence. I thought going into the match against St Joseph's that we had a real chance of beating them. "However nothing seemed to go right on the day and we took a real hammering. Like most clubs we have a problem with getting the lads out to train, its always the same 12 or 14 that turn out and its hard to make a determined challenge when the situation is like that." A narrow 2-9 to 2-8 win over Delvin put Loughnavalley back on track to reach the knockout stages of the championship and with two matches remaining they could still go straight through to the semi-final. St Paul's were the next opponents and Loughnavalley were left to rue their missed chances during a match that they should have won. The Clonmellon side played with the aid of a strong breeze in the first half and built up a considerable lead by half time, but the physically stronger Loughnavalley side cut the deficit to two points midway through the second half. A point for St Paul's gave them some breathing space but a strong comeback saw them clinging on and a succession of wides by the Loughnavalley forwards did not help their cause as time ran out. Four points separated the sides at the end as St Paul's were relieved to secure their place in the last four, while Jim Brady's side had the possibility of a quarter-final match to look forward to. They duly defeated St Fintain's/Multyfarnham in their last group game before their clash with St Loman's in the last eight. Johnny said: "We knew that Loman's would be fairly strong as they had come through their group undefeated, while they also had a number of players that had senior experience. "But the squad had worked hard in the weeks coming up to the quarterfinal and there was a belief that we could beat them. Loman's were favourites going into the match but they could have also been a bit complacent." The quarterfinal tussle started fairly evenly as the sides exchanged scores before Loughnavalley took the lead by a point midway through the first half and they went on to stretch advantage that before half time. In the second half St Loman's came more and more into the match and picked off some fine scores as they closed the gap and eventually got on top. Loughnavalley seemed to have nothing left in the tank as the town team pulled away to win by seven points, 1-14 to 1-7. "It was disappointing to go out the way we did. The lads put in a huge effort and to go out without really doing ourselves justice was a shame. But we have to look forward to this year and it's a chance to start again. There is no doubt that if the lads put in a proper effort for the year then Loughnavalley will not be far away from winning a junior championship," stressed Johnny. Although they were out of the championship, Loughnavalley were still involved in the Junior Cup and following wins over Multyfarnham and Ballycomoyle, the green and golds were through to the final where they would meet St Joseph's who had claimed the championship title a few weeks earlier. The final was played in Joseph's home ground, which gave them an advantage over their opponents while the fact that the Streamstown outfit had only finished the championship a few weeks earlier meant that they were still fairly fit, compared to Loughnavalley who had no competitive matches for quite some time. At times the game boiled over as tempers flared. St Joseph's were overwhelming favourites to take the title but Loughnavalley were not about to lie down and die. The result of the match came down to a fortuitous goal for the junior champions as a fisted effort for a point was touched by the unfortunate Loughnavalley goalkeeper Philip McCabe as the ball went into the net. However, for long periods of the match the result was definitely in doubt as the underdogs fought for every ball and rattled the home side. The early exchanges were fairly even but the 'lucky' goal for St Joseph's just before half time gave them a five point lead. Loughnavalley were also dealt a blow when influential midfielder Colm Ruane was forced off the field through injury, but he did manage to make it back for the second half. And the same player closed the gap to four points a minute after half time before Joseph's responded with a point of their own. The game then got out of hand for a few minutes as a minor skirmish ensued and when parity was restored, the home side stretched their lead to six points with just nine minutes remaining. Despite holding St Joseph's scoreless for the remainder of the match, Loughnavalley could only manage two points scored by Noel Dalton and Paddy Kelly. So it wasn't to be as the green and golds ended the year without any success, although Loughnavalley sure made a number of teams sit up and take notice. The 2005 championship begins shortly and with the strides the club has made in recent years and the dedication of players like the Ruanes Colm, Sean and Tony, Bobby Elliffe, Paddy Kelly and Darren Rigney to name just a few, it may not be too long before Loughnavalley are crowned Junior Champions. Tweet

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