After winning the Dublin Intermediate Championship, Dublin side St Peregrines will play in next year's senior championship. For team manager Brian Redmond, former club Chairman Ritchie Costello and current chairman Niall Byrne, the success has been especially rewarding after a disappointing 2005. Dublin club St Peregrines claimed this year's county Intermediate championship when they overcame St Margaret's in the county final. The victory was just reward for months of total dedication from both players and management alike. The squad had a disappointing year in 2005 when they were relegated from Senior League 2 to Intermediate. Now that they have claimed only the second championship in their history, they will be hoping the success will be a springboard to senior championship honours some time over the next few years. Team manager Brian Redmond, who won an All-Ireland minor title with Dublin in 1982, and who played club football with St Vincent's and Garda, has taken particular satisfaction from this year's success. Brian was with the team some years ago when they won an Intermediate League Two title. But, having seen the team relegated to Intermediate status last year, he is delighted that things have gone St Peregrines' way in 2006. A string of new players helped: in 2005 there were games when they only had 16 players togging out. This year there were, on occasion, up to 26 players training. "We approached some players from the second team. We thought that if they were good enough to play with the first team, that they should be playing. It has worked out as we were never short of players either at training or at matches," says Brian. "Most of the time this year there were big numbers at training. Usually at the start of the season there would be big turnouts and then there would be a drop but this time around there hasn't been any significant falloff which has been a big plus. Our progress in the championship created a great buzz around the place." The championship approach, he maintains, was "low-key" but as the competition went on, the players grew in confidence. Five teams were beaten en route to the championship success. The odyssey towards the championship began when St Peregrines overcame Good Counsel in their first championship outing. Lucan Sarsfields' second team were their next opponents. Next up were St Finians (Swords) before Na Fianna's second team were defeated in the semi-final. What then were the most difficult games? "The Lucan match was a tough one to win. We were six points down at half-time but they also had a man sent off just before half-time. We made changes at half-time which sorted things out. John Dowling was introduced in the second half and we ended up scoring three goals in the second period. Winning this game gave the players a bit of self-belief and it proved to be a big boost for them," he says. "Beating Finians (Swords) was also a big thing. They had beaten us in the last few years by only a point or two. This time it was our turn to win by a couple of points. "On the day of the final, everything came together really. We were leading from the very start. We scored two or three points straight away and always felt comfortable." Unlike many other Dublin teams, all involved in the St Peregrines squad are local players and grew up in the area. The future looks bright: the oldest member of the squad is only 30 years old while the rest of the players are in their 20s. St Peregrines have several talented players including Ciaran McGuinness who has had trials for Dublin and John Dowling, a dangerous forward. Both players between them scored nine points in the final. Another player, Neil McCarthy was a "steadying influence" at centre-half back. Like any successful team, the management team worked hard to get the most out of their squad. Alongside Brian were Mick Padden, Albert Pearson and physio Diane O'Callaghan. "They were all good to work alongside. Someone always saw things a bit differently," he says. At the time of writing, St Peregrines were still in contention for promotion to senior league 2. Since beating St Margarets in the final, they have also accounted for them in a league match. No matter what happens during the remainder of the year, all can be proud of their achievements so far. Consolidation in the senior championship will be the key to next year. Brian is hoping that St Peregrines can maintain their position at senior level. He knows that there are only limited opportunities of winning Dublin senior championships and with teams such as St Brigid's and Oliver Plunketts to contain, he realises that it will be hard for them to compete. Ritchie Costelloe, Chairman of the club's Bar Committee and football committee has also been delighted at St Peregrines 'endeavors this year. A site agent with Sisk, with whom he has worked for over 30 years, Ritchie has been involved in the club since 1981 and was a member of the junior championship winning team. Since retiring from the game, he has devoted much of his time to administrative matters within the club. He has been club Chairman on two occasions, finishing his last stint in November 2005. He agrees that next year, it will be important for the team to maintain their place in the senior championship ranks. "There is still relegation from senior championship so it is important that we can stay up. It is also important that we get promoted to senior league Division 2 this year as most of the teams playing in the senior championship would be Division 2 or higher," he says. He is confident that the club has a bright future. Most of this year's minor team are still eligible to play again next year but are "holding their own" at this grade. Perhaps it is a testimony to the hard-working nature of all at the club that despite all the development work that went on at the club, they ensured that the games of football and hurling didn't suffer. Some team mentors were involved in the work outside the playing fields but still ensured that teams were still looked after. At the moment a full-time coach is working with juvenile players and has done immense work in bringing them forward. One of the biggest developments over the years has been the opening of the new stand. This makes St Peregrines the only club in Dublin with a stand to its name. Club chairman Niall Byrne explained its inception: "Frank Henry, club secretary and Fr Joe Madden, Cervite Order (R.I.P.) were among those involved. Everyone who was involved in it worked immensely hard. We got state grants and help from Croke Park though there is a small matter of a €2.5 million loan to pay back. We are proud of the stand. "We hosted the senior football championship match between Ballyboden St Enda's and Erin's Isle. We also hosted inter-county camogie and ladies football matches. There was a huge crowd at that one. We have hosted matches like junior hurling championship games and intermediate football championship matches." Approval has just been obtained for a nursery site for the club's under-7 and under-9 teams. The club also hopes to have a hurling wall in the near future. All indicate the forward-thinking nature of this club. For the moment they can enjoy what they have achieved. The senior championship will be a huge challenge next year but judging by how far St Peregrines have come so far, they are capable of holding their own. Tweet

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