St. Joseph's historic junior championship triumph of 2004 seems an awful long time ago after what was a hugely disappointing year for the club. But already the signs are that 2010 will be a much better year for the Streamstown outfit.

One of the big talking points of last year's junior football championship was St. Joseph's poor showing.
Over the past decade, the Streamstown-based club has consistently figured at the business end of the championship and were champions in 2004, after which they spent two years in the intermediate ranks. But after contesting quarter-finals in 2007 and 2008, St. Joseph's endured a bitterly disappointing 2009 which saw them finish joint-bottom of their championship section and relegated to Division 4 of the All-County League.
"There's no doubt about it, it was a tough year," outgoing manager Jason Rabbitte ruefully reflects.
"We had a terrible time of if with injury and emigration, and that knocked our confidence. Brendan Nannery, Kenneth Keegan and Padraic Moran all went abroad, while Andrew McCormack and Don Scally suffered serious injuries in the early part of the championship.
"Andrew tore his cruciate ligament in the second round against Milltown and Don broke his collarbone in the next game. We couldn't afford to be without players of that quality and we struggled as a result."
Former player Rabbitte, who spent two years as manager and has now taken over the reins in Ballycommon, Co. Offaly, extends his best wishes to county hurling selector Nicky Weir, who has succeeded him as St. Joseph's supremo.
"Nicky's living in Boher so that's how he has become involved with them. I was manager for two years and had played for 10 or 15 years before that, so it was probably time for a fresh voice. Hopefully, Nicky will be able to bring something new to the set-up and I can only wish him the best of luck.
"I won an Offaly junior 'B' championship medal playing with Ballycommon last year, and I'll be giving them my undivided attention this year," he adds.
Long-serving secretary and PRO Aidan Walsh believes nothing went right for Rabbitte or St. Joseph's last year.
"Everything conspired against us," he says.
"Losing so many players drained the interest. It was disappointing for Jason because he has given so much to the club down the years. But even though results were poor on the field, everything else went well for us. Our underage teams showed plenty of promise and we are in rude health financially. Things can only get better as far as the junior team is concerned, and I'm confident they will."
St. Joseph's only two competitive wins in 2009 came against Milltown in the championship and Delvin in the new Shield competition (they subsequently lost to Ballycomoyle in the semi-final). In all, they lost five championship games and all eight of their Division 3 matches.
The tone for the year was set when they suffered a crushing 0-3 to 2-14 defeat to champions-elect Caulry in their championship opener at Rosemount. To their credit, St. Joseph's bounced back to beat Milltown by 1-11 to 0-10 in their second outing, also at Rosemount.
With Declan Nannery, Ronan McDonnell and Wayne McCormack all on target, the Streamstown/Horseleap side established an early 0-4 to 0-2 lead and further scores from Nannery, Padraic Moran and McDonnell had doubled their advantage by half-time, 0-8 to 0-4.
Milltown narrowed the gap to three points midway through the second half before St. Joseph's made a decisive break when Wayne McCormack swooped for the only goal with 11 minutes remaining. Two further points from Ronan McDonnell saw the Joe's extend their lead to 1-11 to 0-7 before Milltown registered three unanswered points in the final five minutes to leave four in it at full-time.
Sadly for St. Joseph's, that was as good as it got last season. They were forced to come from behind to draw 1-9 apiece with Ballycomoyle in their third round clash at Shandonagh. The signs looked good for the south county outfit when Richie Meares' eighth-minute goal helped them to a 1-4 to 0-6 lead after they had played against the wind in the first half, but Ballycomoyle fought back to edge in front before 1995 All-Ireland minor winning goalkeeper Aidan Lennon came to his side's rescue by scoring a last-minute equalising free from distance.
With four rounds still to play, a place in the knockout stages was well within St. Joseph's grasp, but the wheels came off the wagon spectacularly when they lost their remaining games to St. Loman's (0-4 to 1-7), St. Paul's (0-7 to 0-17), Loughnavalley (1-6 to 2-8) and Mullingar Shamrocks (1-9 to 0-17). They had the beating of Loughnavalley, but the concession of a second half penalty, which Darren Rigney converted, cost them dearly.
Due to declining numbers in both clubs, St. Joseph's and Kilbeggan Shamrocks joined forces at underage level a number of years ago and Aidan believes this arrangement will prove beneficial for both in the years ahead.
"The Kilbeggan/St. Joseph's underage club is going from strength to strength and I'm expecting us to be very competitive in the under 12 and under 14 grades this year. Both clubs have put a lot of work into making the amalgamation a success and I'm sure it will bear fruit at adult level in the near future. We have big numbers from under 14 downwards and the challenge now is to give them the right coaching and to keep them involved in the GAA."
Kilbeggan/St. Joseph's were part of the Ennell Shamrocks amalgamation which won the under 16 'premier' championship title last year with a 0-15 to 0-11 victory over Shannon Gaels. St. Joseph's was represented on the team by Damien McCormack, who lined out at left half forward.
Under new manager Nicky Weir and his selectors Billy Kelly, Gareth Farrell and Stephen Keegan, who is also the club's chairman, St. Joseph's will be seeking a big improvement this year. And according to Walsh, who is into his second year as Leinster Scor chairman, reaching the knockout stages of the championship is their main objective.
"We need to reach a quarter-final or semi-final at least. A repeat of last year won't be acceptable," he says.
"Encouragingly, I have already noticed a huge improvement in terms of attitude from the players. Our attendances at training have been averaging 28, so that's good to see. All that I can say is that if we don't make progress this year, it won't be for the want of trying."

The St. Joseph's team that defeated Milltown in the JFC was: Andrew Meares; James McCormack, Michael Larrigy, Pat McCormack; Neil Keegan, Daire Lynam, Keith Adamson; Aidan Lennon, Andrew McCormack; Don Scally, Wayne McCormack, Padraic Moran; Ronan McDonnell, Declan Nannery, Richie Meares. Subs used: Padraig Seery and Colm McCormack. Tweet

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