Loughnavalley celebrated an all-too-rare success last December when they captured the Junior Cup for the very first time. Team captain Nick Kirby reveals that the junior championship is the next target for the green and golds. What a difference a year can make! At the end of 2000, Loughnavalley were attempting to come to terms with a disastrous junior championship campaign which saw them win just one game in six. Within 12 months, however, Loughnavalley's fortunes have taken a dramatic upswing. Five wins in the junior championship and a first ever Junior Cup success represented the club's best year for some time. "By recent standards, it was a wonderful year," acknowledges Loughnavalley captain Nick Kirby. "Things couldn't have got much worse than what they were in 2000. We had lost nearly all of our championship games and morale had reached an all-time low. But we succeeded in turning it around last year and, after a good run in the championship, the Junior Cup proved to be the icing on the cake," he adds. Many Loughnavalley diehards would regard 2001 as the club's most successful year in half a century. The green and golds were junior champions in 1950, the final of which wasn't actually played until January 1951. Ironically, the club organised a reunion of the 1950 team in January of last year. Loughnavalley ceased to exist in 1959 but reformed in 1977. Prior to last year, the club's only other success of note was the junior league final victory over Milltown in 1990. In reaching the Junior Cup final, Loughnavalley defeated both Delvin and Milltown. The semi-final against Milltown was a thrilling contest which was only settled after extra-time. A goal by Darren Rigney proved to be the decisive score in a 1-9 to 0-11 win for the 'Valley. The final took place in mid-December with Caulry providing the opposition at Ballymore. Having lost the junior championship final to Bunbrosna after a replay a few weeks earlier, the Mount Temple men were expected to finish the year with something to show for their efforts but a lively Loughnavalley side had other ideas. Patrick Kelly opened the scoring for Loughnavalley but Caulry quickly replied with points from Alan Carroll and Jody Malynn. Carroll was also unlucky to see a shot rebound off the post during this early phase of Caulry pressure. Declan Fry brought Loughnavalley back onto level terms before scores by Anthony Malone and Ciaran Cunningham gave Caulry a 0-4 to 0-2 lead. Just when it appeared that the Mount Temple side was taking a firm grip on proceedings, Loughnavalley swooped for their first goal. A brilliant pass by Darren Rigney found Ken Daly unmarked and he duly dispatched the ball to the back of the net. Cunningham responded with a quick point for Caulry but with half-time approaching, Colm Ruane scored a second goal to give Loughnavalley a 2-3 to 0-4 advantage at the interval. The red and whites started the second half in impressive fashion. Anslem Fitzgerald scored two points before Brendan Clarke came to Loughnavalley's rescue with a tremendous save. With their noses still in front, Loughnavalley pounced for their third goal. A '45' from Tony Ruane was punched to the net by full forward Daly and Loughnavalley were 3-3 to 0-6 to the good. Caulry had reduced the deficit to five points with 10 minutes remaining but the Loughnavalley defence wasn't giving an inch. A famous 3-5 to 0-8 victory was copperfastened when Patrick Kelly pointed a late free after All-Ireland under 21 medalist Bobby Elliffe was fouled. "Winning the Junior Cup meant an awful lot to us," says Kirby. "The fact that we had been starved of success for so long made it all the sweeter. We showed great heart in the final and from the moment Colm Ruane scored the first goal, I don't think we looked like losing." One of the most improved teams in the county last year, Loughnavalley also came tantalisingly close to qualifying for their first junior championship semi-final since 1997. Their championship campaign got off to a poor start, with heavy defeats being suffered at the hands of St. Paul's (1-4 to 3-12) and Caulry (1-6 to 3-12). But a 0-9 to 1-5 victory over Ballycomoyle in round three proved a turning point in their season. Kirby, who is a former St. Joseph's player, attributes Loughnavalley's change in fortunes to the appointment of John Rafferty and Joe Nicholson as joint-trainers. "We brought in John and Joe a few weeks before the Ballycomoyle game and they made a huge difference. For three years, they had carried out the training duties at St. Joseph's and had always worked well together," he explains. "Originally, they were meant to stay with us for only a few weeks but things went so well last year that they have agreed to come back this year. Hopefully, we'll be just as successful." After defeating Ballycomoyle, the green and golds chalked up four more championship wins (including a walkover from St. Fintan's/Multyfarnham). A superb first half performance against St. Joseph's laid the foundations for a 2-6 to 1-8 victory. Delvin were defeated by 2-8 to 1-8 at Cusack Park on July 20 and this was followed by an excellent 2-7 to 0-5 triumph over old rivals Milltown at Castletown-Geoghegan. The winning run was eventually ended by Bunbrosna on August 31 (0-11 to 2-11) which meant that Loughnavalley went into a play-off with Milltown to determine who would claim the remaining semi-final spot. The play-off took place on September 15 at Kilbeggan and Loughnavalley were confident of repeating their earlier win over the Milltown men. But it wasn't to be with Milltown running out winners on a 1-9 to 0-5 scoreline. For five members of the Loughnavalley junior side, it was a particularly good year. Colm Ruane, Brendan Clarke, Bobby Elliffe, Noel Dalton and Dan Rigney also won county under 21 championship medals with Ennell Shamrocks. The amalgamation side were emphatic winners over Inny Gaels in the county decider. Another highlight was Loughnavalley National School's success in the Cumann na mBunscol finals. Having progressed so much last season, Kirby believes it is not unrealistic for Loughnavalley to set their sights on winning the junior championship this year. With youth on their side and a renewed interest all-round, he believes anything is possible. "I think we are now at the stage where we should be trying to win the junior championship. We came on in leaps and bounds last year and if we can continue to improve at the same rate, we won't be far away. "The only junior club we failed to beat last year was Bunbrosna and they'll be operating in the intermediate grade this year. Apart from myself and a few others, we have a very young squad and what's especially encouraging is that they are all working locally. "We've probably lost the element of surprise at this stage but that's something we'll have to deal with. Promotion from Division 6 is our main goal and hopefully we'll be there or thereabouts in the championship also," he concludes. The Loughnavalley team which captured the Junior Cup was: Brendan Clarke; David Martin, Declan Scally, Tony Ruane; Bobby Elliffe, Nick Kirby, Aidan Scally; Colm Ruane (1-0), Sean Ruane; Patrick Kelly (0-4), Noel Dalton, John Quinn; Darren Rigney, Ken Daly (2-0), Declan Fry (0-1). Subs used: Packie O'Donoghue, Christy Keenan and Paddy Reilly. Tweet

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