St. Mary's, Rochfortbridge will not hold too many fond memories of 2001, only avoiding relegation to the intermediate ranks by virtue of a play-off victory over Kilbeggan Shamrocks. Long-serving forward Brendan Cocoman feels that things can only improve in the season ahead. St. Mary's, Rochfortbridge provided their supporters with many worrying moments before gaining a crucial win over Kilbeggan Shamrocks in a relegation play-off at Shandonagh last September. While neither side managed a win in their respective league sections, all the indications were that Kilbeggan would survive. But St. Mary's pulled out all the stops and deservedly retained their senior status with a 1-6 to 0-6 victory. Austin Bradley's first half goal proved the difference between the teams. "It would have been a disaster if we had gone down," says long-serving St. Mary's attacker Brendan Cocoman. "The club has big plans and it was very important that we stayed up senior. Most people would have fancied Kilbeggan to win the play-off game and that was understandable when you consider how well they played against the likes of The Downs, Mullingar Shamrocks and Coralstown/Kinnegad. "But we had been in a similar situation three years ago against Rosemount and we knew what to expect. We were well up for the game, probably more so than Kilbeggan," he adds. While St. Mary's were relieved to have avoided the drop, a feeling of underachievement continues to exist. When the club won the intermediate championship in 1995, predictions of senior championship success within five years didn't appear to be in the least bit unrealistic. But much to the disappointment of the Rochfortbridge GAA fraternity, that rich promise has yet to be realised. "These last few years have been very frustrating," Cocoman admits. "We were all looking forward to a bright future after we won the intermediate championship in '95 but it hasn't turned out that way. After the championship draw was made last year, we set our sights on reaching the knock-out stages. But we lost our first couple of games and it was all about trying to stay up after that." The tone for the year was set on May 13 at Moate when St. Mary's lost their opening game to Castledaly by 0-7 to 2-10. St. Mary's were just three points adrift at the interval, 0-4 to 1-4, but they fell away badly in the second half with JP Casey in particular causing them all sorts of problems. At Castletown-Geoghegan on June 24, St. Mary's were left kicking themselves after they allowed Ballynacargy to come from seven points down to snatch a 2-10 to 1-12 victory. The Rochfortbridge men were rampant in the first half with scores from Cocoman, Austin Bradley, Kenneth Gunning and Alan Gavin propelling them into a commanding 1-9 to 1-2 lead at half-time. But Ballynacargy staged a magnificent second half recovery which culminated in Ger Heduvan landing the winning point. A third defeat followed on July 10 when St. Mary's succumbed to Athlone by 1-4 to 1-8. The green and whites held a 0-3 to 0-2 advantage at the break but with Joe Fallon and Rory O'Connell upping their performances, Athlone had opened up a 0-5 to 0-3 by the 40th minute. A great goal by Ian Cunningham put St. Mary's back in front with less than a quarter of an hour remaining but Athlone soon regained the initiative and a late goal from Stephen Hahessy sealed their win. St. Mary's secured their only point of the league section when they drew with St. Loman's, 0-8 to 1-5, at Cusack Park on August 19. The Rochfortbridge men took a 0-4 to 0-2 lead into the interval but by the 42nd minute, St. Loman's had established a 1-4 to 0-4 advantage. St. Mary's stuck to their task, however, with a late Alan Gavin point earning them a share of the spoils. The relegation play-off became a reality for St. Mary's following their 2-7 to 2-15 defeat to Garrycastle on August 28. St. Mary's trailed by 1-4 to 1-10 at half-time but they reduced the deficit to three points after Damien Healy scored their second goal early in the second half. Almost immediately, though, David O'Shaughnessy replied with a goal for Garrycastle and there was only going to be one winner after that. "The heads were hanging a bit after that game," Cocoman recalls. "We felt that we should have beaten both Ballynacargy and Athlone, and possibly St. Loman's. The defeat to Ballynacargy was a real blow, from which I don't think we fully recovered." As expected, the relegation play-off was a tense affair with the heavy conditions contributing to the low scoring. St. Mary's made the better start, with Austin Bradley's goal giving them a 1-1 to 0-0 lead after 14 minutes. Mattie McCormack and PJ Ward scored a point each for Kilbeggan in the second quarter to leave the score 1-2 to 0-2 at the interval. Two more points from Ward reduced the deficit to the minimum but Kenneth Gunning, Alan Gavin, Kenneth Berry and Bradley replied with points for St. Mary's. Leading by 1-6 to 0-4 with 10 minutes remaining, the green and whites looked to have the win all but wrapped up but Kilbeggan finished strongly and in the end, St. Mary's were left hanging on for a 1-6 to 0-6 victory. The closest St. Mary's came to garnering silverware last year was at under 16 level. Following victories over The Downs and Delvin/St. Paul's after a replay, St. Mary's met Ballynacargy in the under 16 'B' championship final. Played at Shandonagh on November 3, the final proved to be a cracker with an injury-time from Richard Price earning Ballynacargy a 1-8 to 1-7 victory. St. Mary's trailed by 0-2 to 1-2 after 14 minutes before a Ciaran Geraghty goal brought them back into contention. At half-time, Ballynacargy were 1-5 to 1-3 in front. St. Mary's had levelled by the 10th minute of the second half but Ballynacargy quickly restored their two-point advantage. Robbie Kenny brought St. Mary's back onto level terms with three minutes of normal time left but Ballynacargy had the final say, leaving St. Mary's heartbroken. After last year's lucky escape, Cocoman - who at the time of writing was recovering from a groin operation - believes that things can only get better for the Rochfortbridge club. A new management team consisting of Tom Mitchell, JJ O'Connor, Mick Dunne and Ollie Connolly has been put in place but Cocoman stresses that the only ones who can bring about an improvement are the players themselves. "It all boils down to the fellas on the field at the end of the day. They have got to be prepared to put in the effort. We had a very good manager in 'Spike' Fagan over the past few years but the commitment from the players wasn't what it should have been. "We've got four or five new players this year, including a brother of Coman Goggins (Dublin's All-Star corner back). Hopefully, they will help to improve things and we'll see a better effort from everyone." Despite being a regular scoregetter himself, Brendan reckons that St. Mary's cannot be considered championship contenders until such time as a prolific scorer is unearthed. "What has been a major problem for us is that we have nobody who can guarantee us six or seven points a game. When you look at the likes of Tyrrrellspass, they have Staunton and Flanagan who can do that. "Castledaly have JP Casey, Moate have Ger Heavin and Garrycastle have Dessie Dolan. We badly need a forward of that sort of calibre to take us up onto a higher level." Tweet

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