From the high of winning the Sheelan Cup in April, to the low of their failure to continue their blistering start to the year into the league and championship, there certainly wasn't a dull moment over the past 12 months for the Faughart outfit. Still, the year would have to be regarded as a success for them. Although they didn't go on to challenge for the Intermediate Championship like they had hoped, they still finish 2008 as one of only a handful of clubs with some silverware to show for their efforts. Injuries certainly curtailed any ambitions they had of building on their Sheelan Cup success but the run they put together in securing the first trophy of the year has given them hope that a return to the senior grade might not be too far off if they can continue to improve and build on what was a good year for them. The season started with a bang for Roche in mid-February when they travelled to Fr McEvoy Park to face Cooley Kickhams with Kevin Callaghan's first-half strike helping them to an eye-catching 1-9 to 0-10 victory. It was the start of a run that seen them beat Glyde Rangers, the O'Connells and St Joseph's to book their place in the final against Naomh Mairtin. The game took place in Cluskey Park in Dromiskin and after an explosive start Roche ran out impressive winners on a 2-13 to 1-12 scoreline. In reality the game was over after 15 minutes by which time Pat Rice's side led by 2-5 to no score. Kevin Callaghan hit the opening three points of the game before a free on the halfway line by Daniel O'Connell bounced awkwardly in front of Mairtin's goalkeeper Barry Murtagh and ended up in the net. Tommy O'Hare then hit a further two points before turning provider for Callaghan's goal. To their credit, the Monasterboice men did well to get back to within two points of Roche at one stage but, in truth, there was only ever going to be one winner as man of the match Kevin Callaghan testified to afterwards. He said: "You could see that there was a strong breeze in the first half and we definitely made use of it. We were eight or nine points up to no score and I suppose that was too much for the Mairtins to claw back." The Roche team that featured against Naomh Mairtin in the Sheelan Cup final was as follows: Aidan McCoy; Sean Kirk, Brian McGuinness, Joe Bishop; Brendan Callaghan, Dermot Craven, Duane Callan (0-1); Martin Carroll, Daniel O'Connell (1-2, all frees); Tommy O'Hare (0-3), Paudie Callaghan (0-2), Aaron Callan; Kevin Callaghan (1-5, 2f), Bernard Kirk, Martin Craven. Subs: Barry O'Hare for M Craven, 30+6 mins; Harry O'Connell for B McGuinness, 43 mins; Colm Callaghan for A Callan, 47 mins; Darren McConnon for B Kirk, 60 mins. It was a first Sheelan Cup success for the Roche outfit since 2001 and what it meant was that by the start of April they were the only undefeated club in both the senior or intermediate grade. Winning the subsidiary competition was to come at a cost, however, with Martin Craven limping out of the final in first half stoppage time with an ankle injury and top marksman Kevin Callaghan damaging his pelvis late in the game. The duo, Callaghan in particular, now faced a spell on the sidelines and in their absence the side's form definitely took a dip. The Division Two league campaign kicked off a week after the Sheelan Cup final and with it came Roche's first defeat as they went down by 1-12 to 0-7 at home to Glyde Rangers. A further defeat followed a matter of days later when they lost out to Na Piarsaigh and suddenly things were not looking so rosy for the Faughart outfit heading into the Intermediate Championship which got underway on May 1st. The O'Connells were the opposition in the opening game in Haggardstown with Martin Craven making his comeback from injury as he came off the bench to score a decisive goal that helped Roche get back to winning ways on a 1-10 to 0-7 scoreline. A further win was to follow against Dundalk Young Irelands and when Roche returned to league action shortly after and claimed three wins in-a-row over the Dreadnots, the O Raghallaigh's and the Sean McDermotts, things looked to be picking up once again for Pat Rice's men. When the championship resumed in June, they drew with St Joseph's in Louth Village leaving them sitting top of Group One with five points from a possible six and looking a good bet for a place in the latter stages. Then things started to fall apart as injuries began to take their toll. One point out of a possible four in their next two league games pretty much killed off any hopes Roche had of challenging for promotion and when Clan na Gael inflicted a first championship defeat on them in Dundalk in early August, suddenly there was the very real danger that the Faughart outfit might not make the latter stages of the competition. Those fears were then realised on August 22nd when the Dreadnots beat them by 1-13 to 1-8 in Tallanstown to send them packing from the competition. It was a tough blow on a side who, priced at 10/1, looked great value to challenge for the Seamus Flood Cup after their blistering start to the campaign. Long-serving defender Dermot Craven was not too downbeat about his side's season, however, and said he was proud to have won the Sheelan Cup back in April. "There's no doubt about it that the Sheelan Cup win was the highlight of the year," said Craven. "We had been playing well at the back end of last year and we said that when we came back in the New Year that we'd really up the ante from the outset and we did that. "We went flat out in training from mid January and it really paid off because there was a great buzz around the club when we won the Sheelan Cup," he said. Craven denied, however, that going at full throttle too soon had an impact on his side's failure to challenge for either the league or the championship. "People said we peaked too soon but I never really agreed with that. "We did play our best football during February, March and April but you have to take into account that after that we never really had a full panel at our disposal. "Kevin Callaghan, for instance, got injured in the Sheelan Cup final and didn't play again until the end of August when we lost to the Dreadnots in the last round of championship matches. "He was a big loss but we also had to do without Martin Craven for a good spell, while Gerry Murphy and Michael Craven were also sorely missed. "Losing Kevin and Martin after the Sheelan Cup final was the toughest though. We got beat twice in-a-row in the league after that but we got back to a bit of form after that by beating the O'Connells and the Young Irelands in the championship. "That gave us a great start but if the truth be told we won those games without playing well. After that we drew with the Joe's to leave us with five points from a possible six but that's where it all started to go wrong for us. "We knew we had the two toughest games ahead of us and we didn't want to go into the last game needing a result. "We had a few missing for the Clans game, including myself because I had a sprained ankle, so our preparations for it weren't great. They won by two points in the end but it could have went either way really. "We then had a good few weeks between that and the last game which didn't really help us ahead of the last match with the Dreadnots. We put it up to them for a while but they just pulled away from us in the second half. I suppose at least we can say we were put out of the championship by the eventual champions," he said. Craven, who also acted as the club's PRO for 2008, admitted that there were disappointing elements to his side's season but said that it would give them something to build on for next year. "After we won the Sheelan Cup a lot of people were egging us on as championship favourites and some people within the club felt we had a great chance. "Looking back at it though it's quite disappointing how things ended up and our league form didn't help that because it was quite erratic. "Hopefully we'll learn from it though. We had a few young lads break into the team in the past year and the experience will stand to them hopefully. "Winning the Sheelan Cup was a great boost to us and gave us a reminder that we can be a senior club if we put our minds to it. "A few people said it wasn't the same because teams played without their county men but we were missing our minors too and we beat a good Glyde Rangers side who had no county men and they went on to get to the senior championship semi-finals. They had Trevor O'Brien back then too so it really gives you heart to know you can win those type of games. "The Sheelan Cup obviously wasn't our major goal this year but at the end of the day when you look at the senior and intermediate grades there's only five clubs out of 24 who can win a trophy and we have one at the end of the year so you have to look at that as a positive. "Hopefully next year we'll have a bit more luck on the injury front. You really need to keep lads fit if you're to challenge for the top prizes. You can maybe afford one or two injuries but when you have four or five like we had then it's really tough. "We definitely think we're good enough to win the Intermediate Championship though and that will be our main aim next year," said Craven. Off the field there was also some cause for celebration as Roche Emmets honoured the 50th anniversary of their 1958 senior championship win with a special function in the Park Inn Hotel. Among the stars of that famous side were Jim and Brendan McArdle, Johnny and Mickey Gartland and Niall Craven and they took everyone by surprise in landing the Joe Ward as it was their first year up in the senior grade. They beat Dundalk Young Irelands in the preliminary round of the competition before knocking out the holders Oliver Plunketts on a replay. Then in the semi-final they beat a very good St Mary's side that included All-Ireland champions Jim Roe, Patsy Coleman, Barney McCoy, Aidan McGuinness and Dermot O'Brien. That saw them advance to the final where they beat a Naomh Mhuire side including county legends Alfie Monk and Jim 'Red' Meehan on a 1-7 to 1-5 scoreline. Ironically, the crucial score of that game came in similar fashion to Daniel O'Connell's goal in this year's Sheelan Cup final with Jim McArdle finding the net with a 60 yard free kick. It was definitely a rollercoaster year for Roche Emmets. By the end of it though it's fair to say that the club is very much on the up once again. Tweet

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