For the third successive year, St Brides reached the knock-out phase of the Louth SFC. Once again, however, the Joe Ward Cup proved elusive as the Knockbridge men bowed out of contention at the quarter-final stage. Though the Brides confirmed their status as one of the leading lights in Louth GAA, David Mackin is disappointed that the current crop has yet to secure major honours. Consistency in a world gone stark raving mad' is a term that could readily be applied to St Brides GFC. Since negotiating a meteoric rise from the depths of junior football to the top table, the Red & Whites have taken to their new habitat like proverbial ducks to water. Indeed, the Brides have reached the last eight of the SFC in four of the past five seasons (2001 - when they were edged out after TWO group play-offs - being the only exception), making a complete mockery of the junior status they held as recently as 1998. Over the past three years, acclimatising well to the new SFC format, the Knockbridge club has developed into perhaps the most consistent senior championship outfit in the Wee County (in 2004, they were relegated to Division 1B of the all-county league). Their steadiness has been truly impressive, their ability to get beyond the group stage and contest the business end of the premier competition each year without fail almost uncanny. The fact that David Mackin and his team-mates were bitterly disappointed by their quarter-final elimination in '04 tells its own story about how far this club has progressed inside seven incredible years. Brides escaped junior ranks in '98 as JFC and Division Three runners-up. They secured promotion in consecutive campaigns by winning the Division Two league title (Toner Cup) in '99. In '00, as senior rookies, the Brides scalped St Marys in the first round of the SFC to reach the last eight for the first time in the modern era. The following year, they completed a sensational rise through the league tables by winning the McShane Cup (Division 1A). In the championship, they were desperately unlucky not to reach the quarter-finals. They've made amends since, though. Two-thousand-and-two saw St Brides go all the way to the county final, only to be narrowly beaten by Mattock Rangers. In 2003, St Marys pipped them in a SFC semi-final - after a replay. They also reached the Cardinal O'Donnell Cup final that year but lost to double-winning St Patricks. Which brings us to 2004 and yet another run to the knock-out phase of the SFC via Group C. This time the Brides finished second best to Cooley Kickhams on the day. David Mackin was in his second term as a first-team regular. He told 'Wee County 2004' that the Brides are no longer satisfied with giving a good account of themselves. They desperately want to finish the job by capturing a major trophy. "We were extremely disappointed not to go further," confirms the talented half forward. "We thought we'd get to a semi-final at least. We didn't start well in the championship but were getting there gradually. We felt going into the quarter-final against Cooley that we were good enough to beat them, but it didn't happen for us. After making a poor start, we got back within two points but then let it go." Bowing out of the championship was a big blow to the Brides. At the time of their exit, they were also perilously close to the bottom of Division 1A, so there was no time to be feeling sorry for themselves. St Brides' 2004 senior football championship got off to the worst possible start when they lost their Group C opener to Glyde Rangers by 0-12 to 1-5 at Haggardstown on May 22. Aidan Kelly got the Knockbridge men off to a flyer in that game with a fifth-minute goal and they led by 1-4 to 0-4 at the interval. However, Tallanstown were totally dominant in the second half and outscored the hapless Brides by 0-8 to 0-1 in that period to take the points. St Brides, now under pressure, needed to win their next two games to have any chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals. They duly obliged with victories over Dundalk Gaels (0-9 to 0-7) and Stabannon Parnells (2-9 to 0-7). In the last eight, Brides were drawn against competition favourites Cooley Kickhams. The tie took place at Castlebellingham on Saturday July 17 and the Knockbridge representatives gave as good as they got. However, the concession of three soft goals cost them dearly as they capitulated to a 3-8 to 2-6 defeat. David Mackin and David Hoey got the Brides goals. Alas, the year was effectively over for St Brides. "We had expected it to go better," a rueful David Mackin reflects. "Training went well and we had high hopes after going so close the previous two years. We were very disappointed after the 2003 semi-final replay defeat to St Marys - when we threw it away the first day and thought we just had to turn up for the replay - and wanted to make amends for that. We genuinely felt we were good enough to get to another final and that's what we were aiming for. "We let in an awful lot of goals this year and that definitely cost us. I have no doubt that we're one of the best teams in the county at the moment, but we didn't do ourselves justice. We beat both St Pats and Cooley at their own pitches early on in the year but complacency seemed to slip into our play against other teams and we never got our form back." Sean Woods and Eamonn Kirk were over the team again in 2004. This time, they opted not to rush into training. "We left it a bit later this year, I don't think we started until late February, a couple of weeks before the first game. That was because the previous season didn't finish until December, when we played the Pats in the league final. It took us a while to get into our stride but we were starting to show a bit of promise and fitness again. After losing the first game to Glyde, we came back and won the next two and could have got to a semi-final, but things went against us in the Cooley game." Amazingly, despite the extraordinary progress they've made, St Brides have been coming in for a bit of criticism. It's a bizarre irony. David explains: "A lot of people are saying we can't perform on the big day. We lost a league final and a championship semi-final in 2003 and a championship final the previous year and people - even here in Knockbridge - are starting to question our ability to win important games. So we'll go all out to prove the doubters wrong next year. If we're going to win the senior championship, next year could be our best chance." An under 21 championship medallist with St Brides four years back, David has featured with the Louth U21s for the past two seasons. The 2004 Leinster championship was particularly disappointing: "We started training in November and played Offaly on St Patrick's Day weekend. We were confident but they got two quick goals early on and that knocked the stuffing out of us. We trained hard and things seemed to be going well, but it just wasn't to be." As for the Brides, David is optimistic about the future: "We're still a young team," he reasons. "The majority of us are still in our early 20s and the best of this team is still to come. We haven't won any major trophies yet, but we have proven that we're one of the strongest teams in the county. We just need to find that little bit extra now and go on to win a senior title. "The hunger is there, and the drive is there. We've been so close, we're not going to throw in the towel. This team has been working hard since we got up out of junior level. "A lot of people forget that being senior in the first place is a success in its own right." Tweet

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