Red-hot Lannleire surprised most observers when they snatched a point off Cooley Kickhams in their first Group C outing in the 2003 Louth SFC. Unfortunately, the Dunleer men couldn't sustain that level of performance, losing their next two championship games and ultimately suffering relegation to intermediate ranks. Vice-captain John Boylan reflects on a season of ups and downs. Lannleire opened their 2003 Louth senior football championship account with a thrilling draw against Cooley Kickhams at Knockbridge on June 14th. Even though the peninsula men went into the Group C opener as keen favourites, the Dunleer side started brightest and first-half goals from Carlos Lambe and John O'Connor gave them a five-point interval cushion, 2-5 to 0-6. After the break, however, Cooley came back into it and the north Louth side outscored Lannleire by eight points to three in that second period. Indeed, in the end it was Lannleire who had to come back to steal a share of the points - Martin Farrelly's late equalising fisted point was their first score in 25 minutes! Two weeks later, on June 27th at Dromiskin, Lannleire played even better, but this time they were unfortunate to go down to Clan Na Gael on a scoreline of 1-11 to 0-11. But their championship season wasn't over at that: they still went into their final game against St Mary's knowing that a win would guarantee them at least a play-off for a place in the last eight. It wasn't to be, however: at Drogheda on July 17th, the Ardee men's ability to score goals proved decisive as Lannleire were sent tumbling to another defeat, 3-12 to 0-12. Their championship season was over and it was time to turn all attention to the league. It was now imperative that senior status was preserved. But the team's confidence was gone, heads dropped and a thoroughly miserably showing in Division 1B culminated in the Dunleer men losing their senior status. For long-serving defender John Boylan, 2003 was something of a disappointment. It was his tenth year wearing the blue and white and the full back was also vice-captain for the season. Regarding their ill-fated championship campaign, he reflects: "We were very disappointed altogether. We got off to a very good start - and I suppose you could say we were lucky to get that point from Cooley in the end - but it was an excellent result and there was a great atmosphere in the club after that." The unexpected draw set Lannleire up nicely, as Cooley were supposedly the strongest team in the group. They went into the next game against Clan Na Gael abuzz with confidence: "I thought we were very unlucky to be beaten by the Clans. We played well that night but they got the rub of the green and it just didn't happen for us. They got a very early goal and that was still the difference between the teams at the final whistle." St Marys were next: "The Marys game still offered us a chance of making it through to the last eight. We knew that if we could beat them the very least we'd end up with was a play-off, so we had plenty to play for. But, as a team, we didn't perform on the night. It was disappointing. Looking back, I don't think any of us could say we played well in that game." There were mitigating circumstances - Lannleire went into that crucial clash at Drogheda with an air of uncertainly in the dressing room, as John Boylan explains: "We carried a couple of injuries into the game. I had an injury myself and Martin Farrelly didn't know whether he'd be playing right up to the throw-in. I think that certainly upset us." As it transpired, John played the full 60 minutes and came through unhindered, but the same couldn't be said for county man Farrelly. "Martin played superbly in the first half, but the injury caught up with him in the second half and he couldn't play up to his usual high standard." It was a disappointing end to a campaign that had fleetingly promised something big. John ruefully reflects: "There was a great buzz in the team following the Cooley game and we had a spring in our steps in training. Everybody was up for the Clans game. We played very well but they got the goal in the first minute and that beat us. We caught up and got level by half time but we didn't take our scores. It was a disappointing result because I think we were worth a draw in that game." The performance against the Marys was way below par. Was it a case of Dunleer making the Ardee men look better than they are? "We probably did though they come within a kick of a ball of winning the senior championship," John muses. "We were within two points coming up to half time but they got a goal right on the stroke of half time and that put a whole different complexion on the scoreboard. Suddenly we were five points adrift. They got another goal just after the re-start and there was no way back from there." It wasn't exactly the end of the world for Lannleire, despite the obvious disappointment of losing so heavily. After all, the league was their main priority for the year. "At the start of the year, we set out to win the McShane Cup [Division 1B]. We got off to a bad start though and never recovered, so the championship was a welcome distraction for a few weeks." For the second year, John Kennedy was in charge of the team. Ray Newman was his assistant, while Nicky Malone also helped out with training. A team meeting was held in January and collective training began in the second week of February. A different approach to training from the previous year meant that the players went into the season feeling both fit and fresh. But there's no hiding from the fact that this Lannleire side isn't getting any younger and possibly peaked five or six years ago. John doesn't shoot this theory down by any means. Instead, he adds thoughtfully: "Maybe people have seen the best of this Lannleire team. We can't argue with that. We're not as strong as we were. I'm almost 30 myself and a lot of the lads are the same age. We came through at the same time. A few are even older and there's not an awful lot coming through. Okay, we have six or seven good lads between 18 and 24, but we don't have a whole crop coming through like the likes of Collon have." Lannleire's best days are behind them for the time being, then? "Possibly. I think maybe we missed the boat. I don't think we're capable of winning a senior championship at the moment. You need a panel of 20 strong players to be considered genuine contenders - and we don't have that." Lannleire did have it in the past though. After winning junior and intermediate titles in close succession, they took the SFC by storm and played some remarkable football in the mid-1990s. It seemed inevitable that this exciting young side would one day claim the Joe Ward Cup but, somehow, it didn't happen. John Boylan was part of that great Lannleire side. Why did they fail to make the breakthrough? "It's hard to put a finger on it. The 1998 county final against Clan Na Gael was played in atrocious conditions, which didn't suit us, but that wasn't the main reason why we lost. We were a bit complacent. We believed our own hype and thought we just had to turn up and it would happen automatically. We had beaten them in the championship a couple of times in the previous years, so we thought we were going to beat them again. We were over-confident and that definitely worked against us. "We did seem to believe it was just a matter of time, but the team eventually faded away and we never won the big one. When Mattock lost the 2001 county final to the Blues, they came back in style and won it out the following year, but it didn't work out like that for us." John joined Lannleire from St Kevins (his father Johnny played for the Philipstown club for a lifetime) in the early 'nineties and has been on the first team for a decade now. His first year was 1994 and the Dunleer side won the intermediate championship as well as the Old Gaels Cup. He has also collected an old Division Two medal during his adult club career. A former club captain who acted as vice-captain during the '03 season, the full back believes it's time Lannleire began to look towards their long-term future: "Our main objective now is to bring senior football back to Dunleer. We just don't have the numbers and the talent isn't coming through. The nearest we have coming through are U14s, so we have to look at the long term. We have to fight tooth and nail to get back up senior so that the young lads coming through get to play at the top level. I'd say we'll be concentrating on the league again next year. We'll take each intermediate championship game as it comes and you never know what happens. If you get the breaks you could sneak through to the knock-out stages - and then anything could happen." Indeed, it would be foolhardy in the extreme to start writing the eulogies just yet. If Dunleer get the bit between their teeth, they could still give the best teams in the Wee County a run for their money! They are certainly capable of challenging at intermediate level! To loosely paraphrase a famous quote from Irish politics: Lannleire haven't gone away you know. Tweet

Most Read Stories