Na Piarsaigh weren't about to stand on ceremony. Not for them the frustration of getting lost at sea amidst the treacherous waters of junior football. Instead, the Holy Family parish outfit bounced straight back up to the intermediate grade by capturing the 2002 Louth JFC - in style! When a club slips down to junior level, the worry is always that they'll get marooned, lost even. And the longer you spend languishing and labouring in the lower grade ... struggling, procrastinating, misfiring ... the harder it is to shake the habit. Yes, junior football is an addiction. And the best way to kick any addiction is to strike early, before it gets its life-draining claws in. That's what Na Piarsaigh did in 2002. They performed a stunning handbrake turn that would've done James Bond proud, stealing only a fleeting glance at junior football in the rearview mirror as they accelerated purposefully back towards intermediate football. Their departure point was also their destination. The brief journey is over now. Let's take a look back... The 2002 Louth Junior Football Championship final was an all-Dundalk affair between Na Piarsaigh and competition surprise packet Dowdallshill. The game took place at Clan Na Gael Park on Sunday October 6th and the Piarsaighs won by two points, 0-13 to 1-8, to clinch the Christy Bellew Cup . . . but only after the Dowdallers came at them with a late spurt. However, the Rock Road outfit were full value for their victory and the county's youngest football club deservedly reclaimed its place in the intermediate grade. Making the occasion extra special for everyone from the close-knit 'Parish of the Holy Family' - one of the town's newest residential areas - was the fact that in the curtain-raiser Pearse Og shocked holders Knockbridge in the senior hurling final to capture the county SHC for the first time in their short history. The celebrations, therefore, were unrestrained - and understandably so. In the year that was in it, a championship victory was wholly appropriate. Na Piarsaigh celebrated the 20th anniversary of their foundation by booking a return ticket to the secondary tier of Wee County football. The mood was in complete contrast to the acute disappointment that had been suffered at the end of the previous season, when Na Piarsaigh suffered relegation . . . the anguish running throughout the club then was almost palpable. Well, those memories have been dispelled forever courtesy of a famous championship win. Derbys can be difficult games to win at the best of times. When its a championship final, it adds to the task at hand. As favourites, all the pressure was on Na Piarsaigh to produce the goods against Dowdallshill. But nobody said it was going to be easy . . . and it certainly wasn't! The 'Hill's excellent semi-final win over St Nicholas proved that they would be anything but fair game and the St Brigid's Park boys stubbornly refused to roll over in what amounted to a scrappy, stacatto affair where all that mattered ultimately was the result. Na Piarsaigh sowed the seeds for success with an emphatic showing in the third quarter, in which they finally managed to establish some daylight between themselves and Dowdallshill with five unanswered scores. Despite surrendering territorial superiority in the first half, Na Piarsaigh demonstrated vastly more clinical economy in front of the posts (registering only one first-half wide as against their wasteful opponents' eleven!). They turned around on even terms and hit a purple patch for the next quarter, effectively winning the game in that five-point fifteen-minute burst. And even though the north town men came at them with everything late and the referee allowed the 'Hill plenty of stoppage time to salvage something from the match, Na Piarsaigh held out for the win their performance - and their campaign - merited. It's never over 'til it's over, though, and Na Piarsaigh were made to sweat at the end after Dowdallshill introduced player-selector Gerard Roe. The former Roche player was unable to start but set up 1-1 upon his late arrival to send the game into a nail-biting climax. The black and ambers had their mettle thoroughly tested as a stop-start second half ran to an agonising 37 minutes, and the character they showed in these closing moments is the main reason why they will be playing intermediate football again next year. Re-positioned full forward Alan McCartney and Robert Nash kept control of the midfield sector and it was the Piarsaighs who created all the late chances. Kenny Sullivan was decidedly unfortunate when his rasping drive came back off the crossbar but McCartney got the final score of the game to send Na Piarsaigh's players, mentors and supporters wild with ecstasy. While they may have only won by two points, the 13 scores to nine statistic gives a more accurate indication of the extend to which Na Piarsaigh were the better team. The sides were level six times during a first half that finished all square, 0-7 apiece. Corner forward Paddy Lyttle put the winners ahead inside the first minute but Dowdallshill got the next two scores. Corner back Kevin Coyle and McCartney (free) ensured that the sides were level at the end of the first quarter. Sullivan helped himself to a brace, Barry Magill added another, and Coyle struck from an acute angle to make it 0-7 to 0-5. But the 'Hill chipped away and levelled again by the short whistle. It was all Na Piarsaigh on the resumption. Centre back Magill landed a quick free and McCartney pointed after a mix-up in the Dowdallshill defence. Points flowed from John Molloy, Man of the Match McCartney and Robert Nash as the Rock Road men assumed complete control. They (inadvertently) eased their feet off the pedal in the closing stages but it was a lapse for which they were not made pay. There were memorable scenes at Clan Na Gael Park as jubilant captain Barry Magill raised a black-and-amber-swaddled Christy Bellew Cup. Victory in the final rounded off a successful reversal in fortunes for the Rock Road club who were left demoralised by their demotion to the basement division at the end of the previous term. Indeed, it was only their second championship success in their 20-year history. They had five survivors from the side that accounted for Glyde Rangers in the 1993 junior decider. Furthermore, the experience of having played intermediate football in 2001 (albeit to little avail) also stood them in good stead and Na Piarsaigh certainly looked the part as they stormed through to the final. They kicked off their campaign with a 1-8 to 1-3 quarter-final defeat of John Mitchells on August 11th. Even though Na Piarsaigh were clearly the better team, they struggled to put the Ballybailie men away and never looked comfortable until Paddy Lyttle goaled in the 37th minute. Scores proved hard to come by in the opening period and it wasn't until the 13th minute that Na Piarsaigh opened the scoring through wing back Declan McGeeney. Ronan McCartney, Barry Magill and Michael McKeown added to their tally before the break but the concession of a 20th-minute goal meant the Dundalk club only led by the minimum, 0-4 to 1-0, at the short whistle. The game was effectively won with a run of 1-3 in the first nine minutes of the second half, Lyttle's goal supplemented by three points from McKeown. Na Piarsaigh now led by seven and were never in danger of letting their advantage slip. Alan McCartney rounded off the winners' scoring as a semi-final date with Glen Emmets was booked. The Tullyallen men had hammered Wolfe Tones by 4-13 to 1-4 in a quarter-final massacre, so their challenge was not to be taken lightly. Well, there wasn't a trace of complacency on show as the Piarsaighs romped to a comprehensive 0-18 to 3-3 victory on Sunday September 1st. Michael McKeown gave a Man of the Match performance, hitting five super points from play and even three goals couldn't keep the Emmets in touch. Na Piarsaigh's return of 18 points was highly impressive and hinted at impending triumph. Na Piarsaigh, 2002 Louth junior football champions: Gerry Stewart; Paul Smyth, Paul McCartney, Kevin Coyle (0-2); Declan McGeeney, Barry Magill (0-2), Damien McCrink; Robert Nash (0-1), Karl Brennan; John Molloy (0-1), Ronan McCartney, Michael McKeown; Kenny Sullivan (0-2), Alan McCartney (0-4), Paddy Lyttle (0-1). Subs: Eugene Burns, Ronan Donaghy, Donal Hegarty. Tweet

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