Hunterstown Rovers have enjoyed their fair share of success in recent years and although there was no major silverware won in 2007, the club is very much looking to a promising future. While there was no success on the field of play this season, in many other ways the 2007 year reflects the strength of the club. It was this year that their most famous player, Ollie Reilly, celebrated the 50th anniversary of his part in Louth's historic All-Ireland success in 1957. The man who was a great servant to Hunterstown played at right corner back throughout the historic campaign and was one of the main reasons why the Wee County brought home the Sam Maguire. However, Hunterstown Rovers is not a club that is content to look back as this year saw them put in motion a new strategy to ensure a strong future for the club. Committee member, Peter Landy has been to the forefront of the development plan and explains that it is essential for the club to map out its objectives over the next few years and explains the reasons behind it. "It was felt that while a lot of great work was being done to keep the club ticking over, but that we really lacked a coherent plan for moving forward. Therefore we decided to put in place a five-year development plan for the club." Much of those plans will centre around the purchase of land adjacent to the field which will help improve facilities at the club. "Up to now we have been rather confined by having one playing area which is used for everything. It the weather is wet then there is the problem of the field getting cut up and of course with a number of teams looking for games and training there can often clash. "The strip of land has been purchased and we have already applied for planning permission and will be looking for Lotto funding. One of the things we have to do is provide a car park off the main road while we will be looking to provide other facilities. "We may look at the possibility of an all-weather facility and perhaps make provision for other sports such as tennis to make it a community project rather than just for GAA." Peter is acutely aware of the fact that a lot of fundraising will be required to see this project completed, but he feels that it will be of great benefit to the area and the young players coming through. "It takes a lot of money just to run the club never mind undertake a project like this. Although we have a relatively small area, there are a lot of new people in the area and with a lot of juveniles in the club we need to improve our facilities." Peter points out that a lot of work will be put into this project over the coming months and years is full of praise for those who put in such a great effort to ensure the smooth running of the club. "Like many clubs we have a small but dedicated committee, while we have some great people putting in a lot of work at juvenile level along with parents and helpers. "Gerry Burns is our coach at Ballapousta National School that is an aspect of the club that is going very well. There are currently a lot of players at underage level coming through so we need the facilities to ensure that progress is continued over the coming years. "Our juvenile section from U-8 to Minor is very healthy and that is the base on which the club will build for the future," added Peter. No doubt those young players will be inspired by the likes of Paddy Matthews and Paul Carrie who have been involved with the Louth senior set-up while also helping to spearhead success for Hunterstown in the immediate future. Although this year there was little to celebrate on the field of play, Peter points out that having retained Intermediate status, Rovers will be hoping to compete for honours next season. "On the playing front we were not that successful in the Intermediate Championship as we came up short in a few crucial games, however, we did managed to retain our status in that grade. "We also kept our position in the Division 2 League so our aim for next year will be to challenge for that title and hopefully move up to play against better quality teams in the future. We will also be looking to make a strong challenge for the Intermediate Championship in 2008." In what was a very special year for Louth's 1957 heroes, Peter also paid tribute to one of the stars of that team, Hunterstown's own, Ollie Reilly. "We are all naturally very proud of Ollie as he is one of the great stalwarts of the club. It is a fantastic achievement to be the only man in the area with a senior All-Ireland medal and this was a very special year for all involved." Ollie Reilly was just 20 years old when he played against Cork in the All-Ireland Final and he played in all but 20 minutes of the entire campaign. The only part of the championship he missed was in the Leinster Final when he was forced off with a broken nose, but was straight back into the team for the All-Ireland semi-final. Ollie also enjoyed a successful club career with Hunterstown. He was part of the squad that won the Second Division Championship in 1954 and in 1959 the club collected the Junior Championship. Hunterstown began the season with hopes of regaining the Intermediate Championship and returning to the senior ranks, but from the outset they faced a difficult task having been drawn in a very strong group. Along with Rovers in Section B were the eventual winners, Dundalk Gaels, and runners-up Dreadnots, while Roche Emmets, down from senior, made up the group along with St Kevins and O Raghallaighs. Despite this, Hunterstown got off to a winning start when they scored a 2-12 to 1-11 win over St Kevin's in April. This proved to be a very important victory as it ensured the team would finish outside the relegation zone. After that it proved to be a very disappointing championship season as a fortnight later they lost to Roche Emmets on a 1-12 to 0-8 scoreline. The break didn't help Hunterstown as when they returned to action on July 29 they suffered a four point defeat at the hands of Dreadnots and their hopes of making it into the play-offs were dashed when they lost out to O Raghallaighs by 1-10 to 1-5. Hunterstown wrapped up their campaign with a 1-11 to 0-8 defeat at the hands of Dundalk Gaels. Tweet

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