My Club
My club, and the love of my life (after my family), is Mattock Rangers CLG from the small village of Collon in County Louth. The parish of Collon is the smallest in the diocese of Armagh and although we were integrated against our will with Ardee parish some years ago, we consider ourselves with a great degree of pride to be an independent parish still.
Our parish is unusual in that part of it is in County Meath. Our pitch and Community Sports Centre is in Louth, in the village of Collon, familiar to those who travel the N2 route from Dublin to Derry. This in the past has led to disputes over eligibility of players who come from the Meath side of the parish. In times gone by there were often bitter disputes about certain players with officials participating in what was something like a tug-of-war over the player concerned. Thankfully, in recent years, reason has prevailed in such circumstances.
Of course, like many clubs located on the borders of county rivals, the Louth end of the parish and club have had to endure decades of slagging from our very successful Meath neighbours. It is particularly pertinent in Mattock Rangers situation and sometimes the good-natured banter can cross the line to bitterness.
Actually, make that many times instead of sometimes! Still some of the clubs greatest servants are from Meath and our current Chairman, Peter Murphy, is a proud Meath man who made a great contribution to the club over many years.
Mattock Rangers CLG celebrated 50 years in existence in 2002, having been founded in 1952. The club became a CLG in 2004 with the addition of a hurling and camogie club. The Club was named after the River Mattock, which runs through the village on its way to the Boyne. John Watters was the first Chairman, Tony Brady and Jim Taaffe, the first Secretary and Treasurer respectively.
The club first competed in 1953 in the Louth Second Division Junior grade. The first Championship success was achieved in 1960 when the Second Division title was annexed by the Paddy Geraghty captained side beating Dreadnots in the final. The Junior Championship was won the following year, 1961, Geraldines being the club’s opponents on final day, with Ollie Geraghty receiving the Christy Bellew Cup as Captain. A unique treble was denied Mattock in 1962 when the team reached the Senior Championship Final only to be beaten at Ardee by the great Newtown Blues team of that era.
Further success eluded the club for the rest of the Sixties, but a Minor Championship Final appearance against Cooley Kickhams in 1968 provided the nucleus of a side which from 1969 to 1979, contested two Senior Championship Finals against Cooley Kickhams in 1973 and 1976. They also made a Cardinal O’Donnell Cup decider against Newtown Blues in 1969 and three Old Gaels Cup finals with Cooley Kickhams in 1969, 1972 and 1974. Sadly, they lost all six finals. The club won its first County Senior Competition in that era when the Seamus Flood Cup, in its inaugural year of 1976, was taken by beating St. Brides 2-17 to 3-4 in the final. Thomas Moonan captained the team on that historic occasion.
Relegated to the Intermediate grade at the end of the 1979 season, the club took three years to regain Senior status, when Damien Reid (RIP) captained side won the Intermediate Championship in 1982 in a thrilling final win over St. Josephs at Ardee. Mattock returned to Intermediate from 1986 to 1998, winning three DMP Shields and two Intermediate League titles in that period.
The club next reached a championship decider in 1995 when Geraldines were victorious in the Intermediate Final replay. Other trophies won to date include two Ranafast Cup wins in 1977 and 1979. Mattock returned to the Senior grade in 1999 and reached the Senior Championship Final in 2001 only to go down to our old adversaries, Newtown Blues.
Mattock Rangers 2002 Louth Senior Football Champions
LOUTH SENIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONS 2002
2002 will go down in Mattock’s history as the greatest year in the club’s existence when the blue riband of Louth Football was at last won by beating St. Brides in the Senior Championship Final in Ardee by 2-9 to 1-9. Captain, Donal Geraghty, received the Joe Ward Cup from County Board Chairman, Paddy McMahon. The Manager of the team, Brendan Reilly, selector Willie Englishby & Coach, Des Lane, were the men in charge on this great day.
Astonishingly, the team went on to reach the AIB Leinster Senior Club Football Final, going under to Meath’s Dunshaughlin in the final in Navan on the 22nd December 2002 in their first ever year in the competition. They did the county of Louth proud when along the way they accounted for Starlights from Wexford, Tullamore from Offaly and Moorefield from Kildare, on each occasion being the underdogs. The lack of experience more than anything beat them in the final as craftyDunshauglin, appearing in their third successive Leinster final, were not be denied. The team also reached the ACC Cup & Cardinal O’Donnell Cup finals in 2002.
What a way to celebrate your Golden Jubilee! Fifty barren years and then a feast of trophies and glory. For old timers, there were a lot of tears shed and sentiment stoked. The power of the club is the great enduring glue by which the GAA bonds together. To see your little parish club achieve national prominence on radio and deemed worthy of banner headlines in the national newspapers is akin to occupying GAA Heaven.
The Senior team also created history by winning the inaugural Leinster Senior Club League, beating St. Mary’s, Saggart, of Dublin in the 2005 Final on a score line of 0-12 to 1-7.
The team has also reached the Louth Senior Football Final on Sunday, 2nd October, 2005, against our old rivals and arch-nemesis, Newtown Blues. In a fairy-tale ending, Mattock broke the Blues hearts by coming from three points down with two minutes of normal time remaining to kick four successive points, and win their second Louth Senior title. It was sweet revenge for the Collon men as over the years the Drogheda side had always had the upper hand in crucial championship games. Again, the Mattock men put on a great show representing Louth in the Leinster Senior Club Championship, reaching the semi-final, only to be pipped by Kildare champions Sarsfields.
Many Mattock players have represented Louth senior footballers over the years including the Geraghty brothers, Paddy, Ollie and Larry, Mick Sherlock, Jim “Doc” Butterly, Donal Mathews, John Moonan, Damien Reid (RIP) and his brother Sean Reid, Niall Callan and in recent years, Christy Grimes, David Brennan, Mark Brennan, David Reid, Adrian Reid and Richard Sherlock.
The greatest of these was Damien Reid (RIP). The above mentioned David and Adrian are his two sons. Sadly, for all who knew and loved Damien, he passed away this year after a short illness, aged only 57. He was without doubt one of the finest players in the country. Had he been playing for a more successful and high-profile county than Louth, he undoubtedly would have won many national honours. As it was he was nominated twice for All-Stars and this club is forever in his debt for all the roles he played on the field, the line, and the committee room. (See separate obituary and tribute).
Kilkennyman, Tony Corcoran played for many years with the Louth Senior hurlers and he and his wife Audrey are responsible for running hurling and camogie in the parish with the club’s junior hurlers competing at adult level for the first time in 2005. They had a much quicker start in life than their football counterparts did. They won the Louth Junior Championship at their first attempt in 2005 and followed up to win in both 2006 and 2007. They now play in the Senior Championship in 2008. It shows what the efforts of two people can achieve and how their devotion to the cause creates a mushroom effect.
The club played its home matches from its foundation up to 1967 in a field on the Priest’s Hill. The club acquired its present grounds at the Bleach, Pairc Mattoc, in the mid 1960’s, and added its Pavilion in 1978. The ground was officially opened after further development work in 1984 under the Chairmanship of Dermot Clarke (RIP). The pavilion was demolished in 2002 to make way for our new Community Sports Centre, which was opened on 2nd May 2004. This is an 11,000 square foot building encompassing changing rooms, gym, full-sized sports hall, function and meeting rooms. A new Juvenile cum training pitch is being developed at present to cater for the increase in the club’s membership and activities due to the growth of the population in the Collon area over the last five years.
As I write, Mattock Rangers are in the 2008 Louth Senior Football final against Newtown Blues, fixed for 28th September. I will update you on that as it happens.
So there you have it. A brief and potted history of the club I love and cherish. There are over 2,500 clubs in the country and many abroad in America, Australia, Europe, and the Far East. All of them share a common love of Irish culture and Gaelic Games. All of them have a common denominator in having dedicated servants catering to the needs of the young and at the same time adhering to the traditions of our fore fathers who founded this wonderful organization.
Proud it is I am to call myself a member.
Sam Maguire