Louth GAA

Main Menu

  • Fixtures & Results
    • Next 7 Days
      • Next 14 Days
      • Next 21 Days
    • Last 7 Days
      • Last 14 Days
      • Last 21 Days
    • Championship
      • Senior Football
      • Intermediate Football
      • Junior Football
      • Senior Hurling
      • Maurice Murphy Cup
    • League
      • Division 1
      • Division 2
      • Division 3A
      • Division 3B
      • Division 4
      • Division 5
      • Division 6
      • Senior Hurling
      • Special Hurling
    • Paddy Sheelan Cup
      • Paddy Sheelan Cup KO
      • Paddy Sheelan Shield
    • Kevin Mullen Shield
      • Kevin Mullen Shield KO
      • Kevin Mullen Plate
    • U21 League Competition
    • Minor Board
      • U17
      • U16
      • U15
      • U14
      • U13
      • U12
  • Committees
    • Management
    • Other Officers
    • CCC
    • Minor Board
    • Intercounty Panels
    • Coaching & Games Steering
    • Infrastructure
    • PR & IT
    • Development
    • Cultural
    • Childrens
    • Coiste Iomána CCC
    • Youth
  • NFL Tickets
    • NHL Tickets
  • Lú TV
    • Video on Demand
  • Resources
    • Coaching and Games Staff

logo

  • Fixtures & Results
    • Next 7 Days
      • Next 14 Days
      • Next 21 Days
    • Last 7 Days
      • Last 14 Days
      • Last 21 Days
    • Championship
      • Senior Football
        • SFC Knockout
      • Intermediate Football
        • IFC Knockout
      • Junior Football
        • JFC Knockout
      • Senior Hurling
      • Maurice Murphy Cup
    • League
      • Division 1
      • Division 2
      • Division 3A
      • Division 3B
      • Division 4
      • Division 5
      • Division 6
      • Senior Hurling
      • Special Hurling
    • Paddy Sheelan Cup
      • Paddy Sheelan Cup KO
      • Paddy Sheelan Shield
    • Kevin Mullen Shield
      • Kevin Mullen Shield KO
      • Kevin Mullen Plate
    • U21 League Competition
    • Minor Board
      • U17
        • Championship
          • U17 A Championship
          • U17 B Championship
        • League
          • U17 Division 1
          • U17 Division 2
          • U17 Division 3
          • U17 Northern Region
          • U17 Southern Region
          • U17 Eastern Region
          • U17 Western Region
      • U16
        • League
          • U16 Division 1
          • U16 Division 2
          • U16 Division 3
      • U15
        • Championship
          • U15 A Championship
          • U15 B Championship
        • League
          • U15 Division 1
          • U15 Division 2
          • U15 Division 3
      • U14
        • League
          • U14 Division 1
          • U14 Division 2
          • U14 Division 3
      • U13
        • League
          • U13 Division 1
          • U13 Division 2
          • U13 Division 3
        • U13 A Championship
        • U13 B Championship
      • U12
        • League
          • U12 Division 1
          • U12 Division 2
          • U12 Division 3
          • U12 Division 4
  • Committees
    • Management
    • Other Officers
    • CCC
    • Minor Board
    • Intercounty Panels
    • Coaching & Games Steering
    • Infrastructure
    • PR & IT
    • Development
    • Cultural
    • Childrens
    • Coiste Iomána CCC
    • Youth
  • NFL Tickets
    • NHL Tickets
  • Lú TV
    • Video on Demand
  • Resources
    • Coaching and Games Staff
Club
Home›Club›Mattock Rangers respected and relevant again

Mattock Rangers respected and relevant again

By Ronan Lynch
10th January 2020
2278
0
Share:

By Cian O’Connell

Between 2002 and 2010 Mattock Rangers gleaned four Louth Senior Football Championships. It was a thrilling and successful stint, Gaelic Football had been passed through the generations.

Hope existed, Mattock Rangers were respected and relevant. That is all most clubs want, but during the next decade demanding days arrived.

Relegation to the Intermediate ranks eventually happened, but 2019 brought county and provincial silverware and a sense that Mattock Rangers were on the rise again.

Manager Niall Callan played during Mattock’s glory years so is well placed to assess what has been stirring in the proud Louth outfit.

“At the time we dropped we actually won the Division One League that year,” Callan recalls about 2015. “We just couldn’t get a run in the Championship at all. It ended up that we kept getting beaten in the Championship. Eventually we ended up in a relegation battle and were beaten.

“With hindsight it probably is the best thing that could have happened because we had a good crop of young players coming up at that stage. We were beaten in the Intermediate Final the following year with quite a young and inexperienced group. The balance was probably not right.

“A lot of those younger players have stepped up to the mark, they have matured and it is coming right now. Hopefully there is a good future ahead for a lot of them.”

How Callan has blended the emerging youngsters with the experience and class of the Reid brothers is worthy of the utmost respect.

Following a couple of coaching gigs elsewhere Callan wondered long and hard about taking over his home club.

“In 2015 I stepped away and went over to St Fechin’s in Termonfeckin,” Callan says. “I was there for a couple of years in a coaching capacity and a management capacity in the second year.

Mattock Rangers' Adrian Reid pictured before the AIB Leinster Club Intermediate Final which the Louth club won against Mullinavat.
Mattock Rangers’ Adrian Reid pictured before the AIB Leinster Club Intermediate Final which the Louth club won against Mullinavat.

“Then I went to Roche Emmets in the north of Louth in a coaching and management role. So going back to your own club and having a bit of success is very nice.

“It is definitely more personal and I played with quite a few of them like Adrian and David Reid, Daniel Bannon, Daire English, I would have battled along with them on the pitch. To take over, I had to think long and hard when the position became available whether it was such a good idea to go for it.

“You are now trying to guide them along, a lot of them lads don’t need much guidance because they are 100 per cent committed, they are intelligent footballers.

“When I became involved they showed great respect towards me. Definitely I showed great respect towards them. There was no issues, they made the job handy for me.”

Callan has certainly been a key figure in Mattock’s return to prominence and reflects on the impact made by some trainers during his own playing career.

The Reids’ father, Damien, will be involved in nearly every Mattock Rangers discussion, while Paddy Carr and Paddy Clarke were others who made Callan think deeply about sport.

“You learn from every coach – definitely,” Callan remarks. “Paddy was a great man, you had the likes of Damien being a clubman. He was always involved.

“Personally he was an inspiration to me and a bit of a hero growing up. He took me through the ranks, he was with the Louth Under 21s when I was involved with them, he was such a gentleman.

“He was involved when we won a couple of senior titles, Paddy Clarke’s record speaks for itself too. This year we have been blessed with Sean Kelly.

“Him coming onboard in the coaching ticket helped the club. He is just an exceptional coach, he was definitely one of the best I’ve worked alongside if not the best.”

The Mattock Rangers team which contested the 2002 AIB Leinster Club Senior Football Championship Final against Dunshaughlin at Páirc Tailteann.
The Mattock Rangers team which contested the 2002 AIB Leinster Club Senior Football Championship Final against Dunshaughlin at Páirc Tailteann.

Magheracloone is only a half hour spin from Mattock Rangers GAA Grounds. On Saturday in Crossmaglen the prize at stake is an AIB All Ireland Intermediate Club Final appearance. During the years has there been much interaction between Mattock and Magheracloone?

“When we were on top of our game in senior and when they were probably on top of their game in senior also back in the noughties we would have played two or three challenge matches along the route,” Callan states.

“They are a quality side. I know they dropped to Intermediate last year or the year before, it is only a couple of years ago that they were contesting Senior Championships.

“Playing against them they always were very strong, a good footballing team so there is going to be nothing easy come Saturday.”

These games are memorable occasions to be involved in according to Callan, who is thoroughly enjoying Mattock Rangers’ latest adventire.

“I have found that playing in Leinster campaigns and the campaign this year you seem to have a little bit more freedom,” Callan comments.

“With Louth being such a small county everyone knows everyone. You are always well aware about who you are playing and who the dangermen are.

“When you go outside of the county you tend not to worry as much about the opposition because you haven’t that much knowledge on them. You don’t know them as well so you play with a bit more freedom.

“It is a bit surreal I suppose, but the commitment levels and training has been exceptional for the length of time the lads have had to constantly attend and commit.

“They are an excellent group, the excitement is brilliant around the village. The players are really looking forward to it.”

Report: GAA.ie

https://www.gaa.ie/football/news/mattock-rangers-respected-and-relevant-again/

Tagslouth gaamattock rangers
Previous Article

Motions & Competitions POSTPONED

Next Article

Wee County Double House Draw

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +

Related articles More from author

  • SponsorsFixtures & ResultsCounty

    Toner goal crucial as Derry hold off Louth in Ardee

    8th February 2023
    By Mark Byrne
  • Coaching & Games

    Louth GAA Kelloggs Cul Camps 2020 Important Information

    13th July 2020
    By Mark Byrne
  • Fixtures & ResultsClub

    2020 Winter & League Fixtures

    31st January 2020
    By Ronan Lynch
  • Fixtures & ResultsClub

    Updated Championship Fixtures and LúTV Schedule

    19th August 2020
    By Mark Byrne
  • Darver
    Fixtures & Results

    Louth GAA season structures set out

    7th June 2020
    By Mark Byrne
  • Fixtures & ResultsClub

    Subsidiary League Competition Fixtures

    25th January 2020
    By Ronan Lynch

Leave a reply Cancel reply

You may be interested in

  • Fixtures & ResultsSchools

    Ardee CS open Lennon Cup 2021 Campaign in style

  • Fixtures & ResultsClub

    Louth Club Championship Dates, Times and Venues Announced

  • Fixtures & ResultsClub

    Stabannon Parnells are Louth Junior Football Champions

Pick A House

Fixtures & Results

  • Fixtures & ResultsCountySponsors

    Louth suffer defeat in Croke Park as Dublin get promoted

    Allianz Football League Division 2 DUBLIN 0-16 LOUTH 1-6 By Dan Bannon at Croke Park The return of Stephen Cluxton caught all the headlines as Dublin returned to Division 1 ...
  • Fixtures & ResultsCountySponsors

    Louth defeat Cork

    Allianz NFL Division 2 Round 6 by Dan Bannon from DEFY Pairc Mhuire, Ardee Louth 1-10 Cork 0-10 Louth have picked up a wonderful winning habit during Mickey Harte’s short ...
  • SponsorsFixtures & ResultsCounty

    Louth show steel to bag a vital two points with National League victory over Fermanagh

    Allianz NHL Division 3A Rd 4 Louth 0-19 Fermanagh 1-15 Caoimhin Reilly Sunday’s one-point victory over Fermanagh serves as one of the most crucial, if not the most glamorous, victories ...
  • CountySponsorsFixtures & Results

    Louth ease past Kildare to win three in a row

    Allianz Football League Division Two Louth 2-11 Kildare 0-12 By Dan Bannon at DEFY Páirc Mhuire, Ardee Louth earned a third Allianz Football League Division Two win on the spin ...
  • Fixtures & ResultsCountySponsors

    Louth storm to victory over Meath

    Allianz National Football League, Division 2, Round 4 LOUTH 1-15 MEATH 1-12 By Paul Keane at Pairc Tailteann, Navan A storming finale from Louth in Navan secured a memorable comeback ...

Louth GAA Tweets

Avatar Louth GAA @louthgaa ·
27 Feb

Congratulations to Ciaran Downey or @NewtownBlues named on the GAA team of the week after his terrific performance against Meath yesterday.

Congratulations Ciaran 🔴⚪️

Reply on Twitter 1630218816864043009 Retweet on Twitter 1630218816864043009 2 Like on Twitter 1630218816864043009 62 Twitter 1630218816864043009
Avatar Louth GAA @louthgaa ·
26 Feb

**LOUTH STORM TO VICTORY OVER MEATH**

Read match report below and images from a very memorable afternoon in Navan 🔴⚪️

Click to read⬇️⬇️
https://louthgaa.ie/5003-2/

Photo Credit: Ciaran Culligan (@cul7)

@statsports l @OfficialBSM_1

Reply on Twitter 1629945394774921217 Retweet on Twitter 1629945394774921217 3 Like on Twitter 1629945394774921217 46 Twitter 1629945394774921217
Avatar Louth GAA @louthgaa ·
26 Feb

Craig Lennons goal proved to be the difference in Pairc Tailteann today as Louth overcame Meath by 3 points 🔴⚪️

Reply on Twitter 1629920904103751684 Retweet on Twitter 1629920904103751684 26 Like on Twitter 1629920904103751684 396 Twitter 1629920904103751684
Load More

Louth GAA

logo

Louth GAA is one of the 32 County Boards of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in Ireland and is responsible for the promotion of Gaelic Games and Irish Cultúr in County Louth including Gaelic Football and Hurling.

Lú Abú

  • Recent

  • Popular

  • Louth suffer defeat in Croke Park as Dublin get promoted

    By Mark Byrne
    26th March 2023
  • Louth defeat Cork

    By Mark Byrne
    19th March 2023
  • Louth show steel to bag a vital two points with National League victory over Fermanagh

    By Mark Byrne
    13th March 2023
  • Louth ease past Kildare to win three in a row

    By Mark Byrne
    5th March 2023
  • LOUTH GAA – WEE COUNTY DOUBLE HOUSE DRAW

    By Mark Byrne
    30th January 2021
  • Wee County Double House Draw

    By Ronan Lynch
    10th January 2020
  • Louth GAA Coaching Conference 2021

    By Mark Byrne
    5th January 2021
  • 1 Day to go and its a sell out

    By Mark Byrne
    2nd April 2021

About Us

  • Louth GAA Centre of Excellence, Newtowndarver, Readypenny, Co. Louth, A91 CF62
  • operationsmanager.louth@gaa.ie

Follow us

© Copyright Louth GAA. All rights reserved.