First memory of Roche
My first memory of Roche is going to matches on Sunday afternoons to the old Roche pitch (Jack's field). There were big crowds on the hill and standing along the hedge, and always a great atmosphere. The cars would be parked everywhere along the road on the way in. I still look out to the field as I pass it now and remember those days. Great memories.
Best day supporting Roche
Has to be in Ardee in 1980. I was a very young lad that day but can still remember Roche winning in the rain and Mickey Quigley lifting Joe Ward. I also remember being stuck in the crowd outside the dressing rooms after the match waiting to get another glimpse of the cup... bonfires on the Monday night as Joe toured the parish... memories I am very glad to have seen as we have not won it since.
Martin McCourt, right, served as a senior team selector with Fergal Reel in 2006Most memorable win
We had some great wins and it's very hard to pick one out, but if I was really pushed I would say the first U21 championship, in 1993.We hadn't done anything three years earlier at minor and we had only had two players who couldn't play the following year. It lashed rain the whole week with the final on the Friday night and even though it wasn't raining on the night, the pitch in the Grove was horrendous.
We trained on the Tuesday night beforehand in the lashing rain, some of the lads wanted to cancel it (the softies)... Anyway, out we went and trained hard and I still think that session got us over the line. We had to come from behind to win at the death by a single point. It was the first cup to be celebrated in the new bar in the clubrooms, which had only opened a month earlier, but I can tell you the celebrations didn't end on Friday!!
Hardest defeat to take
There's been a few... we lost two intermediate semi-finals in '95 and '96 by one and two points and the senior semi-finals in '99 and 2000, but the one that hurt the most, believe it or not, was an U10 Cumann Peile na nÓg final for St. Joseph's (Naomh Seosamh) against Naomh Bríd. It was an all-parish affair played in Roche one Sunday morning. It was like an All-Ireland to us young fellas. We had it almost won when we had a player sent off with five minutes to go and conceded a goal. Poor Maurice Murphy (the ref) has been reminded of it on almost every occasion I've met him since. Just about over it now!
The McCourts, minus Claire!Biggest rivalry
Has to be Kilkerley for me. It was local and being from the corner of the parish I come from, I would always be meeting some of them. I also done a bit of running with Kilkerley AC in my younger days so it probably grew from there, and going through secondary school with some of them. Playing underage and adult football, it was simple: don't get beaten, it would hurt too much.
Roche dream team
Aidan McCoy; Declan McArdle, David McKeown, David Quinn; Dermot Craven, Patrick McArdle, John Whyte; Aidan O'Neill, Martin McQuillan; Paul Gallagher, Gerard Craven, John O'Hanlon; Kevin Callaghan, Colm Reilly, Barry O'Hare
Best Roche player you played with
Without any doubt, it has to be Aidan O'Neill. He had natural ability and could be played anywhere on the field. There were days you would be thinking, 'he's not playing his best today' and then he would play for 10 minutes and win the game for us. He had every skill in the game and I don't think I ever saw anyone get the better of him. A great character too!
Toughest opponent
This was an easy one to pick for me... Nicholas Butterly of Stabannon. He was small, stocky and very fast and once he got the ball I just couldn't take it off him. The only chance I had was to get the ball first. I marked him a good few times and broke even with him once or twice but never got the better of him. I would have went to the opposite side of the field every time if I had the choice.
Dressing room joker
There were any amount of these boys... I could pick a whole team of them! I'd have to say Mickey Sharkey was the biggest one... great craic and always on to someone about something and usually it was about their wife or girlfriend... or maybe both!!
Your Roche in three words
Pride. Passion. Parish.
