Football progress was slow process
Breakthrough with 1980 Junior win
IN ORDER to truly appreciate success, it’s no harm to have endured heartbreak along the way.
And in that context, Rathgarogue-Cushinstown have certainly been rewarded for their fortitude in the face of defeat, not to mention their refusal to give in.
Progress in football was a slow process, although the starting point for this particular review of their history is on a hurling field.
O’Kennedy Park in New Ross played host to a novel District Junior hurling final on August 19, 1962, as Cushinstown defeated Rathgarogue by 3-5 to 0-7 in a battle between very close neighbours.
They went on to lose the county semi-final to Our Lady’s Island, the eventual champions, and the progress wasn’t maintained in 1963 when neither side made it to a District decider that saw Camross account for Adamstown.
Fethard held Rathgarogue scoreless in the Junior football first round that same year (1-4 to nil), while Cushinstown were involved in a 0-3 each draw with Geraldine O’Hanrahans but lost the replay to their town rivals who went on to claim the county title.
At some point before the end of 1963, the wise heads in the Rathgarogue and Cushinstown clubs got together and came to the conclusion that it would make more sense to join forces.
As a result, the club as we know it today was entered for the 1964 campaign, and they haven’t looked back since.
Both District Junior championships were run on a straight knockout at the time, and Rathgarogue-Cushinstown’s football debut resulted in a 2-10 to 0-7 loss to St. James’ in a game played in O’Rahilly Park, Gusserane, on June 7.
However, the hurling performance fully justified the decision to unite, as the District title was won at the first attempt when Adamstown were pipped by 3-5 to 3-4.
Although the long-since defunct Na Fianna from Wexford town won the subsequent county semi-final (2-11 to 3-5), Rathgarogue-Cushinstown were on the map, and on the road.
The emphasis was strongly on hurling in those early years, although the quest for a county Junior crown proved elusive.
The next District title in the small ball code arrived in 1966, again at Adamstown’s expense, only for Shelmaliers to edge the verdict in the county semi-final by 3-10 to 4-6.
Another success in the New Ross competition in 1968 was followed by yet more penultimate round frustration, once again to bogey team Na Fianna (5-8 to 3-7).
The Rathgarogue-Cushinstown hurlers again emerged from the District in 1969, but a fourth disappointment since the amalgamation followed when Askamore ended their interest in the county semi-final by 5-10 to 3-6.
With football continuing to take a back seat, it wasn’t until 1975 that a first District final was contested with the big ball, and Adamstown claimed a commanding 2-10 to 1-3 victory.
It’s worth noting that three of the best footballers in the parish at the time – Ned Waters and the Dunne brothers, Noel and Brendan – played with neighbouring Gusserane for much of the 1970s, with the first-named duo on their Senior title-winning team in ’75.
A first District hurling title for seven years was captured in 1976, and this time that county semi-final bogey was overcome as Cloughbawn were beaten by 3-11 to 0-7.
Rathgarogue-Cushinstown lost a high-scoring decider to Glynn-Barntown by 6-16 to 5-7, but their appetite for finally collecting that Junior crown had been whetted.
It was a struggle to get there all the same, as further District wins in 1977 and 1978 were followed by another two semi-final losses, to St. Anne’s (1-11 to 1-6) and Davidstown-Courtnacuddy (5-5 to 1-9) respectively.
Finally, it all came together in 1979. Although Adamstown beat them in the District football final by 2-12 to 2-4, they saw off St. James’ in the hurling equivalent with two points to spare.
That previous year’s defeat to Davidstown-Courtnacuddy was avenged (5-12 to 2-5), and the county final was a different type of game entirely as Rathgarogue-Cushinstown attained Intermediate hurling status with a very low-scoring 1-4 to 1-1 success against Clonee in Bellefield.
With that long-held ambition realised, it had a positive knock-on effect in the other code.
The year 1980 saw Gusserane beaten by 3-7 to 1-3 to win the club’s first District Junior football title, and future All-Ireland final referee Brian White went on to captain them to county glory at the first attempt.
Their battling qualities came to the fore in the process, as they needed a second game to see off Glynn-Barntown by 2-2 to 0-4 after an 0-11 to 2-5 draw, and then extra-time was required in the replayed final, beating HWH-Bunclody by 1-9 to 2-5 after a 1-6 each share of the spoils.
With dual Intermediate status attained for the first time, the club had been thrust into its first golden era.
And the meteoric rise was to continue. Both Intermediate finals were contested in 1981, with the disappointment of losing the hurling to Rathnure (3-10 to 0-13) followed by football success at the first attempt three weeks later, beating Naomh Eanna (1-10 to 1-6) when the side was captained by handball star Pat Cleary.
On March 14, 1982, 18 years after the unification of Rathgarogue and Cushinstown, their first-ever Senior championship game resulted in a 1-9 to 0-8 football win over District rivals Bannow-Ballymitty in New Ross.
The team was: Aidan Somers; Noel Dunne, Pat Lynch, Seán Cullen; Pat Cleary, Ger Lynch, Pat O’Neill; Philip Lynch, Brendan Dunne; Ned Waters, Brian White, Eamon Cleary; Mark Foley, John Coleman, Tom Walsh.