Eager to improve
November 30, 2009Bective had managed to steer clear of the danger zone last year, but only just. With former Na Fianna chairman and player, and county junior selector Damien Griffin acting as coach they also won just one game in their group, but a tally of two points was sufficient to secure their status in the junior ranks because both Simonstown Gaels and St Mary's had inferior score differences.
This year Bective were drawn in group A of the championship which also included Longwood and Dunsany, who were to go on and contest the final in October, Curraha, Meath Hill and the second string combinations from Summerhill and Donaghmore/Ashbourne. It was a tricky looking section, to put it mildly.
With Griffin still at the helm, Bective's form in Division 4 of the A League hadn't been overly encouraging on the run up to the start of the championship, though the only victory they achieved in the early matches stood out. They opened up with a 0-3 to 0-12 loss to Ballinabrackey when they failed to register a score in the second half and were caught by a late points burst from Meath Hill in the second round as the north county team won narrowly by 0-12 to 0-10.
Clann na nGael included Graham Geraghty at centre-back when they played Bective in the third round and the former All-Ireland-winning captain helped his side to a 0-11 to 1-3 victory. Bective were already on a losing run, but things improved significantly next time out when a Paul Lyness goal proved the decisive score in a 1-8 to 0-8 win over Dunsany.
It looked like a very timely boost ahead of the Junior Championship meeting of the teams a couple of weeks later, but when the stakes were raised it was Dunsany who exacted revenge with a comprehensive 2-11 to 0-9 victory at Walterstown to set in motion a campaign that would bring them all the way to yet another final appearance.
The writing was on the wall for Bective when Dunsany opened up a commanding 1-9 to 0-3 lead at the change of ends, thanks largely to a Ger O'Neill goal, and when Eoin Marsh scored a second goal early in the second half there was never going to be any way back for Bective. Alan Sheehan played particularly well and Brian Donnelly top scored with five points.
A second round meeting with Curraha at Dunsany gave Bective the opportunity to bounce back with a victory and that's exactly how it turned out as they won a low scoring encounter by 0-8 to 0-6. Bective appeared to be on their way to a comfortable success when ahead by 0-8 to 0-2 at one stage, but they had two players sent off subsequently and that gave the opposition renewed hope.
However, when Curraha had a player dismissed their hopes of making a successful recovery were greatly reduced and Bective held out for a win that seemed to set them up nicely for a third round meeting with Meath Hill who had already beaten them by two points in that earlier meeting in the league.
This time three points separated the teams as the Hill won by 0-12 to 0-9 after Bective had made the lengthy trip to Syddan. It was all to play for at the interval when Bective led by 0-5 to 0-4, but Meath Hill got on top early in the second period to push ahead by 0-7 to 0-5. But Griffin's players were far from finished.
They got back to level terms at 0-7 each and the teams were also locked together on 0-9 apiece. The game was very much in the melting pot at that stage, but Meath Hill found most in the closing stages when they reeled off the last three points to win. Keith Dunne, Adrian McCabe and Brian Cantwell were particularly impressive for the losers.
That proved to be the first of four successive championship defeats for Bective. Longwood were the fancies of many observers to win the title this year and when Bective played them in the fourth round at Kildalkey the extent of the challenge was obvious against a team that was flying high.
Longwood won by five points (1-14 to 2-6) and with two group games remaining against second string opposition Bective would be fielding a greatly weakened team. Simonstown was the venue for a meeting with last year's Junior B winners Donaghmore/Ashbourne and the concession of three second half goals proved a major blow.
Things were looking quite good for Bective when they led by 1-5 to 0-5 at the break, but those goals made all the difference for Donaghmore/Ashbourne who were ahead by two points (3-9 to 2-10) when the final whistle sounded.
Bective played Summerhill in the last round at Dunsany and it was the 'Hill who maneuvered themselves away from the base of the section thanks to a 0-15 to 1-7 victory. When all was said and done in group A Bective were well off the pace.
Longwood had dominated the division, winning their six matches for a maximum return of 12 points, and Dunsany filled second position on nine. Donaghmore/Ashbourne were on seven and there were then three teams on four - Meath Hill, Summerhill and Curraha. Bective were below them on the two points they had garnered from their lone victory over Curraha in the second round.
With the championship campaign over, Griffin stepped aside as coach. Whoever succeeds him will inherit a very young panel which has plenty of potential to progress in coming years.
Bective's captain this year was 21 year-old Brian Cantwell who has been playing adult football with the club for approximately five years.
"We didn't get off to a good start in the championship," he said. "We had beaten Dunsany in the league, but they came out with three new players in the championship game, including Stephen Clynch. We lost by eight points. It was one of those days. We had a goal chance which wasn't taken and they went up the field and got a goal. It was down hill from there. Dunsany were the best team we played all year. They were very strong. We just couldn't get the ball off them.
"We played great stuff in the first half against Curraha and were well ahead at half-time, but we had players sent off and we got only two points in the second half. Shane Breslin made a great save near the end and we won by a couple of points.
"The Meath Hill game was a disaster for us. We shouldn't have lost to them. It was very disappointing. After that we lost to Longwood by five points and when we played Donaghmore/Ashbourne we were missing eight players. Interest had dropped and a club like ours can't afford to be without that many.
"We were fielding a very weak team by the time we played Summerhill. We knew we were safe from relegation at that stage and, as a result, there was no urgency. They beat us by five points."
This year's championship was part of a learning process for many of the Bective players and with so much young talent in the club they can look ahead with optimism.
"We have a very young team," Brian added as he assessed the prospects for next year and beyond. "Our oldest player is Ruairi Russell who is 32 or 33 and after that the oldest is Brian Donnelly who is 22. We are very young after that with a lot of lads aged 18 and 19. These are players who are developing. They are very talented players."
The most important thing for Bective this year was that they maintained their place in the Junior Championship where their many young players will have the opportunity to continue to develop and gain invaluable experience. Many of those players were attending national school when the club won the junior title back in 1997, but they might well play a significant role in them retaining it at some stage in the future.
JUNIOR D TEAM REACHES
LAST EIGHT
Bective enjoyed a progressive run in the Junior D Championship which came to an end when they lost a quarter-final to a Ballinabrackey team that was to reach the final where they lost narrowly to the third string side from Donaghmore/Ashbourne.
Bective drew their opening group game against Summerhill (2-4 to 0-10), then defeated Dunderry (1-13 to 0-4), received a walk over from Ballivor and finished all square against Drumbaragh (2-7 to 0-13). But when it came to the knockout action Ballinabrackey won by 3-13 to 1-4 in the last eight meeting at Summerhill.
Bective/Cannistown juvenile football club
Under 8's and under 10's
Our season began in March and finished at the end of October.
Our under 8's and 10's are progressing well with over 30 children having loads of fun and participating in Go Games during the summer.
The mentors were Fiona O'Sullivan, David Cassidy and Diarmud Smyth.
We participated in under 10 mini leagues during the summer.
All the boys and girls enjoyed another good year of football with many fine performances throughout the year.
Under 12
There were no medals this year but the team are progressing very well. They are a capable group of players who showed great improvement as the year progressed.
The management team is Greg Crinion and Gabriel Maguire.
Under 13
This side recorded a great performance in league where they reached the semi-final, playing some great football along the way before losing out eventually to a very strong Syddan team.
The mentors were Sean Moran, Kieran Fleming and Greg Crinion
Under 14
This side played out of Division 4A. A great team effort by this group of talented footballers saw them get to the final where they were beaten by Nobber in a thrilling decider. Players and management can be proud of their achievements over the season.
Mentors: Sean Moran and Kieran Fleming
Under 16 and under 17
The club fielded teams at both levels and performed very well. All are happy with the progress and the effort by the players at this level.
Mentors: Vinno Keating, Gerry Keating and Dessie O'Brien
Minor
Probably unlucky this year as we were without key players due to injury and other commitments. We still made a lot of progress with this group of players as was shown when several of them were called upon to play adult football with the club later in the year.
Mentors: Martin Mulhall and Franno Barry Tweet
