Status secure
November 30, 2009
One victory and four defeats left Carnaross well out of the reckoning for a place in the knockout stage of the 2009 Intermediate Football Championship, but with plenty of talented young players coming through the ranks in the club there are certainly reasons to be optimistic as they look to the future.
Last year, when managed by David Farrelly, Carnaross finished third in a five-team group which was headed by Dunderry. But when it came to the more serious business of the championship they bowed out at the preliminary quarter-final stage when losing to Syddan by five points.
There was a new man at the helm this year in Alan Stephens, with Alan Gillic and Malachy Plunkett acting as selectors, and Carnaross were drawn in a tricky looking section which also contained two of the leading contenders for outright honours in Gaeil Colmcille and Dunderry, as well as an improving St Michael's team, Na Fianna and Drumconrath.
When Carnaross opened their group A campaign on a wet and windy Wednesday night at Moynalty in mid April they suffered a heavy defeat against St Michael's who took command in the second period to win by 10 points on a 2-9 to 0-5 score line.
Two pointed frees from John L McGee were all Carnaross had to show for their efforts in the opening period, at the end of which St Michael's led by 0-5 to 0-2. It was still all to play for at that stage and when Declan Reilly split the uprights three minutes after the change of ends the deficit was down to two.
But that was about as good as it got for Carnaross and a brace of goals in the space of a minute from John Barry O'Reilly and Daithi Regan pointed St Michael's firmly in the direction of the winning post.
Drumconrath, who ended up being relegated from the intermediate ranks, provided the second round opposition, also at Moynalty, and this match gave Carnaross their only win of the championship campaign. They turned in an improved performance and made a promising start when McGee scored two early points, but Drumconrath replied with a goal in their first serious attack.
However, a Paddy Nugent goal helped Carnaross to lead by four points (1-7 to 1-3) at the break, before Drumconrath started the second half well and cut the gap to two. But Carnaross responded positively and points from McGee, Damien Smith, Brian Comaskey, Nugent and Niall McDonnell helped seal a 1-13 to 1-10 victory.
Ballinlough was the venue for a third round meeting with Gaeil Colmcille. The teams played in the same round in 2008 when they finished all square, but on this occasion Carnaross, who were without the suspended Brian Comaskey, were in trouble at the interval when the Kells side led by 0-8 to 0-3.
Former county star Ollie Murphy wasn't fit to start, but his introduction for the second period gave them a lift and he contributed 1-1. McGee also got a second half goal, but those scores weren't sufficient and the town team were in front by 1-14 to 2-7 at the final whistle.
Graham Geraghty's Na Fianna shaded the verdict when they played Carnaross in the fourth round at Simonstown where their goal scored in the first half proved vitally important in a 1-9 to 0-10 victory. The losers made a very encouraging start when McGee, Niall McDonnell and Murphy scored early points, but the Enfield/Baconstown combination soon settled, began to hit the target with consistency and were ahead by double scores (1-7 to 0-5) at the break.
Carnaross limited Na Fianna to only two points in the second half and added five themselves, but they were still two behind at the end after they had missed easy scoring opportunities which seriously undermined their prospects of victory. Highly talented youngster McDonnell was their top marksman with four points.
Carnaross had started their championship programme with a 10-point defeat suffered at the hands of St Michael's and they ended it with a loss by the same margin when they played Dunderry at Martry in a match that had no real relevance to Stephens' team because they were safe from the threat of a relegation dogfight. The victory was sufficient to secure top position in the group for the winners who impressed in the second half.
Dunderry won by 1-15 to 0-8, but such a comfortable success looked highly unlikely when Carnaross stayed well in contention during the opening half. Dunderry were in front by only two points (0-7 to 0-5) at the change of ends, but that all changed in the second period when former All-Ireland medal winner Barry Callaghan proved hugely influential for the winners.
Dunderry won the second half by 1-8 to 0-3 as they assumed complete command and Carnaross had no answer to their impressive form. McGee was the leading Carnaross scorer with five points, but he also had the misfortune to drive a penalty wide in the second period. The outcome of this game was a far cry from the meeting of the teams in the opening round of the championship last year when Carnaross defeated Dunderry by 2-7 to 1-7.
When all was said and done in groupA Dunderry were sitting on top of the pile with eight points, edging out Gaeil Colmcille for pole position on points difference. St Michael's filled the third qualification place on six points, the same as unlucky Na Fianna who were just edged out of a place in the business end of the title race on score difference.
For Carnaross, their one victory achieved in the second round against Drumconrath steered them clear of the threat of a relegation battle. The two points garnered from that game enabled them to finish fifth, just ahead of Drumconrath who were pointless at the bottom. They were later relegated back to the junior ranks after losing the relegation 'final' to Castletown.
Carnaross had a mixed bag of results in Division 2 of the All-County A League, but they survived which was important with the future development of the team in mind.
Dublin-born Alan Stephens was in his first year as coach and is a man with very strong Meath connections. His mother was Margaret McCormack from Dunderry and among his many Royal County relatives is nephew Sean Stephens from Dunsany who was a member of the Meath minor team which reached the All-Ireland final in 2002.
Alan was a former trainer of the highly successful Seneschalstown ladies' team and was involved with the Meath senior panel during Colm Coyle's term as manager.
"We had a lot of injuries going into our first championship game against St Michael's," Alan said as he reflected on 2009. "In my opinion the game shouldn't have been played. It was a dreadful night. But you have to play when you're told to. We had no excuses on the night. St Michael's took over in the second half.
"Our victory over Drumconrath was a very important one. It provided us with a safety net against relegation. If it came down to a head to head we knew we had the win over them. We were without the suspended Brian Comaskey for our match against Gaeil Colmcille. He had been sent off in a league game against Cortown and was a big loss. Ollie Murphy wasn't fit to start, but he was introduced and scored 1-1. We ran them very close. It was a match we could have won.
"We had Na Fianna beaten off the field in our next championship match, but John L McGee and Ollie Murphy missed frees they would normally get. You would put your life on them scoring chances like those. But I don't blame the lads. Those things happen.
"The game against Dunderry was a non event. We had nothing to gain from winning. We were safe from relegation because of the win against Drumconrath. We stayed with them in the first half, but they got a goal early in the second half and heads dropped."
Alan is impressed with the sort of talent which is coming up through the ranks in the Carnaross club and, with this in mind, is very hopeful as he looks to the future for the intermediate team.
"I would be very optimistic for the future," he added. "We have a lot of good young players coming through, like Niall McDonnell, his brother Ciaran, Eamonn Comaskey and Richard Mulvey. We also have a good minor team coming through.
"This year was a learning experience for the team and for myself. Maintaining our Intermediate Championship and Division 2 League status is vital while we are waiting for the young lads to develop. We also have the more experienced players like John L McGee, Ollie Murphy and Brian Comaskey. You need them too."
Alan thanked team selectors Alan Gillic and Malachy Plunkett for their great work with the panel, as well as club chairman Aidan Casserly and the rest of the committee members for all their help during the year.
Most Read Stories