Leinster success for Ratoath hurlers
November 30, 2009The provincial success was gained with a minimum margin 0-10 to 1-6 final victory over Westmeath side Fr Dalton's at Dublin City University. Earlier in the competition Ratoath had scored wins over St Fechin's of Louth, Dublin opposition Wild Geese and Wicklow sides Greystones, Dunlavin and Carnew.
In the final the Meath representatives played against a stiff breeze in the first half but began brightly with early points from Damien O'Meara and Philip Lanigan. Although Kenny Fitzmaurice and Paul Flaherty were working well for Ratoath at midfield, Fr Dalton's led by 1-4 to 0-3 at the halfway stage.
Ratoath took control in the second half to outscore their opponents by 0-7 to 0-2. Lanigan, Keelin Fahy and Fitzmaurice fired over points before Stephen Gorman shot the winning score. A fine save by 'keeper Gearoid Crowley was another crucial factor as Ratoath claimed a first adult hurling title for a decade.
The Ratoath team and scorers in the 2009 Leinster Junior Hurling League final: G Crowley; M Reilly, P Kirwan, J Crehan; D Brennan, M Brazil, T O'Neill (0-1); P Flaherty, K Fitzmaurice (0-3); M Conmey, B Crowley, D O'Meara (0-1), K Fahy (0-1), C Gilhooly, P Lanigan (0-2). Subs- P O'Hanrahan (0-1), S Gorman (0-1), R Crehan (0-1).
Larry Kirwan's charges showed some promising form in the group stages of the Meath JHC as they strove to go one better than in the previous year when losing out to Kilmessan's second string.
They started off with a 3-13 to 1-7 win over Wolfe Tones in Ashbourne and then in the 1-19 to 3-9 success over Donaghmore/Ashbourne at Kiltale, the full forward trio of Philip Lanigan (0-10), Colin Gilhooly (1-0) and Damien O'Meara (0-6) contributed all bar three points of the winning total.
That was followed by victories over 2007 winners St Patrick's (3-20 to 0-9) and Kiltale (2-12 to 1-11) to go through to the last four with full points.
Ratoath then faced Navan O'Mahonys' second string in their JHC semi-final played in Ashbourne. Despite having Turlough O'Neill sent off late in the first half, Ratoath won by 1-17 to 1-14.
The Navan side led by 1-10 to 1-7 at the halfway stage and although the odds appeared to be against Ratoath, having to play the last 30 minutes with 14 men, they got the spades out to dig deep and earn the final place. Kenny Fitzmaurice played a captain's part with a contribution of five points.
The final at Pairc Tailteann was a well contested game which kept supporters of both sides on the edge of their seats with Ratoath being thwarted by a late goal finished to the net by Ray Geoghegan to give Kildalkey a 2-14 to 2-10 triumph.
Again Ratoath had to play much of the match with 14 men against 15, this time wing back Diarmuid Brennan being shown a straight red card by Dunderry referee Gus Martyn four minutes into the second half.
Ratoath were playing against the breeze in the first half and their opponents went into a 1-2 to 0-0 lead. But they battled back to hold the lead at the interval.
A goal and a point from Stephen Gorman and points, fired over by Eoghan McMahon and Damien O'Meara, gave them the lead and the board read 2-5 to 1-6 in their favour at the halfway stage.
Kildalkey resumed with a brace of points to get on level terms and just before Brennan's departure Philip Lanigan edged Ratoath into a slender advantage. The teams were on level terms on five occasions in the second half before Kildalkey struck for the late winning goal.
The Ratoath team and scorers in the 2009 Meath JHC final: G Crowley; J Crehan, P Kirwan, K Fahy; D Brennan, M Brazil, B Crowley; K Fitzmaurice, P Flaherty; E McMahon (0-2), C Gilhooly, M Conmy; P Lanigan (0-1), S Gorman (1-2), D O'Meara (1-4). Subs- S McMahon (0-1) for Gilhooly, P O'Hanrahan for Lanigan, P Cummins for Conmy, J Brady for Flaherty.
Accurate forward Philip Lanigan said he was more disappointed after the 2009 JHC final than following the previous year's title decider. "When losing to Kilmessan we knew we were beaten by a better team and they went on to do well in the intermediate championship, losing by just a point to eventual winners Longwood," he said.
"It was a big let down for us to lose to Kildalkey for we felt we had the beating of them. The sending-off was a big blow and although we stayed with them for most of the second half, the loss of a player proved to be our downfall," added Lanigan.
Lanigan, a sports journalist with the Irish Mail on Sunday, has been with the Ratoath club for the last two years, having previously played with Lucan Sarsfields in Dublin. As well as playing, he is Ratoath's hurling development officer and the club PRO.
"It was great to win the Leinster title, it was some consolation for losing the other finals. Hurling is flying in the club and there is a great buzz about the place. There were around 800 kids on the pitch over two days for coaching during the summer," he said.
There was also underage hurling success for Ratoath in 2009 with the under 16 B title being annexed with a final victory over Dunderry. They reached the decider with a 3-7 to 2-8 win over hosts Killyon.
In the final played at Dunganny an earlier result was reversed as Ratoath defeated Dunderry by 5-11 to 4-11. The eventual winners held a slender 2-6 to 2-5 lead at the break,
Gavin McGowan took the individual scoring honours with 3-3 and Jack McGowan fired in a late winning goal. Colm Riordan, Alex Coakley, Bobby O'Brien, Paddy Dowd, Aaron McDonnell and Ciaran O'Hanrahan were others to impress for Ratoath.
The Ratoath team and scorers in the Under 16 B HC final: J Shiels; C Riordan, D Doyle; P Dowd, B O'Brien, A Coakley; C O'Hanrahan, A McDonnell (0-1); C Ward (0-1), B McMahon (0-3), C McGill (0-3); J McGowan (2-0), G McGowan (3-3). Subs: D Kelly, D Toner.
There was a county under 10 camogie title success for Ratoath with a 5-0 to 0-0 final victory over Kildalkey at Drumree.
The winning team was: Eimear McCabe, Sadhbh Gaughan, Abbey Coakley, Gillian Murphy, Ruth King, Laoise Caulfield, Anna Brannigan, Fiona O'Riordan, Orla Hayes, Aine McNerney, Kerri Leonard. Subs: Katie Newe, Aine Cooke, Molly O'Kane, Ailise McDonnell, Angela Kent.
Ratoath favoured for junior title' was the heading over a preview of the 2009 Meath JFC in one of the local papers last April. The writer went for the side which fell at the final hurdle the previous year when beaten by Moynalvey.
'Last year's beaten finalists will be the ones to watch and anyone other than Ratoath finishing on top of Group D would be a major shock," the readers were told. However, Ratoath could only manage third place and missed out on a place in the last eight from the 25 starters.
Seven points from the five outings was not sufficient as St Brigid's and Simonstown Gaels' seconds both accumulated eight points to claim the two qualifying tickets from the division. A three points defeat to the Ballinacree side in a third round clash led to Ratoath missing out on the closing stages.
They started off with a 0-16 to 0-9 win over St Mary's and then shared the spoils with Simonstown in a tussle which finished up 1-11 each. The north Navan outfit later inflicted the only defeat on St Brigid's.
St Brigid's outpointed Ratoath by 0-12 to 0-9 and although recovering from that reversal to chalk up two more victories, they were not enough to keep Ratoath in the title race.
Slane were defeated by four points (0-11 to 1-4) and Boardsmill were at the receiving end of a 6-17 to 0-2 thrashing. Ratoath had an impressive score difference of plus 43 points after their five group games but it was not enough to prolong their direct interest in the destination of the Ginnity Cup.
Ratoath were the only junior team playing in the Division 2 of the All County A Football Leagues in 2009 and competing against senior and intermediate opposition was difficult for them with defeat more often than not being their lot.
Early round losses to senior outfits Rathkenny and Skryne set the tone for the remainder of their games in that competition. They didn't fare any better against intermediate teams with Dunderry and Cortown proving too strong. After a number of hours of fruitless trying, Ratoath eventually won a league game, at the expense of St Colmcille's by 2-9 to 1-5.
Perhaps such games against opposition higher up the ladder should have been to the advantage to the men in blue and yellow in their bid to go one better in the JFC but that was not to be.
The Ratoath promoted All-Ireland intermediate club competitions in hurling and football on the eves of the Liam McCarthy and Sam Maguire Cup finals, 11-a-side in hurling and seven-a-side in football. Silvermines from Tipperary and Maryland from Westmeath were the respective winners.
MHL 'B' final: Ratoath claim double
Ratoath 4-15
Navan O'Mahonys 2-07
Trying to emulate a fine win by their footballing counterparts the previous week in the MFL final, the Ratoath minor hurlers went out in Dunboyne to try and create a bit of history for the Club.
Having beaten Navan in the early stages of the minor league, Navan were out to turn over the previous result and started brightly before Ratoath captain Padraig O'Hanrahan leveled with a free.
Having caught the ball in his own halfback line Bobby O'Brien - who put in a masterful display at number six - burst forward on a run to land a fine point from the midfield. A clearance from the resulting puck-out saw a melee develop in the Navan goal mouth and Jack McGowan flashed a ground stroke to the back of the Navan net. It was at this point that Ratoath took control of the game and never really looked back.
With Ciaran Morris and Colm Riordan stemming the Navan inside forward line, O'Brien passed a ball out to Sean Laffey, who struck a long ball into the hard working Conor McGill who drove the ball into the Navan net. At 2-3 to 0-2 points, Ratoath seemed to be well in control, when the hard working Bryan McMahon took a pass from McGill to register what would be his first point in a tireless performance, full of skill and determination.
Navan then kicked into life with a well taken goal but trailing 2-10 to 1-5 at half-time, they were no match for a rampant Ratoath side who were powered on by the midfield combination of O'Hanrahan and Richie Crehan.
A fine goal by Stephen Cooper - his second of the day - rounded off the second-half scoring splurge in what was a fantastic all-round team performance.
A smiling Padraig O'Hanrahan received the trophy from John Reilly, Vice Chairman of the Juvenile Hurling Board, and ended a long wait in Ratoath hurling circles.
Ratoath: G Crowley; C Riordan, C Morris; S Laffey, B O'Brien (0-1), V Collins; R Crehan (vice capt) (0-2), P O'Hanrahan (capt) (0-6); S Cooper (2-1), B McMahon (0-4), C McGill (1-0); A McDonnell (0-1), J McGowan (1-0).
Subs: L Hogan for J McGowan, 48
Minor honours for Ratoath
Ratoath gained MFL Division 1 honours in September with a 2-14 to 2-9 over Dunshaughlin, who had won the minor championship earlier in the year, in the Friday night final under lights at Pairc Tailteann.
After falling two points in arrears in the early stages, Ratoath settled well into the game and led by 1-9 to 1-3 at the break. They trailed by 0-3 to 1-3 after 14 minutes but they registered 1-6 without reply by the halfway stage.
The influential Francis Coyne played a clever ball into Brian McMahon netted Ratoath's first goal in the 23rd minute The winners had nine scorers on the night and at the start of the final quarter the board read 1-12 to 1-4.
Dunshaughlin rallied for a spell to reduce the arrears down to just two points, their top scorer Conor Devereaux, who finished with 2-6, netting his second goal. However, Ratoath responded positively to regain control.
Bobby O'Brien put over his second point and corner forward Cian O'Brien reacted smartly to shoot to the net after Paddy Haslim's shot had crashed off the bar. That left the scores 2-13 to 2-7 and although the black and ambers replied with two points, Ratoath had the last say with Kevin Gorman raising the white flag.
The Ratoath team and scorers in the 2009 MFL Division 1 final : A Smith; G Reilly, G Quigley, C Comey; G Eiffe, C McGill, R Crehan; E Boyle (0-1), F McManus (0-1); C Haslim (0-1), G Rooney (0-3), B O'Brien (0-2); 'C O'Brien (1-1), F Coyne (0-3), B McMahon (1-10. Subs- C McCullagh for Comey, G Jordan for Haslim, F Gorman for McCullagh, K Gorman -10 for C O'Brien (0.
U16B HC title goes to Ratoath
The final whistle brought an end to over 78 minutes of pulsating championship hurling at a sun drenched Dunganny as Ratoath claimed the U16B HC title with a 5-11 to 4-11 win over Dunderry. From the start of the round robin series in the championship, it looked as if both these teams were destined to face one another at the later stage of the championship.
Having lost narrowly to Dunderry at the start of the year, Ratoath started shakily into a strong breeze, conceding twopoints to Dunderry before Brian McMahon got on to the scoreboard. Dunderry hit another point before Jack McGowan sent Brian McMahon through again to hit a point. Then a high ball into the square was finished to the net by Jack McGowan. Ratoath then really got going with Conor McGill landing a 70 metre free over the bar into the wind. Conor McGill hit another point from play, before Jonathan Shiels had to save from point blank range and Dillon Doyle got in to clear the ball. With Captain Colly Riordan working incessantly under high balls, the Ratoath halfback line of Alex Coaghley, Bobby O'Brien and Paddy Dowd were sweeping up and clearing ball into the forwards. Brian McMahon popped up to hit another point. Dunderry then replied with a point, before the hard working Jack McGowan put younger brother Gavin McGowan through for a goal. The Ratoath defence then got caught napping and Dunderry hit a goal and a point to get back to within one point of Ratoath. The referee then blew for half-time, leaving one point between the teams, all Ratoath scores from play but one point, with Dunderry relying on the free taking accuracy of their midfielder to get most of their first half scores.
The second half opened again with a surge from Dunderry, who picked off a couple of points to take the lead. With an epic midfield battle raging between Ratoath's Aaron McDonnell, Ciaran O'Hanrahan and the Dunderry midfield, Ratoath managed to gain parity with a Gavin McGowan point. Gavin McGowan then latched onto some great work from half-forwards Conor Ward and Brian McMahon to poke the ball to the back of the Dunderry net. Within seconds Jack McGowan broke the ball in from Ciaran O'Hanrahan for Gavin McGowan to register another point. At this stage Dunderry picked up their game and forced their way through to score a goal and kick their challenge back on. Dunderry hit a couple of points when Gavin McGowan went on a rampage scoring another goal and two points. Again Dunderry pressed forward and magnificent catches and clearances from Colly Riordan, Alex Coaghley and Bobby O'Brien kept them at bay. With fifteen minutes left, the Ratoath defence was dealt a major blow when Centre back Bobby O'Brien made a huge leap and catch to clear the ball was injured in the process. Having to rearrange the defence with Conor McGill dropping from half forward to half back and Daragh Kelly coming in for Bobby O'Brien, unsettled the forward line and let the Dunderry defence get on top for a few minutes. In this time the Dunderry forwards scrapped another goal. From a Brian McMahon pass, Conor Ward drilled over a point. With the teams even, Aaron McDonnell blasted a 45 metre shot towards the Dunderry goal. Everyone thought it was a point until it hit the upright and the ever alert Jack McGowan finished to the back of the Dunderry goal. Dunderry pressed forward again, registering a point. Dunderry then went for goal from the puck out. Dillon Doyle stepped up again and made sure there would be no goal. From the clearance, Ratoath then swept the ball up the field for Conor McGill to smash over a 75 metre point with the last play of the game.
With the final whistle, and after a good period of injury time, came much relief and celebration as Ratoath U16 Hurlers registered the clubs first juvenile hurling championship trophy win in five years. Without doubt it was a sterling performance by those players on the day who played and for the squad of players who had played on earlier days, and who have battled hard this year as a group to make the day a success.
Congratulations to the U16 hurlers of Ratoath and Dunderry, who served up a superb game of hurling for all present at Dunganny. Congratulations to the Ratoath squad and their Captain Colly Riordan on lifting the trophy.
Ratoath squad - Jonathan Shiels, Colm Riordan (Capt), Dillon Doyle, Patrick Dowd, Bobby O'Brien, Alex Coaghley, Ciaran O'Hanrahan, Aaron McDonnell, Conor Ward (0-1), Brian McMahon (0-3), Conor McGill (0-4), Jack McGowan (2-0), Gavin McGowan (3-3), Daragh Kelly, David Toner, Daragh Grehan, Conleth McLarnon, Gerard Brennan, Patrick Briody.
Hurling 11s and football 7s
In keeping with the senior decider in Croke Park, Ratoath's inaugural Intermediate Hurling 11s threw up a Tipperary-Kilkenny clash in the final on Saturday, September 5.
Ten teams from all over Ireland competed in a hugely successful tournament which ultimately saw Silvermines of Tipperary edge out Tullogher-Rosbercon of Kilkenny in the most dramatic of finishes, the trophy being decided by sudden death penalties after extra time couldn't even separate the sides.
Former Celebrity Bainisteoir champions Maryland of Westmeath were deserving winners of the Ratoath Intermediate Football 7s a fortnight later, beating Greenlough of Derry in another thrilling final in a tournament which saw over 25 teams compete. Tweet
