After failing to advance from their group of the Meath JFC in 2008, St Brigid's reached the quarter-finals this year but bowed out of title contention with a heavy defeat to
eventual winners Longwood. By Noel Coogan.

It was the Ballinacree club's third year back up in the top grade of junior football following the winning of the B title in 2006. They reached the JFC semi-finals in 2007 but lost to Clann na nGael and after losing three championship games the following year, they recovered from an opening round defeat to get to the last eight in the latest race for the Matthew Ginnity Cup.
Brigid's started with a 0-10 to 2-5 loss to Simonstown Gaels' second string in a Kells clash in which they failed to get any return from two penalty kicks. The side from the north-west of the county began brightly to lead by 0-3 to 0-0 and after conceding the advantage, they were just in front (0-5 to 1-1) at the break.
Fergal Hennessy had a 'spot kick' saved in the first half after being fouled for the award and in the second period Ryan Tighe was taken down in the 'square' but Tomas Blake's effort was also kept out. Although St Brigid's led by three points in the third quarter, the misses made the difference between winning and losing.
However, they recovered from that reversal to win the next four games in the JFC. Boardsmill did not provide too many problems in the second round clash in Athboy in which the scores were 1-7 to 0-1 at the break and 3-14 to 0-2 at the end.
Killian Kiernan took the individual scoring honours with a contribution of 2-3 and a goal from AJ Gilsenan at the start of the second period ensured there was no way back for the 'Mill. Gilsenan finished up with 1-4 and Fergal Hennessy put over six points.
St Brigid's had a much closer contest in the third round but they finished on the right side of a 0-12 to 0-9 scoreline against 2008 beaten finalists Ratoath at Simonstown.
It was 0-4 apiece at the break and Fergal Hennessy's sharpshooting was a crucial factor.
Hennessy has been the Ballinacree club's chief marksman for a few years and on that occasion he contributed 10 points. Brendan Gibson and AJ Gilsenan completed the winning total.
It was three wins out of four outings after St Mary's were defeated by 3-6 to 0-4 in Bohermeen. That contest was close in the first half with the eventual winners ahead by 0-5 to 0-4 at the break. However, goals from Brian Briody and Stephen Skelly in the opening five minutes after the restart significantly increased the advantage and Briody later added a second goal.
That was followed by a close encounter at Drumbaragh in which Slane were defeated by 1-8 to 0-9. AJ Gilsenan netted the goal and Eugene Gilsenan stopped a penalty kick in the first half. It was 1-7 to 0-4 at the break and the Brigid's netminder made some crucial saves in the last 10 minutes as they advanced along with Simonstown from the group.
St Brigid's failed to reproduce their earlier form in the quarter-final in Athboy as Longwood strolled to a 1-11 to 1-1 victory. The south county side held an advantage of five points before AJ Gilsenan kicked over the first score for the Ballinacree men after 23 minutes.
A Stephen Skelly goal at the end of the first half was all Brigid's could add to their opening flag. It was 1-6 to 1-1 at the halfway stage before Longwood added five points. It was a very disappointing exit for the side in blue and navy.
St Brigid's failed to make a notable impact in Division 4 of A League, finishing in a mid-table position. After starting off with a loss to Meath Hill, they gained victories at the expense of Ballivor and Clonard and a draw with Slane. However, they then suffered losses to Ballinabrackey and Bective which ruled them out of title contention.
After fielding just one adult championship team in 2008, the Ballinacree club took part in the Junior D FC this year and gained one win and a draw from four outings. They began with a 2-11 to 3-8 draw with Gaeil Colmcille. Oisin Kiernan scored 2-4 including a late levelling goal.
In their next three junior D outings, St Brigid's suffered defeats at the hands of Ballinabrackey and Longwood before finishing off with a 1-14 to 0-3 success over Trim's third team.

Long-serving forward Tomas Blake feels that St Brigid's underachieved in 2009 and expressed disappointment at alleged lack of commitment from some of the players. "The older players on the panel generally put in more effort in training while the dedication of some of the younger lads left a bit to be desired," he said.
George Plunkett was in charge of the team for the first year and Blake remarked:
"George put in a lot of good work and his training methods were very good.
"Some players seemed to put more emphasis on getting to training sessions during the winter months. Maybe they felt they had nothing better to do on the dark evenings but later in the year they seemed to find other attractions.
"We began our championship programme with a narrow defeat to Simonstown. We missed two penalty kicks - I missed one of them myself - in that game. However, the defeat didn't matter that much later in the year as we still qualified for the quarter-finals.
"We got our first points with a very easy win over Boardsmill and then came our best display of the year when getting the better of year's beaten finalists Ratoath. The team played very well as a unit in that game and if we had performed as well in all our other a final place could have been earned.
"The narrow win over Slane put us through to the last eight. However, the selectors made a number switches for the outing against Longwood and the team put in no show that day.
"Longwood set out their stall from the start and it took us more than 20 minutes to get our first score, a point. Then we got a goal before half-time but we didn't manage to score in the second half.
"We were not a match for Longwood that day and it was very disappointing to lose to lose by 10 points. They were much more committed on the day and we couldn't keep it kicked out to them in the second half," reflected the veteran attacker.
Tomas Blake has worn a few different coloured jerseys during a lengthy playing career. "I remember my first adult game with St Brigid's, it was in a league game in Ballivor in 1989 when I was only 14-years-old," he recalled.
After helping the Ballinacree club to a JFC triumph in 1994, Blake joined senior side Ballinlough three years later. In 1999 he enjoyed a Division 1 FL success with Ballinlough defeating Walterstown in the final played in Carlanstown.
In 2000 Tomas was across the Atlantic Ocean and he assisted New York in the Connacht championship. The side from the Big Apple came up against the strong Galway team of that time that year.
On returning home, Blake rejoined Ballinlough for another four years and on going back to St Brigid's in 2005 he was part of the Ballinacree club's Division 5 League success that year. Then in 2006 he was again in the winners' enclosure with the annexation of the Junior B FC title.
However, Blake would love to gain another junior A medal before he hangs up his boots. He is not ready to quit playing just yet and feels that the players are there to make a bolder bid next year.
"There is good spirit in the club. The management needs to be ruthless, fellows should not be assured of places on the team, there will need to be a bigger commitment in 2010.
"The league needs to be taken more seriously, this year we were good and bad in it. If we could beat Ratoath, we should be capable of beating any of the rest of the teams and hopefully we can improve on commitment and performance next year," concluded Tomas Blake. Tweet

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