Young guard starting to filter through in Clonard
November 27, 2010Clonard have to go all the way back to 1971 for their last success in the grade and the closest they have come to the breakthrough in recent years was in 2006 when they lost the final to St Brigid's.
They were shaping nicely the following year, before going under to Trim's second string after extra-time in a quarter-final and they exited the title race at the last eight hurdle again in 2008 when Donaghmore/Ashbourne got the better of them en route to achieving outright success.
However, there was a nice consolation prize that year in the shape of the A League Division 5 title when they defeated Junior Championship side Dunsany in the final to claim their first piece of adult silverware in 37 years. But they failed to build on that in 2009 when they didn't reach the knockout stages of the championship and were relegated in the league.
But hope springs eternal and they went into the 2010 Junior B title race with dreams of glory. They were coached by Declan Tuomey and were drawn in group B which looked tough as it also contained St Mary's, who had been playing their football in the Junior Championship up until last year, another of the main contenders St Vincent's, a strong Trim second string and other 'reserve' teams in Blackhall Gaels, Dunshaughlin, Ratoath and St Colmcille's.
It was obvious that getting out of the section would take a fair bit of work, but at least Clonard's All-County A League form was reasonably encouraging ahead of the start of the championship. They opened up with a very comfortable victory at home to Drumree where a contribution of seven points from David Rowley and Ciaran McKenna's second half goal helped them come out on top by 1-14 to 0-5.
They followed that success with a 0-11 to 0-8 win away to Boardsmill as they rattled off the last four points in a strong finish, but when they made the long trip across the county to Donore for a third round meeting with St Mary's they suffered their first league defeat, going under by 0-7 to 0-10 against a side that would later enjoy a productive campaign in the Junior B Championship.
Clonard knew it wouldn't be easy against Trim when they opened their championship campaign at Boardsmill and so it proved. However, things were looked very promising during the first half when they built up a 1-7 to 0-6 interval advantage, with the goal coming from Padraic O'Donovan.
When Clonard still held a useful lead heading into the last quarter they appeared well capable of winning, but Trim were inspired by a brilliant goal from Jimmy Canty and when Mark Gilsenan netted from a penalty the town side were on the road to a 2-12 to 1-12 win. O'Donovan was the losers' leading marksman with 1-2 and Rowley notched four points.
It was early stages in the championship race, but Clonard still needed to bounce back from that early disappointment and they did so in emphatic fashion when scoring points with great regularity to defeat St Colmcille's by 0-22 to 1-5 at Ratoath. That was an important win, especially with very tough assignments coming up against two of the more fancied teams for outright success, St Vincent's and St Mary's.
The Ardcath men inflicted a second defeat of the group stages on Clonard when edging them out by a couple of points (1-9 to 0-10) at Kiltale and when St Mary's beat them comprehensively on a 2-9 to 0-5 score line at Dunsany it was clear that they were going to struggle to advance from the section.
Clonard were scheduled to play Ratoath in the fifth round of group games on the second weekend of July, but the match didn't go ahead and their next championship outing was against Dunshaughlin at Trim where they suffered their heaviest defeat of the campaign when going under by a dozen points, 0-9 to 1-18.
They defeated Blackhall Gaels by 2-9 to 1-10 in the seventh and last round at Longwood, but by that stage they were well out of the running for a place in the business end of the competition. Trim and St Mary's finished joint top of the section on 12 points after winning six matches and losing only once and the other team to advance to the knockout stages was St Vincent's on 10. Clonard were well off the pace.
Conor Foley is a son of Kevin who won two All-Ireland SFC medals with Meath and scored that famous goal against Dublin at the end of the four-match Leinster Championship marathon in 1991. Kevin is now heavily involved in coaching under-age teams in the Clonard club where Joe and Mary Gannon have also been instrumental in the work which has helped to earn so much success.
Eighteen year-old Conor was part of the Clonard team which did so well to get to the MFC Division 3 final this year where they lost to a strong Duleek/Bellewstown side, before they claimed league glory later in the year. He was part of the team which completed the under-14 championship and league double in 2005, tasted under-16 success in 2008 and was a member of the full-back line as Clonard beat neighbours Ballinabrackey in the MFC Division 4 final last October.
Conor, who has been living in Meath since he was 10, having previously lived in Cork, graduated to the Clonard junior team this year.
"This was my first year on the junior team," he said. "I played at wing-back. I normally play at full-back in under-age football, but I enjoyed it on the wing. You can run a bit more out there."
Unfortunately, Clonard's bid to reach the knockout stages of the Junior B Championship met with disappointment and began with a narrow defeat to a Trim team which took the competition by storm.
"We played well in the first half against Trim, but we were bad in the second half," Conor added. "It was a disappointing start, but we then beat St Colmcille's easily. We lost narrowly to St Vincent's in a poor game. We led by three points in the second half, but they got a late goal.
"We had beaten St Mary's earlier in the Tailteann Cup and later drew with them in the league, but they beat us easily in the championship. We were well beaten by Dunshaughlin. I was away for that game. We beat Blackhall in our last game when we were without a lot of lads."
Conor acknowledged the great work being carried out at under-age level in the Clonard club where his father has "trained teams in all age groups". He has also benefited from the dedication of Joe and Mary Gannon, saying that "the Gannons run the show".
Obviously, he would like to help his club to Junior B Championship success in the not too distant future, but how would he feel about emulating his father and wearing the Meath jersey?
"I always wanted to play for Meath, but I didn't get to play on any under-age teams," he said. "It's not easy when you play with a small club. It's hard to know what level I'm at."
Talented minor reach decider
Clonard lost the MFC Division 3 final to Duleek/Bellewstown, but their performance in the final at Trim was full of courage and determination as they stayed in contention for much of the contest against the very talented winners.
Adrian Boland was in magnificent form for Clonard and four of his seven points came in the first half, at the end of which Duleek/Bellewstown led by just two at 1-4 to 0-5, thanks largely to Brian Moore's goal. David Doyle got the other Clonard point in that period.
Boland added three points and Darren McNevin got another in the second half, but Clonard fell behind by five points at 0-9 to 1-11. But the team coached by former Meath senior player Kevin Foley never stopped battling even when they had something of a mountain to climb and were rewarded when Jason Maguire scored a stunning goal.
However, it just wasn't enough to revive their fortunes and Duleek/Bellewstown notched the last four points of the contest to win by 1-15 to 1-9. Losing any final is a disappointing experience for all concerned, but getting to the decider represented a very significant achievement for the Clonard lads and once again demonstrated the value of the great work being carried out in the under-age ranks of the club.
The Clonard team in the final was - C Fitzsimons; C O'Donoghue, C Foley; A Geagan, J Dowdall, P McNevin; A Flanagan, G Foley; D Doyle (0-1), J McNevin, D McNevin (0-1); A Boland (0-7), J Maguire (1-0). Subs - R Raleigh for C O'Donoghue, A O'Donoghue for D McNevin, C O'Donoghue for Doyle.
League glory for Clonard minors
A strong second-half performance saw Clonard overcome Wolfe Tones in Minor FL. Division 4 Final at Pairc Tailteann at the end of August on a 2-14 to 3-9 scoreline.
Trailing by 1-6 to 3-5 at the break Clonard started the second-half by making good use of their possession, with Adrian Boland finding the net and superb scores from play from seven different players, as they pushed on to wrap up a two point win to the delight of the large contingent of supporters and their coach Kevin Foley.
This was a fine team performance with David Doyle in excellent form and young Ryan Raleigh working non stop. Conor Foley received the Trophy from County Board Official Ultan Fitzpatrick who commented that this team are the future of Junior Club Clonard.
Clonard - C Fitzsimons, C O Donoghue, C Foley, R Raleigh, A Geagan, J Dowdall (0-2), A O Donoghue, A Flanagan, G Foley (0-1), D Doyle (1-2), J Mc Nevin (0-1), P McNevin (0-2), A Maguire, A Boland (1-3), J Maguire (0-2). Subs - B Roe (0-1) for A Maguire,
M Daly, D Hoey, D Mc Nevin.
U17FL: Division 3 honours for Clonard
Clonard's strong second-half performance at Bective saw them claim the U17 title with a resounding victory 3-7 to 0-11 over Nobber.
The game was a close affair for the first half with Clonard's Brendan Roe scoring two points from play, with points from Adrian Boland (0-2) and Darren McNevin (0-1) to reduce the lead at half-time to one point 0-5 to 0-6. An inspirational half-time team talk from coach Kevin Foley proved crucial as the players upped the tempo with Aaron Maguire finding the net while his cousin Jason Maguire netted not once but twice, with Adam Flanagan impressive at midfield and Jason Dowdall outstanding throughout, while every player worked very hard with heart and determination to show a very promising future for Clonard football.
When the final whistle blew it was met with joyous scenes and elation from the team and a large group of supporters.
Accepting the Trophy from Minor County Board Chairman Brendan Dempsey, captain Adrian Boland acknowledged the huge effort and contribution of the coach Kevin Foley to all the under-age teams in Clonard.
Clonard - C Fitzsimons, C O'Donoghue, A Geagan, R Raleigh, J Dowdall, A O'Donoghue, A Flanagan, J Foley, D McNevin (0-3), A Boland (0-2), B Roe (0-2), J Maguire (2-0), A Maguire (1-0). Subs - S Coleman, M Daly, C Fitzsimons.
MFL final: Clonard take Division 4 spoils
A strong second-half performance saw Clonard overcome Wolfe Tones by 2-14 to 3-9 in the Minor FL. Division 4 Final at Pairc Tailteann.
Trailing by 1-6 to 3-5 at the break Clonard started the second-half by making good use of their possession, with Adrian Boland finding the net and superb scores from play from seven different players, as they pushed on to wrap up a two point win to the delight of the large contingent of supporters and their coach Kevin Foley.
This was a fine team performance with David Doyle in excellent form and young Ryan Raleigh working non stop. Conor Foley received the Trophy from County Board Official Ultan Fitzpatrick who commented that this team are the future of Junior Club Clonard.
Clonard - C Fitzsimons, C O Donoghue, C Foley, R Raleigh, A Geagan, J Dowdall (0-2), A O Donoghue, A Flanagan, G Foley (0-1), D Doyle (1-2), J Mc Nevin (0-1), P McNevin (0-2), A Maguire, A Boland (1-3), J Maguire (0-2). Subs - B Roe (0-1) for A Maguire, M Daly, D Hoey, D Mc Nevin. Tweet
