Youth is the key in Ratoath
November 27, 2010Ciaran O'Malley was a selector when the club last won the junior title in 2004 and this year he acted as coach following his return from Cuchulainns in Cavan. The selectors were Joe Clarke and Dermot Rooney and while Ratoath have lost many of their more seasoned campaigners they have brought some very talented minors up through the ranks.
Ratoath were drawn in group B of the race for the Matthew Ginnity Cup, a section which included a talented Ballinabrackey team which was to take the competition by storm. Also in the mix were other genuine contenders in Drumbaragh, as well as Drumconrath, Curraha and the second string from Wolfe Tones.
Summerhill was the venue for the championship opener against Ballinabrackey and Ratoath failed to make the desired winning start when they played poorly and were beaten by four points (0-7 to 0-11).
A second round meeting with neighbours Curraha attracted a big crowd to Ashbourne and Ratoath recovered well from that opening round defeat when winning by 2-11 to 1-5. Curraha made a productive start by scoring the first two points, but they were very wasteful subsequently.
Eoghan McMahon scored a first half goal for Ratoath after being set up by Cian O'Brien and that helped them to a 1-4 to 0-3 interval lead. It might have been a significantly smaller advantage, but goalkeeper Richie Donnelly came to their rescue when he made a fine save to deny Alan Carroll.
When Gavin Eiffe scored Ratoath's second goal nine minutes into the second period they were well on the way to victory with a 2-6 to 0-4 lead. Curraha battled away and were rewarded when substitute Gary Dowling found the net, before the same player was denied by another Donnelly save. Meath minor player Farrell McManus impressed at midfield for Ratoath.
Last year's beaten semi-finalists Drumbaragh provided the third round opposition at Bohermeen where Ratoath were beaten in devastating fashion when John Smith scored a last minute goal. The potential in the Ratoath team was very evident in the first 20 minutes when they played extremely well and moved into a 0-7 to 0-3 lead.
Drumbaragh gradually found their feet and were adrift by only two points (0-6 to 0-8) at the interval. Damien Carry goaled for the north Meath side on the restart, but Ratoath recovered and were in front approaching the final whistle. That's when Smith shocked them with that late goal to earn his team a 2-10 to 0-15 victory.
Ratoath's last championship action saw them draw (0-9 each) with Wolfe Tones at Seneschalstown, while Drumconrath granted them a walk over in their scheduled fifth round meeting. When all was said and done in group B Ballinabrackey and Drumbaragh filled the top two positions on nine points. Ratoath were in third position, but were well out of the reckoning on five.
Ratoath coach Ciaran O'Malley has enjoyed success as manager of the Cuchulainns club in Mullagh, most notably their intermediate championship win in 2005. He teamed up with Fintan Cahill when they reached the intermediate championship and league finals in 2008. He returned to Ratoath this year and inherited a team containing several young players.
"A lot of the 2004 team were getting on a bit, so we played a lot of our good minors, like Cian O'Brien, Bobby O'Brien, Farrell McManus, Gavin Eiffe and Patrick Haslam," he said. "We want to bring them through. Unfortunately, Ger McCullagh went to America just before our first championship game against Ballinabrackey. He was Ratoath's best player when they won the championship in 2004. He was a huge loss.
"Trying to replace him before the Ballinabrackey game wasn't easy. They use a blanket defence. That's difficult to play against, especially on a small pitch. We had five or six lads making their championship debuts that day.
"We beat Curraha well in the second game. That was a really good performance. Farrell McManus was great in that game, but unfortunately he has emigrated to Canada with his family. We will really miss him."
That victory was followed by a sickening defeat suffered at the hands of Drumbaragh.
"The Drumbaragh game was the most disappointing one I have been involved in over the last five years," Ciaran added. "We played very well, but we didn't kill them off. Darragh O'Brien was playing well, but got sent off. I thought it was harsh. They got a late goal and we didn't have time to recover. If we won that one we were on the pig's back. When we drew with Wolfe Tones in our last game we fielded 10 minors."
Ratoath are very much in transition at the moment and there is no doubt that they are producing the talent which will enable them to challenge for the junior title in a few years time.
"We are trying to bring these lads along," Ciaran said. "But it won't happen overnight. We have to look five or six years down the line. I'm optimistic for the future. Our league form is good and we reached the semi-finals of the All-Ireland Intermediate Sevens in Ratoath. We beat some very good teams along the way."
Having lost the Junior Hurling Championship final to Kilmessan in 2008 and Kildakey in 2009, Ratoath proved far less successful this year when they failed to reach the knockout stages.
They were drawn in group A which included the two teams which would later go on to contest the final - Wolfe Tones and Kilskyre. Also included were Moylagh and the second string team from Boardsmill.
Kilskyre were the fancy of many to bounce straight back up to the intermediate ranks following their relegation last year, but Ratoath made the perfect start to the group campaign when defeating them by eight points (3-11 to 0-12) thanks to an impressive performance at Kildalkey.
Ratoath played with the advantage of the wind in the first half and started well when Damien O'Meara found the net after only four minutes. When Padraig O'Hanrahan blasted a free to the net soon after they were well on the road to a winning start to the title race.
Diarmuid Brennan and Ger Clarke were impressive at midfield for Ratoath, while Kenny Fitzmaurice, Mick Brazil and Paul Flaherty formed a strong half-back line, and a third goal from O'Hanrahan boosted them to a commanding 3-6 to 0-5 advantage at the change of ends.
Kilskyre improved in the second half when they tagged on seven points and limited Ratoath to five, but those three goals in the first period had made all the difference. A second victory looked likely against Moylagh at Kilberry, but Ratoath had to settle for a share of the spoils as it finished 2-7 each.
As in their opening championship game, Ratoath scored three goals in the third round against Wolfe Tones at Kilmessan, but Tones took the points route and that enabled them to shade the verdict by 0-17 to 3-6 as they continued their match to the knockout stages.
Ratoath completed their group campaign with a runaway 5-18 to 1-3 win over Boardsmill at Dunsany, but it was to no avail and after making the final in the previous two years the sad reality was that they hadn't done enough to maintain their interest in the competition.
Minor FL success
for Ratoath
Despite tallying 15 wides Ratoath scored a comfortable 1-14 to 1-5 victory over Donaghmore/Ashbourne in the MFL Division 1 final at Pairc Tailteann in early May.
That waywardness must have concerned the management team of Dermot Rooney, Martin Mannering, Dave Gorman, Dermot Reilly and John McMahon, but they must have been pleased with the superb goal scored by Bobby O'Brien late in the first half which boosted Ratoath to a 1-3 to 0-2 interval lead.
Donaghmore/Ashbourne had two players sent off in the second period and although David Murtagh scored a brilliant goal 11 minutes from the end, Ratoath notched 11 points in this half to win comprehensively. Bobby O'Brien top-scored with 1-2 and Cian O'Brien and Bryan McMahon both got three points. The honour of captaining the team went to Gavin Eiffe.
Ratoath - A Smith; P Flood, C McGill, B Power; G Eiffe, C McCullagh, G Reilly (0-1); F McManus (0-1), C O'Brien (0-3); B O'Brien (1-2), G Rooney (0-1), P Haslam (0-1); G Jordan (0-1), P Kennedy, B McMahon (0-3). Subs - K Gorman for McCullagh, M Daly (0-1) for Kennedy, M Wiley for Flood.
Ratoath failed in their bid to complete the big double when they lost the championship final to Navan O'Mahonys by 0-9 to 1-7, again at Pairc Tailteann.
Ratoath and Curraha combined to win the MHC Shield title thanks to a 3-8 to 0-5 victory over Dunboyne in the final at Dunganny.
Conor McGill and Ciaran O'Hanrahan scored superb goals in the first half and they helped Ratoath/Curraha to lead by 2-3 to 0-5 at the interval. Jack McGowan added a third goal in the second period as the combined forces won comfortably, with Stephen Cooper, Alex Coaxley and Sean Laffey particularly impressive.
Ratoath/Curraha - G Crowley; G Brennan, C Riordan, C Morris; S Cooper (0-2), S Laffey, A Coaxley; A McDonnell, B O'Brien (0-2); C O'Hanrahan (1-0), B McMahon (0-3), J McGowan (1-0); R Gillen (0-1), C McGill (1-0), L Hogan. Subs - C McLarnon for Gillen, D Grehan for McDonnell.
All-Ireland Intermediate Football Sevens and
Hurling Elevens
Ireland's top Intermediate Footballers and Hurlers came to Ratoath to compete in the annual All-Ireland Intermediate Football Sevens and Hurling Elevens in September. Over 30 clubs from around the country competed in this action-packed day of football on the eve of the All-Ireland Football Final with ten teams competing in the Hurling.
The tournament, which has been sponsored this year by EirGrid, was attended by GAA President Christy Cooney.
Teams qualify for the Football Sevens by winning their county championship or by invitation. Teams compete in group stages over one day at the single venue which has eight pitches. The top sixteen teams play in the qualifiers moving on to quarter- finals, semi-finals and final. This year's winners, Westport beat Oldcastle in a tightly fought final to win by the narrowest of scores, one point, with Ratoath reaching the semi final stages to be beaten also by Westport.
Meath were well represented with teams from Oldcastle, Ratoath, Cortown, Na Fianna and Gael Colmcilles, Syddan.
The Hurling saw Silvermines from Tipperary win the Final by beating Ballyhaunis by a narrow margin. Tweet
