Vincent's pushing hard for that breakthrough
November 27, 2010The Ardcath men last won the Junior B title in 2003 and the nearest they came since was in 2008 when they lost to Donaghmore/Ashbourne in the decider. Losing finals is hard to take and the hope was that last year might bring the breakthrough, especially with former Meath junior manager Martin Barry being appointed coach.
But with the panel weakened through the absence of players like Tommy Fields, Sean McNally and Darren Lane the championship turned out to be something of a struggle and they failed to negotiate the group stages. After going so close the previous year it represented a disappointing campaign.
On the plus side, the loss of key players gave them the opportunity to try younger panel members at this level, so they had reasons for optimism heading into the 2010 battle for the Larry Kearns Memorial Cup with a new man at the helm in former Seneschalstown player Padraig Coyle.
The Junior B Championship was fought out in two qualifying divisions and St Vincent's came out of the draw in group A along with Clonard, St Mary's and the second string teams from Trim, Blackhall Gaels, Dunshaughlin, Ratoath and St Colmcille's. It looked like a section from which they should emerge to play knockout football.
Blackhall provided the first round opposition at Kilbride and St Vincent's made the desired winning start when shading a close encounter by a couple of points, 1-9 to 1-7. The Kilcloon/Batterstown combination led by 0-6 to 0-5 at the interval, but substitute Paddy Arnold scored an all-important second half goal for the Ardcath side. Declan O'Sullivan rowed in with an important personal contribution of five points.
St Vincent's and Trim were to meet twice in the championship, the first time in the group stages at Dunsany in early May when the town side demonstrated that they were serious contenders by recording a 1-10 to 0-9 victory. Clonard are often capable of mounting a strong challenge in this grade and they really put it up to St Vincent's at Kiltale where the understrength Ardcath men shaded the verdict by 1-9 to 0-10.
They were favourites to make it back to back victories when they faced St Colmcille's at Duleek and despite conceding the only goal of the game they came out on the right side of the result, winning by 0-9 to 1-4. That was a vital success, especially with a very tough assignment on the horizon against one of the favourites for outright success, St Mary's.
The fifth round meeting took place at Kilbride and when St Vincent's suffered their second defeat of the group campaign there had to be concerns that they would again fail to reach the business end of the championship. They got the only goal of the match, but the Donore/Lougher combination took the point route and won by 0-13 to 1-6 to maintain their title challenge.
It was back to Kilbride for a meeting with Ratoath and a victory by the minimum margin (0-8 to 0-7) kept St Vincent's in the running. It meant there was enormous importance attached to their last group game against Dunshaughlin which was essentially a knockout match.
When the pressure was on St Vincent's responded positively as they accumulated their biggest points tally of the group campaign to win by 0-14 to 1-9 at Curraha. It hadn't been an overly convincing qualifying schedule, but at least they had achieved their first goal of getting out of the section.
Awaiting them in the quarter-final at Ashbourne were St Paul's and things weren't looking promising for Vincent's when they trailed by 0-5 to 1-7 at the change of ends after O'Sullivan (three), Bob Tallon and Ciaran Hand had scored their points. The Clonee men extended their advantage to seven points early in the second half and Vincent's looked like they were heading for the exit gate.
But goals have a habit of winning games - especially when you get enough of them. O'Sullivan gave them hope when he netted and substitute Martin Fox added two more to earn them a dramatic victory. Fox made a massive contribution of 2-1, O'Sullivan contributed 1-4 and Tallon got three valuable points.
The win meant Vincent's were just one step away from another final place, but that's where their dream of championship glory came to a halt as Trim's two first half goals in the semi-final at Bective proved highly significant. Mark Gilsenan was their tormentor in chief as he notched 1-7 for the team in red.
That included an early goal from a penalty which gave Trim a great start and with Stephen Doyle also finding the net in the opening period Vincent's found themselves with something of a mountain to climb at the interval when they trailed by six points at 0-4 to 2-4.
They managed to repeat their point scoring feat when adding four more in the second half and brought the deficit down to three points at one stage, but Trim responded well and were clearcut winners by 2-8 to 0-8. To say the least it was disappointing for Vincent's and it's now a matter of getting over that defeat and planning for another serious assault next year. Losing semi-finals is a rotten experience, but at least they know they're fully capable of mounting a real challenge.
Sean Og Travers was the St Vincent's captain this year, but he spent much of the championship watching from the sideline after sustaining a nasty achilles injury against Clonard in May. He was still wearing a cast a number of months later and won't return to action until next year.
He has been playing football since he was eight or nine years old and was a member of the St Vincent's panel which won the Junior B title in 2003. He lived in Boston for a spell and played with the Cork team there in 2006 and 2007.
"Maurice Carberry injured his collar bone in our first league game against Ballivor," Sean Og said as he looked back on the campaign. "Our full-back Stephen Creed got injured in the early stages of the championship and then I got injured against Clonard. I knew at the time that it was serious.
"We made a good start to the championship with a win over Blackhall Gaels in Kilbride. That was a great win, but we then lost to Trim by four points. They were strong. We beat Clonard with a bit of a struggle. We were short a number of lads that day, but just shaded it.
"We beat St Colmcille's by a couple of points, but then St Mary's beat us. They were just too good for us, but it was a poor performance by St Vincent's. I wasn't there for our game against Ratoath when they won by a point. It was a tight game and they made hard work of it. They found it difficult to get over the line."
With one group game to go the pressure was on St Vincent's and they responded positively.
"We had to beat Dunshaughlin in our last group game to get through and we won by a couple of points," Sean Og added. "There was confusion because Dunshaughlin thought they were through even after losing. But it was a winner take all match. They were out. We played well that day and came from three points down to win by two. Stephen Creed came back for that game, but had to go off after 10 minutes.
"The quarter-final against St Paul's was a great game. We were seven points down with 10 minutes of the second half gone, but recovered and went five up. They came back well, but we shaded it in the end.
"Trim were a much better team than us in the semi-final. They seemed to have another gear. We had no excuses that day, but giving away a goal from a penalty after three or four minutes was a blow. We were six points behind at half-time, but got it down to three, before they went away again."
It was disappointing, but St Vincent's can look to the future with optimism.
"On the up side we have a lot of good young lads, like Martin Fox," Sean Og said. "He's only 18 and is a very good prospect. He came on as a substitute against St Paul's and scored 2-1. His point was a great score from a tight angle."
The St Vincent's team against Trim was - K Woods; C Sheridan, D Hand (0-1), D Tallon; S Ennis, N Tallon, D Dwyer; R Sheridan, A Kearns; V Browne, B Tallon, M Byrne (0-2); C Hand (0-1), M Fox (0-1), D O'Sullivan (0-3). Subs - P Arnold for Browne, L Collins for D Hand, E Murphy for Ennis, M Connor for Kearns.
St. Vincent's/Curraha Minor teams for 2010
Minor League
Due to loss of many players this team struggled as they lost all their games and barely got a team for some fixtures.
Minor Championship
With the exams coming to an end some players came back to the team for the championship and this had a positive effect on the squad. Wins over St. Patrick's in the quarter-final and St. Colmcille's in the semi-final left them paired against Dunboyne in the final on the 30th July. In a closely fought contest they were beaten after extra time by two points. Well done and thanks to the managers, the players and to those that helped out along the way.
U16 Championship
This team got to the U15 final last year so there were high hopes for a repeat performance. They started well with wins over Walterstown, Dunderry, Ashbourne and Skryne and lost just one group match. They played Dunderry in a tough semi-final on the 21st of May and despite the best efforts of the players they lost the match 2-17 to 2-13.
U16 Summer League
The U16 Fair Play League was introduced this year for the first time and played during the summer months. They lost three matches and won two but narrowly failed to qualify for the knock out stages. It was a good competition as it gave these players more games than previous years.
U15 League
This team was entered into Division 2, hoping to do well with such a good squad, including many county players. With wins over Summerhill, Na Fianna and Seneschalstown they were paired against Na Fianna in the semi-final. This game was played on the 25th Sep. and while they were without some key players through injury they preformed very well and were narrowly beaten 2-10 to 3-9 following a nail biting finish to the game.
U17 League
After winning the U16 Championship last year, this team was put into a high division and this showed as they struggled to survive. They played two games and were well beaten in both, barely managing to field a team on both occasions.
Thanks to all the managers for their hard work during the year. Pat Hand, Tony McEntee, Thomas Hand, John Hogan, James O'Brien, Pat Moriarty, Shaun Murray and Ray Toner. Tweet
