Hurlers can bounce back
November 27, 2011The club suffered the indignity of relegation and now they must look to next year and plying their trade in the intermediate ranks. Having won the second tier competition in 2001, 2004 and 2007 shows that they have the experience and guile to bounce straight back up, but a surprise loss to Drumree in the 2003 decider will mean that the side will be by no means complacent when it comes to next year's campaign.
When the draw for this year's campaign was made, Clann na nGael could not have handpicked a tougher group as it contained four sides that have lifted the Jubilee Cup in the last eight years, namely defending champions Kildalkey, Kilmessan, Kiltale and Killyon along with fellow rivals Longwood, who had defeat the Athboy men in the group stages just 12 months previously.
Straight away the O'Growney club was up against it and they needed a decent start to the campaign in order to have any chance of survival and selector Paddy Foy that the main focus at the start of the year was on the first game against Killyon.
"It was a very difficult draw to start with, but we felt that if we prepared right for the Killyon match, we could possibly pick up two points against them. Winning that game was imperative as we had Kildalkey and Kilmessan in our next two matches and we knew they would be tough assignments," Paddy revealed to the Royal County Yearbook.
"Preparation for the Killyon game was spot on and the lads put in a huge effort for that match, so we were quietly confident that we could pick up a vital county of points."
However, despite dominating the game for long periods, Clann na nGael failed to take a number of very scoreable chances and they were left to rue these as a late rally by Killyon was just enough to see them over the line.
"Losing that match to Killyon was a huge blow and it is certainly one that we could have won. We played very well, but we missed some crucial scores particularly near the end and unfortunately that cost us the game."
Paddy admits that the defeat set the side back considerably as they faced into a clash against the defending champions and old rivals Kildalkey, who have had the upper hand on Clann na nGael in recent years.
"The lads were despondent after losing to Killyon and it was a big job to try and lift the spirits in the camp ahead of the two games against Kildalkey and Kilmessan. If we had won our first game, it would have given the lads a lot of confidence, but it wasn't to be."
The match against Kildalkey was played in Pairc Tailteann and having lost their opening round to Kilmessan, Kildalkey were in no mood to slip up again. Clann Na nGael raced into the lead when Gearoid Brathnach's long range effort ended up in the Kildalkey net. Six points put the champions ahead 0-6 to 1-2 after fifteen minutes. Two long range points from Ciaran Fitzsimons kept the Athboy side in touch. Kildalkey went in at the break 1-8 to 1-5 ahead. Derek Doran got his sides' goal from the penalty spot after the same player was brought down in the square.
Pat O'Halloran's charges came to life in the second half. Padraig Keogh (point), Derek Doran (1-1) and a Geoghegan point had them 2-11 to 1-5 up after ten minutes. When Dan Fagan kicked home another major and Doran got his third goal the writing was on the wall for Clann Na nGael. The Athboy men never raised a flag in the second half while Kildalkey scored points at will. When referee Donal Smith blew the full time whistle Kildalkey had won with ease by twenty four points.
"We played very well in the first half, but never really turned up for the second which was disappointing. Even so there were a few positives that we could take from the game, especially from the first half."
A similar pattern occurred in the game against Kilmessan in the next outing as Clann na nGael played very well in the first half, but their opponents eased away in the second half to record a comfortable victory.
Three defeats on the trot mean the morale was at an all time low in the club, but a win against Longwood in their next match could have salvaged something from their season in what was only be described as a game with all to play for.
Nonetheless, Longwood had 1-3 on the scoreboard after fifteen minutes of their crunch match. Gary Mangan got Clann Na nGael's lone score in this period. Three points gave Longwood a commanding 1-6 to 0-2 half time lead.
Longwood started the second half with another brace of points to put them ahead by nine. Clann Na nGael driven on by the impressive Mangan from the centre half back position came more into the game. Points from the former county player (2), Alan Fox and Daithi Geraghty gave them some hope as Longwood seem to be losing their grip on proceedings. A point for Longwood steadied the ship and a further three points game then an impressive win.
"This was by far our poorest performance of the year, lads' heads were down going into this game and despite a brief spell in the second half, we never looked like winning this game. I think most of the players had accepted at this stage that we would be in a relegation play-off, which was wrong to do of course."
Clann na nGael finished off the group with a defeat to Kiltale to leave them pointless from five outings and left them in the relegation play off where they would face Gaeil Colmcille in the battle to avoid the drop.
Despite having a considerable catchment area to choose from and also fielding a junior B side, Paddy admitted that only 19 players made themselves available for the senior championship, even though there are many more hurlers capable of making the step up.
"We have a situation in the club where some lads will not make themselves available for the senior hurling team which is a great shame as the players in question are more than capable of playing senior hurling."
One suggestion would be to scrap the junior team, but Paddy is adamant that this is not the route to go as he feels that the junior team is an important stepping stone for younger players coming through the ranks.
"I definitely wouldn't scrap the junior team as it has a big role to play in the development of the club, but the situation needs to be addressed and one suggestion I would make is that if a player refuses to play senior hurling then he shouldn't be allowed play junior.
"We were in a situation this year where we had four subs for a senior hurling championship match and it is very hard to compete against teams that are togging out 30 lads. Something needs to be done, but there is no way I would scrap the junior altogether."
The importance of the junior B side was evident this year as they reached the county final only to lose to Gaeil Colmcille in the decider. Kells were first of the mark when they opened their account with a fine point after six minutes. Points from Cormac Keegan and a Mark Smith free gave Gaeil Colmcille a three point lead near the end of the first quarter.
Clann Na nGael opened their account shortly afterwards when Gerry O'Sullivan landed a free and soon were on level terms with two Benny Murray points. The Athboy men had there tails up and points from Murray and John Daly put them 0-5 to 0-3 up after twenty minutes. Gaeil Colmcille levelled the game with two points. A goal gave the lead back to the Kells men. A second goal a few minutes later helped Kells to a 2-7 to 0-6 half time lead.
Clann Na nGael tried hard to get back into the game. The Athboy men had to wait till the 15th minute for a score when John Daly pointed. Three points from centre back Gerry O'Sullivan brought them within four points of Gaeil Colmcille. Great defending by Gaeil Colmcille made sure that the cup was going to Kells.
For the record the Clann Na nGael side defeated in the Junior B final was: Patrick Foy, Anthony Sheridan, Darren Shaw, Anthony Cully, PJ Fallon, Gerry O'Sullivan (o-4), Ciomhin Griffin (0-1), Pauric McDonagh, Christopher Fitzsimons (0-1), Ronald Hamilton, Pauric Garry, John Daly (0-2), Benny Murray (0-3), Michael McGovern, Mark Geraghty. Subs: Keith Doherty for Michael McGovern, Senan Kiernan for Pauric McDonagh, Neil Bird for Mark Geraghty.
Even though the club have been relegated to the intermediate ranks for 2012, Paddy, who worked alongside manager Alfie Devine and selector Kit Leavy for the past three years, believes that a good underage structure within the club means that a bright future is on the cards.
"First and foremost the aim must be to go back up senior and consolidate our position there. For the first time in many years, nearly all our underage teams are playing in the top levels, which is an achievement in itself. The likes of Matthew Mullen, Benny Murray, Bernard Heaney and Kit McGovern to name just a few having being doing great work with the kids and hopefully a few more players will come through the ranks soon."
The Wright Way
Clann na nGael footballers have truly established themselves in the intermediate grade following their best ever campaign in the second tier of Meath football. Reaching the quarter-finals of the IFC can be recorded as huge progress for the club.
Former player David Wright was one of the selectors on the team this year and he spoke to the Royal County Yearbook about this year's campaign. Having flirted with being dragged into a relegation dogfight over the past two years, it was imperative that Clann na nGael began to make more of an impression on the intermediate championship.
The club turned to Athboy native Andy Hayes when looking for a manager and the former player duly obliged. Hayes has developed a good reputation in management over the past few years and was an ideal candidate for the role. As well as David as selector, long serving club members Jimmy Tuite and Sean Carrigy also filled the roles lending their considerable knowledge of the game to the squad.
The draw for the intermediate championship was relatively kind to Clann na nGael as they faced Castletown, who they beat in the previous year's campaign, Moynalvey, St Ultan's and St Colmcillle's. Such is the competitiveness of the IFC that any team has a really good chance of lifting the title at the end of the year.
Results in recent years have thrown up some surprise results and on any given day, one day could beat another and Clann na nGael are no exception to that cause. With such talented players at their disposal as county stars Shane McAnarney and Graham Geraghty as well as experienced campaigners Jamie Shaw, Gary Woods and Garry Mangan and youngsters Ciaran Fitzsimons, Odhran Fitzpatrick and Darren Griffin, the west Meath club had no reason to fear anyone in the group.
"You couldn't say we were overly confident with the draw, but we were happy enough at the same time. Our aim at the start of the year was to avoid relegation and anything else would be a bonus," stressed David.
The first match of the campaign saw the Athboy/Rathcairn amalgamation play Castletown. These sides have become very familiar with each other in recent years and a close game was expected at Kilmainham in mid-April.
The Athboy side lead a by two points at half time 0-6 to 0-4 but both sides were guilty of some poor shooting. At the start of the second half Clann na nGael dominated for a long period but only managed one point from a series of placed balls. Castletown began to get on top then and won a penalty which was converted to put them two points up with 10 minutes left.
They followed this with a well worked score from play to go three up with eight minutes remaining, The turning point was then the switching of Shane McAnarney from full back to centre back which allowed Clann na nGael to fire over five unanswered points in a hectic finish.
Castletown however were not finished and replied on full time to leave just a point between the sides with just three minutes of injury time remaining during which a resolute Clann na nGael defence held firm to post their first win in this year's championship on a scoreline of 0-12 to 1-8.
A feature of this game was the performance of Graham Geraghty who excellent in the full forward line and kicked some crucial points at vital stages of the match to keep his side in the game. Geraghty may be in the twilight of his career, but his fitness levels have to be admired, while he has lost none of his skill either.
"We knew this would be a very tough match and in fairness to the lads they played really well. The only set back from this was a knee injury to Gary Woods that ruled him out for the rest of the year and he was a massive loss to us later in the campaign.
"It was very important to get off to a good start and get the first two points on the board. It really gave the whole squad a lift and you could see that when we returned to training. All year we had an average of 25 at training and that made a huge difference."
Next up for Hayes' charges were St Ultan's who had suffered a defeat in their opening match and were without a number of key players through emigration, giving the Clanns real hope of securing a second win of the campaign.
This high scoring encounter was played in windy conditions in Trim. Strange to say that both teams played far better against the wind, Clann in the first half and the Ultans in the second half.
Clann na nGael scored a goal with one minute gone on the clock. They then added a point and another goal after a goal mouth scramble. The goals came from Gary Hanley and Caomhin Griffin.
Geraghty was once again rolling back the years with an effective display. At the other end of the field Cian Rennicks was proving a handful with four frees and a point from play that could have possibly been a goal, but the green, white and gold of Clann nGael held a 2-7 to 0-7 lead at half time.
In the second half St Ultans came out with more energy than they had been displayed in the first half. Ciaran Rodgers opened the scoring for Ultans with a point and he injured himself in the process. McAnarney pointed for Clann to leave six in it. Referee Brendan Darby signalled for a penalty for Ultan's midway through the second half and Cian Rennicks scored it to leave three in the game.
Then the crucial score in the game came straight after the penalty when a Damien Tuite effort from an almost impossible angle on the end line found its way to the St Ultans net and this seemed to give Clann a bit of breathing space as six points separated the sides again. To their credit Ultan's never gave in. With the game entering its final minutes Ultans got a lifeline when a Clann na nGael free got caught in the wind and ended up in the arms of Cian Rennicks who scored a goal. That left two points in it with all to play for. However even with all the possession Ultans could not muster up the scores to gain a draw and the game finished 3-11 to 2-11 much to Clann na nGael's relief.
"We were certainly relieved to win the game. The lads showed great character and worked very hard. Graham was outstanding again that day and he really drove the lads on. His presence alone is worth a few scores to us and when he suffered the injury, I think it effected everyone. Graham has won every honour in the game, but he has never won an intermediate medal and you could see how driven he was to rectify that early in the year before he got injured."
A third win of the campaign would see Clann na nGael through to the knockout stages of the IFC and with it all to play for, they produced the goods against St Colmcilles. Despite a slow start, Clann fought their way back into the match and while Graham Geraghty started in the corner a switch to midfield after 20 minutes saw the Athboy side begin to get more possession around the middle and when Shane McAnarney popped up with a well taken goal only a point separated the sides.
A well worked move saw Geraghty finish off with a goal and this seemed to take the wind out of the St Colmcilles' sails. Ciaran Fitzsimons and Darren Kelly in the Clan defence now had the measure of their men and this made scores hard to come by for the St Colmcilles side.
A defeat to Moynalvey followed, but a place in the quarter-final was already secured where Ballinlough were opposition. Unfortunately, by this stage of the campaign long term injuries to Geraghty and Gary Woods began to take their toll and off-form Clann na nGael never got into the match as the 'Lough progressed to the semi-finals on a scoreline of 3-7 to 1-3.
"We just never got going in the quarter-final and we seem to be over-run in certain areas, which was very disappointing because the work had been put in at training. To Andy's credit, he never let training get boring at any stage. When the lads first started, it was about six weeks before they did the same drill and each night there was a different warm-up and this helped keep lads interested."
Clann na nGael's underage structure is stronger than ever as their minors under the guidance of current players Shane McAnarney and Gary Hanly competed in division one of the championship for the first time in a number of decades, while the under-12s lifted the title and they too are being looked after by ex-county player Tommy Hanley.
There is no doubt that this is a club heading in the right direction and who knows Clann na nGael could be battling for the Keegan Cup in the not too distant future.
For the second time in three years, the club contested the Junior D football final. The side contained a good mix of youth and experience with David and captain Trevor Wallace providing the latter. Dunsany were the opposition and Trim was the venue for this encounter. The red and whites got off to a good start, but Clann na nGael kept in touch with points from James Goggins and Alan Fox.
However, the turning point of the match came when a long ball into the Athboy/Rathcairn square was punched to net past the despairing dive of Wallace in goals. Even though they battled bravely to get back into the match, it was not to be as Dunsany held on for a 1-8 to 0-7 victory.
The end of the year saw the club host a very successful Strictly Come Dancing themed fundraiser that saw up on 1,000 people in to the Park Hotel, Mullingar as club members and locals showed off their dancing skills. One of the players that took part was Shane McAnarney, who was named Meath Footballer of the Year following some excellent displays in the Royals' jersey this year. This accolade is a tremendous honour for the club and the player himself. Tweet
