Clonard claim championship honours
November 27, 2011A clearcut victory over Ratoath's second string in the 2011 decider brought the Larry Kearns Cup to the small club in the south-west of the county and there appears to be every possibility that this is only the beginning.
Back in 2006 St Brigid's from Ballinacree spoiled the party when beating Clonard in the final on a dreadfully wet day at Pairc Tailteann. They desperately wanted to make amends, but experienced disappointment and frustration in their attempts to do so in the four campaigns which followed. The nearest they came were quarter-final appearances in 2007 and 2008 when they were beaten by Trim and Donaghmore/Ashbourne, respectively.
There were few signs of the triumph which lay in waiting when they failed to reach the knockout stages last year, but the outstanding work which has been carried out at under-age level in the club reaped a rich reward on the first Sunday of October this year when previous disappointments were put firmly to one side.
It was fitting that former Meath player Kevin Foley, the man who has been so instrumental in that under-age development, was their coach for a first Junior B triumph in 40 years. The Trim native is a man of very few words, but his players certainly did their talking on the pitch during this year's championship as a massive amount of hard work earned its reward.
However, their form ahead of the battle for the Kearns Cup wasn't encouraging as they failed to win any of their opening three games in the All-County A League Division 4. They were held to a draw first time out at home to Drumconrath, then lost by a point when they hosted Bective and made a long and unsuccessful trip to Oldcastle where Moylagh beat them by four points.
But it was all about the championship and Clonard faced into a qualification group which also included St Mary's, Drumree, St Paul's and the second string teams from Gaeil Colmcille, Blackhall Gaels, Seneschalstown and Dunshaughlin. It was a section which appeared to offer plenty of opportunities to pick up points in the race for a place in the knockout stages.
First up for Clonard were Dunshaughlin at Summerhill where a 0-13 to 0-6 victory got the group B campaign off to the ideal start. They were 0-6 to 0-2 ahead at the interval, thanks largely to the accuracy of Simon McNevin, Joey Darby and Kenneth Darby and pushed further clear in the second period. McNevin top-scored with five points and Kenneth Darby wasn't far behind on four.
It was back to Summerhill for a second round meeting with St Paul's and an impressive 1-15 to 1-6 victory copper-fastened Clonard's good start to the campaign. They led by 0-8 to 1-2 at half-time after six different players had shared in the scoring and a Kenneth Darby goal early in the second period put the issue beyond doubt. David Rowley took the scoring honours with eight points.
Niall Walsh got his reward for outstanding service to the Clonard club this year when he was a member of the victorious panel and his superb goal helped them to a third round victory over Seneschalstown at Dunsany. It was all to play for at the change of ends when Clonard led by 0-6 to 0-5, but Walsh's goal and five Rowley points helped them to push on for a 1-13 to 0-10 win.
Full-forward Walsh contributed 1-3 and centre-forward Rowley notched eight points in Clonard's third successive championship victory and that became four when they scored points with great consistency to beat Gaeil Colmcille by 0-21 to 1-5 at Kildalkey. Rowley, who tallied nine points overall, was inspirational as they opened up a 0-12 to 0-2 interval lead and there was no way back for the Kells side.
Clonard made the worst possible start to their fifth round meeting with St Mary's at Kilberry, but recovered to win by 1-12 to 1-8. The concession of a goal from the throw-in was a blow, but they soon settled and a goal from a Bernard Reilly penalty helped open up a 1-6 to 1-2 advantage at the break. Both teams scored six points in the second half and Rowley was again the leading scorer with eight over the hour.
That proved to be Clonard's last group game as they subsequently received walkovers from Blackhall Gaels and Drumree, which meant they had a lengthy spell of championship inactivity ahead of a quarter-final meeting with Moynalty, the beaten finalists from the previous two years.
This match took place at Cortown where a goal in each half proved decisive as Clonard won by 2-8 to 0-10. Kenneth Darby found the net in the first half, at the end of which the teams were locked together on 1-3 to 0-6, and a contribution of 1-1 in the second period from substitute Darren McNevin helped to point Clonard in the direction of the winning post. Rowley continued to demonstrate his value to the team by scoring five points.
That left Clonard just one game away from their first appearance in the Junior B final in five years, but a semi-final meeting with St Vincent's looked tricky and that's exactly how it turned out. The Ardcath men scored the first two points at Pairc Tailteann, but Rowley and Reilly slotted over at the other end to level things up.
Rowley and Reilly kept the scoreboard ticking over for Clonard, but a goal from Martin Fox helped St Vincent's to lead by 1-5 to 0-5 at the interval. Foley's team took over in the second half, but they found scores hard to come by until Rowley notched three points to tie the match with five minutes of normal time remaining.
St Vincent's were also wasteful, but they were soon three points clear when Eoin Collins scored their second goal. Clonard were staring elimination in the face, but Kenneth Darby had other ideas when he notched an equalising goal. It finished 1-8 to 2-5 and the good sized attendance could look forward to extra time.
Clonard looked fresher in the two additional periods and a goal from Reilly and a point by substitute McNevin left them in a strong position at the end of the first half. Reilly added another point to earn them a 2-10 to 2-7 victory on a night when Rowley with six points and Reilly with 1-3 shared the scoring honours.
The excitement intensified on the run-up to the final and it reached fever pitch at Pairc Tailteann on Sunday, October 2 when they beat Ratoath by 1-13 to 0-7 and team captain Alan Farrell proudly received the Larry Kearns Cup on behalf of his delighted colleagues.
Clonard were never headed and made sure of a comfortable success with a salvo of late points. Six different players shared in the scoring, headed by Rowley on six points, five of which came from frees. Reilly notched 1-1 and there was another good showing from McNevin after he was introduced. This time he contributed two points, the same as Kenneth Darby.
Ian Campbell and Adam Flanagan gave Clonard the edge around midfield, while the performance of full-back and captain Farrell typified a good defensive showing. It was nice to see Niall Walsh, who had toiled long and hard for the Clonard cause, coming on late in the game.
Clonard made a great start to the final when Reilly goaled on three minutes after being put through by Darby and a brace of Rowley points pushed them into a 1-2 to 0-0 advantage after 12 minutes. Eamonn Wallace opened Ratoath's account at the end of the opening quarter and they cut the deficit to three points, but Rowley's accuracy helped the champions to be to lead by 1-5 to 0-4 at the interval.
McNevin announced his arrival with a point which extended the lead nearing the three-quarter stage and Clonard outscored Ratoath by 0-6 to 0-3 in the last quarter to make sure of victory. When the final whistle sounded they were ahead by nine points and the long wait for the Junior B title was over. As Farrell hoisted the cup into the air decades of disappointment were forgotten. Clonard were champions and it felt great.
The step up from the B grade to the Junior A Championship is a big one, but Clonard's dedication to promoting under-age football in the club has enabled them to unearth plenty of talented youngsters who will have benefited enormously from this tremendous success. Don't be one bit surprised if they make a big impression at the higher level.
The victorious Clonard team was: P Sheridan; C Foley, A Farrell, C Treacy; G Foley, J Dowdall, J Moore; A Flanagan (0-1), I Campbell; P Boland, D Rowley (0-6), J Darby (0-1); A Boland, B Reilly (1-1), K Darby (0-2). Subs - D McNevin (0-2) for A Boland, R Brennan for K Darby, N Walsh for Campbell.
Goals galore for U14 team
Clonard scored nine of the 16 goals produced in a thrilling Under-14 FL Division 7 final and that secured a 9-13 to 7-4 victory over Ratoath B at Trim.
Aaron Duff scored two early goals for Clonard and they went on to lead by 4-5 to 1-0 at the interval. Duff added three more goals in the second half and with Mikey Mullen and Ryan Maguire also netting they ran out comfortable winners. Duff finished with a fabulous personal tally of 5-5.
The Clonard team was: E Dowdall; B Reilly, M Daly; G Killeen, B Clarke, C Leech; D Flanagan, C Leech; M Mullen, A Duff, S Darby; A Raleigh, D Loughlin. Subs - R Maguire for Loughlin, R Quirke for Darby, P Coyne for Raleigh, D Dixon for Mullen. Tweet
