Moynalty crave consistency
November 27, 20112011 will not be remembered as one of Moynalty's better years. Runners-up to Duleek/Bellewstown and Trim in the previous two JFC 'B' finals, they were hoping it would be a case of third time lucky this year, but a 0-10 to 2-8 quarter-final defeat to eventual champions Clonard made for a disappointing and somewhat premature championship exit.
With Meath's 1996 All-Ireland winning captain Tommy Dowd once again at the helm, the red and whites also narrowly missed out on promotion from Division 4 of the league, though some of their performances were highly encouraging. For Moynalty's long-serving defender and captain Donal Lynch, the club's failure to get themselves out of the junior 'B' ranks over the past seven years has been a source of huge frustration. He is convinced they should be operating at a higher level and that a lack of consistency is holding them back.
"We set ourselves two goals at the start of the year and they were to win the junior 'B' championship and promotion from Division 4. So it was very disappointing when neither of those goals were achieved," he ruefully reflects.
"After reaching the last two junior 'B' finals, we fancied our chances of getting over the line this year. But the concession of a late goal against Clonard saw us go out in the quarter-finals. It's frustrating because we know we are good enough to be playing junior 'A' at least. We proved it in the league when we beat Longwood, who are an intermediate team. Our biggest problem is inconsistency - we struggle to string good performances together.
"I can't put my finger on why that is so, but maybe it's down to the fact that we don't have the right balance in our team. We have a lot of young and old lads, but very few in between. You can't blame the management for that - they can only work with what they've got - but that's one of the problems we need to overcome."
Donal, who was a member of this year's Meath junior squad, craves for the day when Moynalty are plying their trade in one of the higher grades again.
"I've been on the Moynalty team for the last 15 years and in that time I've played intermediate, junior and junior 'B'. It's been tough going for the last seven years down in the junior 'B', but you have to keep plugging away and hope that your day will come. I certainly wouldn't like to finish my career as a junior 'B' footballer, but we'll see happens. We badly need to get up to the next level to improve football in Moynalty," he says.
Under the management of Tommy Dowd, who also made a handful of playing appearances this year, and his backroom team of Brendan Lynch, Charlie Farrelly (both selectors) and Paddy Diamond (trainer), the north Meath club finished fourth in Group B of the JFC 'B' to claim the last quarter-final spot. They opened their campaign with a 1-12 to 0-6 victory over Boardsmill at Cortown. Having trailed by 0-3 to 0-6 at the break, Moynalty rallied in the second half and a haul of 1-4 from new recruit and Leitrim native Michael Dorrigan - who is a garda sergeant based in Kells - helped them to what turned out to be a comfortable win.
Dorrigan continued his goal-scoring form when helping himself to 2-1 in Moynalty's 2-9 to 0-8 win over St. Colmcille's at Slane. Last year's beaten finalists led by 1-4 to 0-5 at the break, and with Oliver Sheridan, Alan Brogan, Paul Lynch and Emmet Tormay to the fore, they eventually won by seven points.
The red and whites dropped their first point when they were held to a 2-9 to 3-6 draw by St. Patrick's second string at Pairc Tailteann. Goals from Oliver Sheridan and Michael Dorrigan had given them a 2-4 to 0-5 interval lead, but three second half St. Patrick's goal saw the sides finish level.
Moynalty got back to winning ways when they accounted for both Walterstown (0-11 to 1-6) and Tommy Dowd's home club Dunderry (0-13 to 0-8). Against Dunderry, Christy Cahill and Kevin McCormack scored four points each in the opening half as Moynalty opened up a 0-9 to 0-4 half-time lead, and they never looked like being caught thereafter.
A 0-12 each draw with Donaghmore/Ashbourne in Simonstown pushed the north county outfit closer to a quarter-final berth. In what was a tight contest throughout, Oliver Sheridan top-scored with 0-5, while Christy Cahill, Alan Brogan, Plunkett Tormay and Michael Lynch were also on target. Moynalty slipped to their first defeat to Ratoath in their next outing (1-10 to 2-8) and registered their third draw against St. Vincent's (0-8 each), but still went through to the knockout stages as the fourth-placed team in the group.
Tommy Dowd's charges realised that a big improvement would be needed to overcome Clonard in their quarter-final clash at Cortown, but after another close game, the south Meath club prevailed on a 2-8 to 0-10 scoreline. Moynalty were marginally the better side in the first half, but a Kenneth Darby goal ensured Clonard of parity, 1-3 to 0-6, at the break. Clonard nudged ahead thanks to scores from David Rowley and Ian Campbell on the restart, but seven points from Oliver Sheridan meant there was nothing to separate the teams entering the closing minutes.
However, a goal from Clonard substitute Darren McNevin, after the ball had rebounded from the post, and a follow-up point from Bernard Reilly, decided the outcome.
"It was touch-and-go right through until they got the winning goal in the last few minutes. It could have gone either way, but Clonard got the break and ended up in the final," the Moynalty captain recalls.
Lynch is encouraged by the great strides Moynalty are making at underage level. Oliver Sheridan, who was on the Meath minor team this year, has proven to be a huge addition to the junior 'B' team and it's hoped more young players of that quality will filter through from the underage set-up in the near future.
However, Oliver warns: "We have had good underage teams in the past and it hasn't led to success at adult level. I won a minor championship with St. Ciaran's (a combination of Moynalty and Carnaross) in 1997, but nothing really came of it. But you have to keep working away and the people who are coaching the underage teams deserve a lot of credit for the work they put in."
Moynalty contested four underage finals this year, winning two of them. They started the year by lifting the 2010 U17 league title, beating local rivals Blackfort Gaels (a combination of St. Michael's and Kilmainhamwood) in the delayed final at Kilmainham on a 0-15 to 1-9 scoreline. In May, their U16 side were forced to give second best to St. Michael's in the Division 5 league decider at Pairc Tailteann, but the same team bounced back to win the Summer League Roinn D title at Moynalvey's expense three months later - an early goal from full forward Shane Faulkner paving the way for a 1-12 to 1-7 success.
Moynalty's minor team also qualified for the Division 4 championship final in September, but were well beaten by a very strong Seneschalstown crew.
Moynalty lined out as follows in their JFC 'B' quarter-final defeat to Clonard: D Murtagh; M Lynch(0-1), P Sheridan, S Lynch; A Lynch, D Kangley, D Lynch; C. O'Loughlin, P Tormay; A Brogan (0-1), A Lynch, C Cahill; P Lynch, M Dorrigan, O Sheridan (0-7); Subs used: P Farrelly, R Tormay, S Blackburn (0-1, B Maguire and J Curley.
Moynalty's U16 Summer League Roinn D winning side was: Jonathan Lynch; Kevin Doyle, Eoghan Allen, Pauric O'Connor; Robert Nevin, Adrian Maguire, Shane Farrelly; Andrew Lynch, John Brady; Anthony Nevin, Ronan Lynch, Patrick Byrne; Jamie Maloney, Shane Faulkner, Patrick Farrelly. Tweet
