Encouraging signs for St. Mary's
November 27, 2011St. Mary's selector Marc Morrison believes steady progress was made this year, despite the Donore-based club's failure to win silverware.
Since opting to re-grade to the Junior 'B' ranks two years ago, St. Mary's have reached the knockout stages of the championship both years but have fallen short of winning it outright. Moynalty beat them in last year's semi-final, while an unlucky extra-time defeat to Donaghmore/Ashbourne saw them exit at the quarter-final stage this year.
Despite this year's disappointment, St. Mary's could take a great deal of encouragement from the commitment shown by the players and the fact that they were able to field a team in the Junior 'D' championship for the first time in over a decade. And with great work being done at underage level, all the indications are that they won't be down in Junior 'B' for much longer.
"I wasn't in favour of us re-grading at the end of 2009, but I suppose it was a good move from the point of view that it has given us an opportunity to regroup and bring younger players into the side," explains Marc, who was also a mentor to the Bru na Boinne (a combination of St. Mary's and Slane) under 15, 16 and minor teams this year.
"We may not have won the Junior 'B' championship this year, but we were greatly encouraged by the commitment and attitude of the players. We fielded a Junior 'D' championship team for the first time in 12 years and just missed out on a place in the semi-finals on scoring difference to Clann na nGael. Between both teams, we used over 40 players and those numbers are unheard of for a club of our size. Those numbers also show that the interest is there and that's something we hope to build on going forward.
"In the greater scheme of things, I think we made a fair amount of progress this year."
Marc stresses how providing games for as many players as possible is as much a priority for St. Mary's as competing and challenging for silverware is.
"Our main aim is to give lads football and we are achieving that. We fielded an under 21 team for the first time in seven years last year and we fielded in the grade again this year. I couldn't fault the effort of the players this year. A few of them came out of retirement to help the younger lads and it's just a pity they don't have anything to show for their effort. Last year we won a Division 5 title and that went a long way towards making up for the disappointment of losing the championship semi-final to Moynalty. We weren't as successful this year, but if these fellas show the same interest next year they'll get their just reward."
Under the management of Mark O'Neill, who replaced Ronan Nally at the start of the season, St. Mary's finished fourth in Group A of the Junior 'B' championship to qualify for a quarter-final meeting with Donaghmore/Ashbourne which they lost in heartbreaking circumstances. They made a winning start to their championship campaign against Gaeil Colmcille, who they overcame on a 0-12 to 0-6 scoreline. Stephen Madden and Robert Callaghan were both on the mark as the Donore men took a slender 0-4 to 0-3 lead into the break. And with Robert Victory, Nicky Gogan and Erin Madden to the fore, they outscored their Kells opponents by 0-8 to 0-3 in the second half to claim a double-scores success.
The wearers of green and red suffered the first of three defeats in the group when they succumbed to Dunshaughlin by 0-11 to 1-12 in Bellewstown. Favoured by the wind in the first half, Dunshaughlin had built up a 0-7 to 0-4 lead by the interval with Eoin Morrison and Stephen Bishop accounting for the St. Mary's scores. By the midway stage of the second half, points from Niall Craven and Nicky Gogan had the sides level on 0-8 each and when Robert Callaghan put St. Mary's ahead with 10 minutes to go, they were poised to make it two wins from two. But a Dunshaughlin goal three minutes from the end decided the outcome.
The club from the outskirts of Drogheda put that disappointment behind them when they edged out Blackhall Gaels by 2-10 to 2-9 in a thrilling contest at Trim. St. Mary's recovered from the concession of an early goal to reach half-time on level terms, 1-3 apiece, after Nicky Gogan found the net. An unanswered 1-2 pushed Blackhall five points clear on the restart, but St. Mary's stuck to their task and restored parity again thanks to points from Stephen Madden and Robert Callaghan, and another well-worked Gogan goal.
Cormac Drew and Gogan gave St. Mary's the lead in injury-time, but it looked like they would be denied when Blackhall were awarded a penalty at the death. However, Derek O'Brien made himself the hero by saving the spot-kick and ensuring St. Mary's of their second brace of points.
St. Mary's biggest win of the season came against Drumree in Skryne. Robert Callaghan, Stephen Madden and Nicky Gogan scored 0-13 between them to help Mark O'Neill's charges to an emphatic 0-17 to 0-4 win. But that victory was quickly forgotten about after St. Mary's crashed to a 1-8 to 1-12 defeat to champions-elect Clonard in their next outing in Kilberry.
When the sides met in last year's championship, St. Mary's emerged as 10-point winners, while they also overcame the same opposition to claim the Division 5 league title later in the year. However, Clonard were a different proposition this time and despite scoring a goal directly from the throw-in, St. Mary's soon found themselves on the back foot and trailed by 1-2 to 1-6 at the break. Their Westmeath-border opponents extended their lead following the resumption, and withstood a late rally from the Donore outfit to maintain their unbeaten run.
Once again St. Mary's bounced back to beat St. Paul's by 2-13 to 1-5 in their next game before losing to Seneschalstown 0-8 to 2-10 in their final group match. Despite this defeat, they advanced to a quarter-final showdown with Donaghmore/Ashbourne on a Tuesday night in Simonstown. The green and reds had the better of the opening quarter, at the end of which they led by 0-3 to 0-0. A brace of Declan Mulvey points brought Donaghmore/Ashbourne back into it before St. Mary's rallied again to lead by 0-6 to 0-3 at half-time.
The Donore side continued to dictate the pace for much of the second half and had extended their advantage to five points before Donaghmore/Ashbourne were awarded a penalty in the 54th minute. Mulvey tucked it away to reduce the arrears, but St. Mary's continued to protect their two-point lead until deep into stoppage-time when Conor Carey and Stephen Condon both found the target to force extra-time for the Dublin-border outfit.
Having come back from the dead in normal time, Donaghmore/Ashbourne had a spring in their step for the additional 20 minutes and eventually prevailed by two points, 1-9 to 0-10, after a titanic battle.
"It was a tough one to take, especially after leading for so long," Marc ruefully reflects.
"When they got it back to two points at the end of normal time, we missed two chances to put them away and were made to pay for those misses after. We didn't get the rub of the green, but that's the way it goes sometimes."
While St. Mary's fielded on their own in the lower age groups this year, they once again joined forces with neighbours Slane to form Bru na Boinne from under 14 upwards. All the underage teams competed strongly with the under 14, under 15 and minor teams in particular, showing great promise.
"We won the under 14 Division 3 Summer League as well as an under 15 7-a-side tournament in Navan. But the highlight was our victory over Blackhall Gaels in the minor championship final. There is great talent coming through and the future certainly looks bright for both clubs," Marc enthuses.
Top referee Cormac Reilly ensured that St. Mary's were represented on county final day when he took charge of the drawn SFC decider between Summerhill and Dunshaughlin at the beginning of October. He also refereed a number of high-profile inter-county fixtures in what was another busy year for the Donore whistler.
St Mary's lined out as follows in their JFC 'B' opener against Gaeil Colmcille: Derek O'Brien; Eoin Everard, Paul Scanlon, David Gogarty; Robert Victory 0-1, Eoin Craven, Bernard McKeown; Eoin Morrison, James Lynch; Erin Madden 0-2, Stephen Madden 0-2, Robert Callaghan 0-4; Cormac Drew 0-1, Niall Craven, David Smith. Sub used: Nicky Gogan 0-2.
The St Mary's team that drew 1-11 to 2-8 with Clann naGael in the second round of the JFC 'D' was: Jamie Mayfair; Conor Lenihan, Niall Curran, Damien Hughes; Brian Smith, Joey Reynolds, Paul McDonnell; Joe Moore 0-1, Gary Teelan 0-1; Richard Moore 0-1, Alan Fulham, Marc Morrison 0-1; Simon Neary 0-3, Leon Madden 1-4, Pat McHugh.
Underage review
The Under 8 group have been progressing very well this season. We have a solid group of over 20 players. The emphasis is all around learning and fun. All the boys and girls have enjoyed the season so far as a result, and have all improved without exception. We have played in number of blitzes including Castletown, Dungany, Skryne along with our own in St Marys, which was a huge success, thanks to all the parents for their continued support with our blitzes, we have also played a number of friendlies. Throughout the blitzes and friendlies we have seen excellent progress across all players. Thanks to Players, Parents and Mentors Emer Mc Cormick, Sean Loughran, Niall Rooney and Robert Victory.
The Under 10's consist of a group in excess of 24 players. Our match time has focused on skills, team play and discipline, with training seen the introduction some core strength training as well continuing to developing their skills. The results speak for themselves with some excellent football and a high level of skill been played throughout the year. The team have played in many of the Blitzes organised by Meath county board along with local friendly matches. Thanks to all the Players, Parents and especially the Mentors John O'Brien, Ivor O Sullivan and John Hynes.
St Marys Under 12s had a very successful year in 2011 reaching finals of the spring league, summer league and the annual Walterstown 15 a side tournament. The highlight of the year came in early June when all 20 players played in the spring league final in Pairc Tailteann in Navan. Thanks to mentors Paul Scanlon, Matin McMahon and Ciaran Flood.
At Under 14 Level we are amalgamated this neighbours Slane and compete as Bru Na Boinne. This turned out to be a fruitful alliance, with the team winning the Division 7 league along with the Under 14 Summer League. There was a great panel of players all year and success demonstrates this. Thanks to the Mentors Peter Mooney, Thomas White and Finton O' Brien. Tweet
