Underage success lifts St. Michael's
November 27, 2011Intermediate semi-finalists in 2010 and quarter-finalists in 2009 and 2008, St. Michael's failed to reach the same heights this year when a run of poor results saw their championship interests ended at an early stage.
Like many rural clubs in Meath, St. Michael's have been badly hit by emigration and this was reflected in their performances, which were disappointing to say the least. But amid the doom and gloom, the Kilbeg/Carlanstown club could take encouragement from their efforts at underage level, which yielded minor and under 16 league titles as well as an under 14 league final appearance.
There was great excitement when Blackfort Gaels, who are a combination of St. Michael's and Kilmainhamwood, overcame Moynalty by 3-11 to 2-7 to lift the Division 5 minor league crown at Pairc Tailteann in May. The success was made all the sweeter by the fact that Blackfort had lost the delayed 2010 under 17 league final to the same opposition just four months earlier.
St. Michael's fielded on their own in the under 16 and under 14 grades, and both teams gave excellent accounts of themselves by reaching league finals. But while the under 16s were victorious over Moynalty in their Division 5 final, there was disappointment for the under 14s who were forced to give second best to a powerful Skryne outfit in their Division 2 decider.
"We've put a lot of work into the underage and it's nice to see it paying off," a contented St. Michael's chairman and PRO Pascal Reilly said.
"From under 8 upwards, the work is being put in. It was great to get our hands on two trophies this year - it helped to softened the blow of our failure to reach the knockout stages of the intermediate championship. The underage players are the future of our club and I can only hope that we can keep them involved."
St. Michael's provided the nucleus of the Blackfort Gaels team that claimed minor league honours at Moynalty's expense. The losers started strongly and scored the first three points before Michael Murphy eventually opened Blackfort's account in the 14th minute. Further points from Murphy and Jamie Farrelly tied up the match after 20 minutes before Ross O'Shea put the combination side ahead with a goal in the 23rd minute.
Points from Farrelly and Peter O'Connell extended their lead before Moynalty came back to life in the closing stages of the half by scoring 1-1 to leave just the minimum in it, 1-5 to 1-4, at the break.
Straight from the restart, however, Ross O'Shea netted to put Blackfort back in the driving seat and when Murphy, Farrelly and O'Shea all tagged on points, there were suddenly six between the sides. Moynalty rallied to reduce the gap to just two points with nine minutes to go, but they failed to score again as O'Shea completed his hat-trick and Ronan Lynch added a late point to seal an impressive win for Blackfort.
Moynalty were also St. Michael's victims in the under 16 Division 5 league decider at Pairc Tailteann. The red and blacks laid the foundations for an emphatic 5-14 to 0-4 win in the first half when they stormed into a 4-7 to 0-4 lead after playing with the aid of a strong breeze.
The sides were level on 0-2 apiece after five minutes, but St. Michael's took complete control thereafter with the outstanding Gary Dolan registering 3-2 in the first half alone. Peter O'Connell scored 1-1 from midfield while Ronan Lynch, Matthew Halpin and Oran Meehan were also on target.
Despite having the wind to their backs in the second half, a deflated Moynalty side could only muster one point for the entire half as goalkeeper Aaron Kernan and defenders Daniel Murphy, John O'Brien, Luke Moran and Matthew Halpin kept their attack at bay. St. Michael's added further gloss to the scoreline when Oran Meehan bagged their fifth goal three minutes from time.
Sadly, there was to be no hat-trick of underage league titles with Skryne proving too strong for St. Michael's in the Division 2 final at Cortown. The Kilbeg/Carlanstown youngsters had played some brilliant football in this highly-competitive division, but found Skryne's challenge a bridge too far as they succumbed to a 0-5 to 2-10 defeat.
Shane McDonnell was the only St. Michael's player to raise a white flag in the first half and it took some great saves from Joey Curran to keep the deficit down to five points, 0-6 to 0-1, at half-time. A Skryne goal immediately after the restart put the result beyond doubt, but St. Michael's battled to the end regardless with Ben Tobin, Michael Dunne, Matthew Halpin and Christopher Drew among those who ran themselves into the ground.
While St. Michael's made a big impact at underage level in 2011, they will not hold fond memories of an intermediate championship campaign that was as good as over after the third round. Successive defeats to Carnaross, Dunderry and Syddan in Group B made for what was arguably their most disappointing campaign since they won the junior championship after a 23-year lapse in 2005.
Of course, St. Michael's weren't helped by the departures of the O'Reilly brothers, John Barry and Phelim, as well as Ciaran McCormack to Australia, and Peter Clinton to New Zealand. In addition, Derek Flood missed the whole season through injury, while Ciaran Lynch - who captained St. Michael's to an U21 championship two years ago - commuted from London for championship games.
"Emigration took a heavy toll on us this year," the St. Michael's chairman explained.
"I've been involved with the club since the 1980s and can't remember it being as bad. We suffered another setback when our manager Christy Regan was involved in an accident and Tommy Moriarty had to take over the reins at short notice. In fairness to Tommy, the lads knew him well from his playing days and would have a lot of respect for him. And Christy was still able to have a say along with our other selectors Mark Meehan, Pat O'Connell and Ambrose Cassidy."
The tone for the year was set when St. Michael's lost their opening championship game to neighbours Carnaross at Kells. In what was a repeat of last year's semi-final, a brilliant individual display from John L McGee - who finished with a personal tally of 1-10 - proved decisive as Carnaross emerged victorious on a 1-15 to 1-10 scoreline.
Goals from Steven Coogan and Damien Clarke saw St. Michael's lose their next fixture to Dunderry by 0-9 to 2-9, and their championship interests were ended with a round still to play when they succumbed to Syddan by 0-8 to 1-10 in Drumconrath.
"We leaked a lot of goals and that was probably our downfall," Pascal ruefully reflected.
"Carnaross got an early goal against us, Dunderry got two against us and we also conceded against Syddan. Even though we lost to Syddan by five points, we still could have won that game. We dominated possession in the second half, but couldn't make it count and that was certainly one that got away from us."
The Blackfort Gaels team that defeated Moynalty in the Division 5 league final was: Pauric Carolan; Sam Briody, Daniel Murphy; Stephen O'Brien, Jamie Reilly, Gary Dolan; Paul McCormack, Ronan Lynch; Thomas McGrath 0-1, Jamie Farrelly 0-3, Peter O'Connell 0-1; Michael Murphy 0-4, Ross O'Shea 3-1.
Subs: Jordan Moran for Peter O'Connell, Brian Allen for Ronan Lynch, Darren Owens for Ross O'Shea.
St. Michael's under 16 Division 5 league winning team was: Aaron Kernan; Daniel Murphy, John O'Brien; Luke Moran, Matthew Halpin (0-1), Christopher Drew; Jamie Reilly, Jordan Moran, (0-2); Gary Dolan (3-3), Peter O'Connell (1-2), Adam O'Brien; Ronan Lynch (0-5), Oran Meehan (1-1).
Subs: Thomas O'Brien for Adam O'Brien, Michael Dunne for Christopher Drew, Lee Morris for Ronan Lynch.
The St. Michael's under 14 team that finished runners-up to Skryne in the Division 2 final was: Joey Curran; Alan Reilly, Michael Dunne, Adam O'Brien; Stephen Dolan, Christopher Drew, Ben Tobin; Thomas O'Brien 0-1, Matthew Halpin 0-1; Craig McGivern, Dylan Moran, Ray Reilly; Conor Smith, Shane McCormack 0-1, Shane McDonnell 0-2.
Subs: Caolan McConnell for Conor Smith, Michael Fitzsimons for Craig McGivern. Tweet
