Silverware for St. Vincent's
November 27, 2011Beaten at the penultimate stage of the JFC 'B' for the second year running, St. Vincent's had the consolation of winning the Division 5 league title at Slane's expense.
In what was Garristown native John Sheridan's first year back as manager in more than a decade, the Ardcath men gave an excellent account of themselves in all competitions. As well as reaching the JFC 'B' semi-final and claiming the Division 5 crown, they qualified for the knockout stages of the JFC 'D' and were just one point away from reaching the final of the Division 4 'B' league.
"While we were disappointed not to achieve our goal of winning the junior 'B' championship, I would have taken what we ended up with at the start of the year," states John, who had spent 12 years as Boyne RFC's director of rugby before returning to St. Vincent's this year.
"During a previous spell as St. Vincent's manager about 20 years ago, I won a Division 4 title with them so it was nice to be able to come back and win a bit of silverware this year. The thing which I took the most encouragement from, however, was the big numbers we had. Between all the teams, every fella got football this year and that was the most important thing. We competed strongly on all fronts and fielded an U21 team for the first time in a number of years."
St. Vincent's capture of the Division 5 title helped them to get over the disappointment of their JFC 'B' semi-final extra-time loss to eventual champions Clonard. The league decider against Slane was played just a fortnight after the championship exit and a week after the sudden death of former player Aodhagan Smith, which rocked the close-knit club to its foundation.
"There was a lot of doom and gloom after we lost the championship semi-final and then for Aodhagan to pass away at the age of just 38, it put everything into perspective. Aodhagan was a great servant to the club and was selected to play for the Meath Green Stars after St. Vincent's last won the junior 'B' championship in 2003. We had to try and pick ourselves up for the league final a week later and winning that gave everyone a much-needed lift," recalls John, whose selectors were Richie Dunne and Shay Lane from Duleek.
The St. Vincent's manager believes it would have been travesty had they not finished the year as Division 5 champions after going through the campaign undefeated and beating Slane twice before the teams met for a third time in the final.
"We could have dropped our heads after going out of the championship, but after beating Slane both home and away, the last thing we wanted to do was lose the final to them. The lads put in too much work to not end up with something to show for their efforts," he says.
Played in a downpour in Ashbourne, the league final was keenly contested with Craig Smith's early goal for Slane throwing down the gauntlet to St. Vincent's. Tommy Field opened the scoring for the Ardcath side, but they still trailed by 0-2 to 1-2 after 20 minutes. However, a goal and a point from corner forward Declan O'Sullivan and another minor from Patrick Arnold saw St. Vincent's lead by 1-4 to 1-2 at the break.
St. Vincent's remained in the ascendancy after the restart and three more points without reply from Arnold, Robert Tallon and substitute Eoin Collins had them perched on a 1-7 to 1-2 lead with 10 minutes remaining. Slane looked a beaten docket, but they then pulled back a point through Alan Harding before they were awarded a penalty. As it turned out, St. Vincent's 'keeper Cathal Tallon made a brilliant save to deny Harding, but the pressure remained on John Sheridan's side as John Clarke and Eoin Feely added points to leave Slane just two adrift.
Tommy Field thought he had sealed it for St. Vincent's when he stuck the ball in the net down the other end, only to have the 'goal' disallowed. Slane were still in it and came looking for the winning goal, but the Vincent's defence held firm.
Earlier in the year, St. Vincent's had successfully negotiated their way through Group B of the JFC 'B' to qualify for the knockout stages. The signs didn't look good when they lost their first two games to Donaghmore/Ashbourne (1-7 to 2-9) and Ratoath (0-4 to 1-11). But victories over Dunderry (0-12 to 0-7) and Boardsmill (1-9 to 0-6) got them up-and-running, and they showed their title credentials when hammering St. Colmcille's 2-22 to 2-2 in their next outing.
St. Vincent's continued their good form with another comfortable win over St. Patrick's (1-14 to 0-3), which earned them the local bragging rights. The Stamullen outfit held the lead twice in the early stages, but once the Vincent's found their rhythm they were never troubled. Two points each from Martin Byrne and Tommy Field helped them to a 0-6 to 0-2 half-time lead and a goal and a point from Tommy Field early in the second half ended the game as a contest. Ronan Sheridan and substitute Declan O'Sullivan were also on target as the maroon and whites pulled clear for a comfortable win.
A 2-12 to 1-6 victory over Walterstown earned St. Vincent's their fifth brace of league points before a 0-8 each draw with Moynalty in their final group match in Bective saw them progress to the quarter-finals as the third placed team in Group B. Moynalty, who also made it through to the last eight in fourth place, led by 0-7 to 0-3 at the break, but the Ardcath men battled back with second half points from Martin Byrne, Ronan Sheridan, Tommy Field (two) and Bob Tallon to rescue a share of the spoils.
In the quarter-final, St. Vincent's accounted for Seneschalstown by 1-8 to 2-3 to set up a semi-final showdown with Clonard at Pairc Tailteann. After bowing out at the same stage to Trim last year, the east Meath side were determined to go one better and they opened brightly with Maurice Carberry and Tommy Field notching the first two points. Clonard levelled through David Rowley and Bernard Reilly before Martin Fox finished Robert Tallon's centre to the net to give the Vincent's a 1-3 to 0-3 lead.
The same margin separated the teams at half-time, 1-5 to 0-5, but a trio of points from David Rowley had Clonard back on level terms going into the last five minutes. A wasteful St. Vincent's went 28 minutes of the second half without scoring before Eoin Collins found the net to restore their three-point advantage. But just when thoughts started to drift towards a first final appearance since 2008, Clonard's Kenneth Darby grabbed a late equalising goal to force extra-time, 1-8 to 2-5.
A Bernard Reilly goal, followed by a Darren McNevin point, had Clonard in the driving seat at the end of the first period, and another Reilly point in the second period saw Kevin Foley's side advance to the final on a 2-10 to 2-7 scoreline.
"I always felt we were good enough to win the championship, even after losing our first two games," Sheridan contends.
"And I don't think I was too far off the mark. Fair dues to Clonard for going on to win the final - it meant a lot to them and it would have been the same for us - but the reality is that we blew it against them. We had the game won, only to let them in for a last-minute goal and that gave them the momentum going into extra-time.
"Having been away from the scene for a few years, I was amazed at the standard of the junior 'B' championship, especially when it came to the quarter-final and semi-final stage. I cannot praise our lads enough for the effort and commitment they gave this year. Winning the league has given us something to build on and hopefully we'll be able to take the next step in the championship next year."
Wins over Drumbaragh, Wolfe Tones and Dunderry, coupled with a draw against Bective, saw St. Vincent's second team qualify for a JFC 'D' quarter-final meeting with Ballinabrackey. By then, however, they had lost a host of players to the first team (23 saw action in the JFC 'B) and didn't have the strength in depth to cope with an impressive Ballinabrackey outfit.
The year's highlight at underage level was provided by the St. Vincent's/Curraha's minor team who defeated St. Patrick's 4-9 to 1-10 in the Division 3 championship decider in Skryne. Full forward Ciaran O'Hanrahan bagged a hat-trick of goals as the combination side came from a point down with seven minutes to go to land the spoils.
St. Vincent's lined out as follows in their Division 5 league final win over Slane: Cathal Tallon; Niall Tallon, Davy Tallon, Darren Hand; Ciaran Hand, Stephen Creed, Ciaran Sheridan; Maurice Carberry, Ronan Sheridan; Robert Tallon, Martin Byrne, Patrick Arnold; Declan O'Sullivan, Tommy Field, Martin Fox. Sub used: Eoin Collins.
The St. Vincent's/Curraha MFC Division 3 winning team was: Conor White; Evan McGovern, Barry O'Sullivan, Conor Joyce; James McEntee, Mark Crawley, Seamus Hogan; Neil Shortall, Martin Fox; Shane O'Brien, Eoin Hand, John Mangan; Donal McDermott, Ciaran O'Hanrahan, Aaron McDonnell. Subs used: David Toner, Jamie Harford, Daniel Doran and Billy O'Connor.
St. Vincent's/Curraha minor section report
Minor League
Our Minors reached the semi-final of Division 4 but came out on the wrong side of the result against Wolfe Tones. Following wins against St. Patrick's, Nobber and Dunderry and losses to Killary Emmets and Wolfe Tones we finished second in the group to set up another meeting with the Kilberry side. Despite playing reasonably well, we conceded five goals and that left us with a huge mountain to climb. In the end we went down on a score line of 5-5 to 1-14.
Minor Championship
We were successful in the Division 3 Minor Championship, beating St. Patricks in the final. In the group stages we beat Nobber and St. Colmcilles but lost to the Stamullen-Julianstown outfit. This put us into a semi final against Blackfort Gaels, whom we overcame despite playing with fourteen men for 55 minutes of the game. That result set us up for a showdown with our earlier conquerors, but we reversed the result on a scoreline of 4-9 to 1-10. Captain Ciaran O'Hanrahan was inspirational with a hat trick of goals on the day.
Congratulations to Neil Shortall who represented St. Vincent's / Curraha for the Meath Minors this year.
U16 League
This competition brought about another semi-final loss, this time to Simonstown Gaels. We started poorly with a loss to St. Colmcilles but responded well the following week with a hard earned away victory over Na Fianna. A second loss, this time to Ratoath, left us with a lot to do in our final two league games. Good performances in wins against Summerhill and Simonstown ensured we progressed to the semi-final where we would be paired against Simonstown. Roy Moore and David Toner were in particular good scoring form in our last game, getting 1-8 and 2-6 respectively. It wasn't to be in the semi-final though as the Navan side, which would go on to be outright winners, required extra time to overcome a strong challenge in an exciting game.
U16 Summer League
The side had a poor campaign in this particular competition, with losses to Killary Emmets, Ratoath, and Summerhill. The points we got from our draw with Ballivor and our win over Seneschalstown were not enough to secure us a place in the semi finals.
U15 League
Our under 15s were the next team to go out at the penultimate stage, as they were up against it in a very strong Division 2. Despite heavy defeats at the hands of Seneschalstown, Na Fianna and Dunboyne, we got through thanks to a win against Ratoath and a walkover from Trim. We met Dunboyne in the semi-final, where we were well beaten once again.
U17 League
We began with a loss to a strong Skryne side and this was followed up with another defeat against Trim, meaning we needed to get wins in both of our last two group games to progress to the knockout stages. This was achieved, as we were successful against Moynalvey and Dunsany. We have been drawn against Dunsany in a play-off for a place in the semi-final, and this game is fixed for the 16th of November.
Thanks to our mentors who were involved with all the above teams: James O'Brien, Eamon McGuinness, Pat Brangan, Shaun Murray, Thomas Hand (all St. Vincent's), John Hogan, Ray Toner, Pat Moriarty, Padraic O'Dowd and John McDermott (all Curraha). Tweet
