Smyth hails Moynalvey's efforts
November 27, 2011
Having won the junior football title in 2008, Moynalvey have been establishing themselves in the intermediate ranks. However the general consensus was that they were a team still building and would in another few years be competing for honours in the second tier championship. But ...
However, this year saw the maroon and whites take the Mattie McDonnell Cup competition by storm as they shocked many to go on and take the title and make a welcome return to the senior ranks for the 2012 campaign.
Newly appointed Moynalvey chairman John Smyth spoke to the Royal County Yearbook and he explains that this year's success was the culmination of a lot of hard work this year and indeed since they won the junior in 2008.
The fact that the county final staring XV possessed four county minors (Padraig Harnan, Anthony Forde, Cillian O'Sullivan and James Kelly) shows that the management team had great faith in their youth and it certainly paid off as each player played his part.
At the start of the year, Roscommon natives Alan Kelly and Padraig Mullally were brought in to manage and train the team respectively and John who was a selector in 2011 revealed that right from the start the new management team brought training to a new level.
"Straight away Padraig and Alan had the lads believing in themselves and the level of professionalism that the brought to the side really was the difference throughout the year. They covered everything from training to preparation to games themselves and no stone was left unturned in their aim to win the championship," admitted John.
One thing that the management team did press upon the players was that to take the campaign one step at a time and the first aim was to qualify out of the group and reach the knockouts stages of the championship.
"Yeah the aim was to get out of the group anyway. When the draw was made, we knew that we had the players capable of doing that. The lads had the players enjoying their football and training, which is very important."
John point to the fact that as a dual club, it was important that there was a happy medium between the hurling and football and he stressed that it could not have worked any better this year. "The hurlers and footballers trained together at the start of the year and I believe that this was a great benefit to both clubs and there is a great working relationship there."
Moynalvey went about their business in the group stage in a professional manner as they topped their group and advanced straight into the semi final. John feels that this was important as avoiding the potential banana skin of a quarterfinal gave them a great chance of reaching the final.
"It was important to top the group as it gave the lads great confidence, but Alan made sure that they would not be complacent at any stage and he kept them firmly grounded. Avoiding a quarterfinal was also important as they can always prove very difficult as is any game in the knockout stages."
Dunderry would provide the opposition in the semi final and despite they going in as favourites due to the amount of experience they would have at this level, Moynalvey were certainly not overawed by the occasion.
"Even though we would have a lot of young players in the side, there is a lot of experience there too, which was a massive help to the younger lads. The likes of Barry O'Keeffe transferred from Kilcock and he was a huge addition to the side. We put in a good performance against Dunderry and we knew that anything was possible at this stage."
In the final, Moynalvey took time to settle as opponents Gaeil Colmcille got off to a terrific start and with ten minutes of the half remaining, the Kells men lead by seven points, but Moynalvey hit three points to reduce the deficit significantly and it paved the way for an inspirational second half performance as they went on to claim their first intermediate title since 1983.
"The points kicked just before half time really made the difference. If we had gone in seven or eight points down at half time, it would have been very hard to come back from, but those scores gave our lads great confidence and it was a remarkable performance in the second half.
"John Donoghue really played a captain's part as he lifted the side with some exceptional play. John has seen it all before and his experience really came to the fore and it was just such relief when the final whistle went. It has been a remarkable rise in just a few years."
And now for life in the top flight, as Moynalvey prepare for life as a senior team and John stressed that maintaining their status at the top table would be their main priority for the 2012 campaign. "To consolidate our place in the senior championship would be the main priority. We are in division three of the league which is not ideal for a senior team, so another aim would be to try and get out of that division and into a higher one.
"We definitely feel that we have the players in the club to maintain our senior status, the younger lads have a year or two under their belts now and that will stand to them next year, while the more experienced lads are still young enough to carry on for a few years yet."
John pointed to the club's underage structure as one of their main reasons for their meteoric rise back to the senior ranks and he feels that it is the hard work of many people that have helped them get to the level they are at now.
"There is a huge amount of work being done at underage level and the club are very lucky to have so many people willing to help out, while the kids have received brilliant coaching and that has begun to pay off at adult level as we seen this year."
Away from the football field, John is Contracts Manager with KN Networks Services, an Irish owned company that provides many services to some of the country's most established businesses and state owned firms including Iarnrod Eireann, ESB and Vodafone to name just a few.
"Our clients include many blue chip organisations, local authorities/councils, and new technology operators such as BT, 3, UPC, London Underground, Iarnrod Eireann and Dublin City Council. We have offices in Dungannon, Cork, Dublin and we recently opened one in London."
KN Network Services offer managed service solutions across a number of sectors. We consistently deliver a quality service that meets the onerous requirements dictated by industry.
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