The kids are all right
December 31, 2004
At juvenile level, 2004 was a truly historic year for Bective, who struck on two fronts, capturing the U14 Division Two Football Championship and the U15 Division Four title. Juvenile secretary Martin Mulhall gave 'Royal County 2004' an insight into what the splendid underage double means to the good gaels of Bective.
Securing two county titles in the space of one season represents a noteworthy achievement for Bective GFC. It's a silverware haul previously unheard of in the club's juvenile ranks, and one worthy of special mention in any tome that claims to chronicle the year's GAA highlights. The double success is not only testimony to the magnificent efforts of all associated with the relevant teams in 2004 (players, mentors, administrators and supporters), but also augurs well for the club's future.
In sport, eradicating inferiority complexes is half the battle. Well, Bective's young guns sure wiped out a few of those in 2004.
Martin Mulhall was part of the strong management team that helped steer the club's under 14 brigade to championship victory in '04. He doubles up as juvenile secretary. Reflecting on the double-winning heroics of the year, he touches upon the significance of the U14/U15 coup: "This is huge. It had never happened before. We've had very limited success at juvenile level, apart from the minor win last year and a Division Four title a few years back, so we're very pleased. Apart from three or four lads, it was more or less the same group of lads who won the two competitions, so we're hopeful that we'll be fairly strong at both U15 and U16 levels next year."
Pride of place must go to the U14 Division Two football championship winning team. As these players had reached the previous year's U13 semi-final, hopes were high that - with extra coaching and improved ball skills and fitness levels - Bective would be able to compete at this level. And so it came to pass.
The management team comprised Martin Mulhall, Peter Byrne, Sean Reilly, Michael Cullen and Michael McCabe. That's a lot of hands to the pump! Clearly, Bective meant business. What was the idea of having so many mentors over one team? The first-mentioned explains: "Each individual on the management team had their own defined role. More people were asked to come and get involved in the preparation of the team and we felt that the lads would benefit from that.
"On the training ground, our approach was to concentrate on ball work. We focused on the basic skills of the game - scoring, passing, moving the ball - rather than getting them to do sit-ups. It doesn't matter how many sit-ups a lad can do it he can't put the ball over the bar. We believe the work paid off because we ended up with a team that was well able to play football. In the game against Carnaross, for example, we ran up a tally of 3-26, which is a huge total for an underage game.
"But it wasn't just about the mentors. There's only so much you can do in preparing a team and then it's down to the players to go out and perform. The kids themselves were very disciplined and were never in trouble with mentors or any other players at any time during the year. They concentrated on playing good football and they were a credit to themselves and to the club. The attitude was excellent and they deserved everything they got."
Coaching/training commenced in early February and there were encouraging turnouts (in excess of 20) at every session. Competing in Division Three, Bective won all their league games before unluckily going down to eventual winners Skryne at the semi-final stage. That match took place at the beginning of May, but the Bective boys would get their revenge just over a month later.
It was vital to regroup for the championship and they did so with the minimum of fuss, recording impressive victories over Ratoath B, St Martins B and Carnaross to book a semi-final place. Herein they came up against none other than Skryne on June 13. The 'semi' took place at Ratoath and Bective were determined to turn the tables on their more illustrious opponents.
After an evenly-contested first half, they got on top after the break and went on to qualify for a first-ever Division Two championship final.
Na Fianna provided the opposition at Pairc Tailteann on June 16. A strong westerly wind swept across the county venue and Bective were glad to have the aid of the elements in the first half, putting a shaky start behind them to tear into a 0-9 to 1-1 interval advantage. Mark Smullen's terrific goal strike shortly after the resumption was a massive boost and Bective went on to prevail by seven points, 3-10 to 2-6.
After the final whistle, team captain Darragh Smyth accepted the Joe Curran Cup. Ruairi Russell gave rousing dressing-room speeches before the game and during the interval, which were greatly appreciated, as was the support throughout the year of all players, parents and general club supporters.
The strong sense of discipline, respect for mentors and referees, and general good conduct displayed by the players all year must also be recognised and highly commended. Four of the Bective team - Mark Smullen, Darragh Smyth, Cathal Lawlor and Jack Grant - went on to represent the club at county U14 level.
During the year, the task of managing and organising games for the seven-ten age group fell to Mary McConnell, Vinno Keating, Francis Carolan and Greg Crinion. This group participated in around 30 training sessions and played about 20 games in total, with all home games refereed by Paddy McConnell.
The club's U12s, U13s and U16s competed to the best of their ability in their respective divisions but failed to make an impression as results did not always go their way. The minors, meanwhile, got to a semi-final at the end of a long season but were beaten therein.
However, it was the U15s who completed a fine year in tremendous style, capturing the U15 Division Four title with a superb win over Dunsany in the final at Walterstown on October 23. This team won every game it played and was ably managed by Sean Reilly, Manus Tiernan, Peter Byrne and Michael Cullen.
Other mentors involved in various teams during the year included Paddy Farrelly, Dessie O'Brien, Jim Sullivan, Gerry Keating, Ruairi Russell, Jack Fagan, Franno Barry and Alan Brady.
The U17s were still in action at the tail end of October and just missed out on a semi-final place by a solitary point.
But didn't the U14s and U15s complete their respective programmes in style?
When did the club first realise that they had a crop of players who could potentially go on to win a county title? "We knew they were a good team from two years ago, when they were U12s. We had added a few lads since then because we're in a good position here on the periphery of the town in that we can pick up lads who are eligible to play for the club. We have a panel of 25 or 26 players there now and the idea is to go on and perform well at a decent level next year and again in 2006 and the following years.
"Winning trophies in 2004 will have given the players confidence to go out and express themselves and play football. They played very good football all year and we received a lot of compliments and good wishes from other clubs about the way we were playing. This is one of the most promising crops of players we've had at juvenile level and we're hoping they'll stick at it.
"We're looking forward to 2005. While we'd welcome more success, that's not necessarily what we're looking for. We'll be happy if the lads give a good account of themselves. Hopefully next year's U16s can hold their own in the higher division. Then, when it comes to the U15s in September, we'd expect them to perform well because we know the talent and ability are there."
That is beyond question.
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