St Ultan's gained promotion from Div 4 of the league and bowed out of the Junior 'A' Football Championship, when they went under to eventual winners Ratoath in the quarter-finals. Colm Travers reviewed an eventful year for the club. St. Ultan's had twin-pronged aspirations at the start of 2004 - to regain their intermediate status at the first time of asking and gain promotion to Div 3 of the league. It was a big ask for the progressive club, but one that they ultimately failed to achieve. In a gun to the head situation most members of the club would have prioritised league promotion ahead of championship success. The feeling on the ground is that the club had been languishing in Div 4 for far too long. "We would probably have settled for promotion to Div 3 at the start of the year ahead of winning the championship. It was generally felt we would struggle at intermediate next year, if we were still playing Div 4 football," Colm recalled. So when St. Ultan's gained promotion by winning their last league game over Kilbride a sense of a job well done was palpable. "That victory over Kilbride was really our league final. The winners of that game were promoted to Div 3 while the losers stayed in Div 4. It was a huge victory for us," he explained. That Ratoath beat St. Ultan's in the Div 4 final, 1-9 to 0-8 will prove a source of irritation, but it won't deflect from the fact that their ultimate goal of promotion was attained. "I think Ratoath beat us four or five times this year. Obviously when you get to a league final you want to win it, but promotion to Div 3 was a great consolation prize. We always spoke of getting promotion not winning the league final," Colm elaborated. When the draw for the Junior 'A' FC was made St. Ultan's felt they were in with a great chance of qualifying from a group which included: Bective, Gaeil Colmcille, Skryne, Dunshaughlin, Simonstown, Clann na nGael, and Dunderry. "When the draw was made we felt we were in the easier of the three groups and fancied our chances of getting out of the group. We felt Simonstown, Skryne, Dunshaughlin and Dunderry would also be looking to qualify," he affirmed. St. Ultan's opened their campaign with an emphatic victory over Bective in Round 1. That victory set the tone for the rest of the group games where St. Ultan's invariably ran out easy winners. "We beat them 1-15 to 0-2. It was an easy victory for us. It was important to open up with a victory, and that is exactly what we did," he recalled. Gaeil Colmcille proved better opposition in Round 2, but they too fell under the St. Ultan's sword 1-15 to 0-7. "They gave a hard game of it and were better than the score suggests. Having said that it was another easy victory," he noted. St. Ultan's felt that Skyrne would give them a stern examination in Round 3, but they fell by the wayside with little or no resistance. "We were disappointed with Skryne. We beat them 3-18 to 0-1. We had expected them to give us a hard game," Colm opined. Equally, St. Ultan's thought that Dunshaughlin would test their metal in Round 4. But like Bective, Gael Colmcille and Skryne before them, they capitulated on a 3-18 to 0-5 scoreline. North Navan outfit Simonstown were the first team to throw down the gauntlet to St. Ultan's in the group stages of the championship. "Simonstown had won all their games going into that match. We were confident that we could beat them, but we weren't overconfident," he mused. He continued: "I think they lead throughout. We just couldn't lift our game. It was the first time we had been behind in the championship all year, and we weren't able to respond." St. Ultan's returned to winning ways in the final two group games when they handed down beatings to Clann na nGael (4-10 to 1-5) and Dunderry (2-16 to 0-5) respectively. Those victories ensured St. Ultan's topped the group ahead of Simonstown and Skryne. The manner in which St. Ultan's sauntered through the group, with the notable exception of the Simonstown match, did little to prepare them for the tougher challenges that lay ahead in the knock-out stages of the championship. "We looked very good in the group and clocked up some impressive victories. We also played extremely well in the league, where we were playing and beating mostly Junior 'B' teams." Former Meath player Jody Devine, who managed the team and his selectors Dessie Murtagh and Tommy Allen, probably had as many unanswered questions at the end of the group as they had before the team kicked a ball in anger at the start of the competition. True they had established that St. Ultan's free-scoring forwards in which Eugene Brady played a starring role, could knock up match winning scores. But just how good was the opposition? "We looked extremely good in those games and played some great football, but we knew we were in the weaker group. With hindsight we might have been better off in a harder group, where we had to fight for our victories," Colm suggested. When St. Ultan's were pitted against Ratoath in the quarter-finals everyone concerned with the club knew were in for a thorough examination. "We just couldn't lift our game on the day. They had come through a tough group with the likes of Dunsany, Moynalvey and O'Mahony's and were mentally tougher on the day," he added. Rataoth also dumped St. Ultan's out of the Junior 'C' championship in the quarter-finals on a 4-10 to 1-10 scoreline. The game was much closer that the score would suggest, according to Colm. "Ratoath won the game by nine points but if you took their goals out of it, there was nothing between the teams. The Junior 'C's had been going extremely well up to that point and we felt they could go on and win the championship," he recalled. With an eye on 2005, Colm is looking forward to renewing his acquaintance with Jody Devine has committed himself to the St. Ultan's cause for another year. "It wasn't through the lack of effort or preparation that we lost to Ratoath. Jody had at least 30 lads at training every night. The lads responded well to Jodie and they put in a great effort all year long." He continued: "He is talking about varying the training next year and trying out a few ideas - training on the beach at Bettystown and so on. There is even talk that he is going to bring in a goalkeeping coach to work with the goalkeepers. There will be fierce competition for places, which can only be good for the team." Colm believes St. Ultan's will be better prepared for the cauldron that can be Junior 'A' championship football in 2005 by virtue of their promotion to Div3 of the league this time round. "There are several intermediate teams in Div 3 of the league, so we will be coming up against quality opposition all the time. We missed out on that level of competition this year," he noted. St. Ultan's will be hoping to quickly find their feet in Div 3, before launching an assault on the Junior 'A' FC, which will be the priority for the year. "We want to get back to intermediate as quickly as we can. The longer we are Junior, the harder it will become to regain our intermediate status. Other clubs have found that out in the past," he concluded. Tweet

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