By clinching their first-ever minor trophy in September, Ballinlough proved that there's plenty of life in their neck of the woods. The MFL Div. 3 success provided the club with a welcome boost and the signs are encouraging that there could be plenty more where that came from. Ballinlough captured their first-ever minor title when defeating Longwood by 1-14 to 1-11 in a replayed MFL Division Three final at Athboy on Saturday September 27th. After leading by nine points to five at the interval, the Ballinlough battlers (who came back from the dead in the drawn game) gave as good as they got in the second half to complete an historic breakthrough victory. An excellent opportunist goal from Cian Mallon had the north Meath outfit five points to the good but Longwood reduced the differential to three points before Ballinlough goalie Brian Smith pulled off an exceptional save to preserve his team's scoreboard superiority. From there, they never looked back. The winners led the replay virtually from start to finish - in contrast to the drawn game where they dramatically snatched a draw with a stunning late revival. After the decider, Royal County Minor Football Board vice chairman Tommy Mahon presented the trophy to winning captain Brendan 'Benji' Smith. The 2003 breakthrough is the culmination of years of hard work that have been invested into Ballinlough's juvenile section - in a concerted effort to bolster the club's flagging fortunes and to provide genuine reason to look to the future with confidence. While the club has meet with quite a degree of success at underage level these past few years (most notably an U15 and U17 double in '01), the minor triumph is by far the most significant. Furthermore, the fact that the successes of '01 and '03 were achieved with more or less three different teams is also a source of encouragement. In an otherwise disappointing year for Ballinlough (the seniors lost their Division One status and failed to impact in the Keegan Cup), the minors definitely took pride of place in 2003. Since its foundation in 1897, the club had gone 106 years without annexing a minor County Board trophy. Of course, they haven't always ploughed a lone furrow at under 18 level - for about 15 years up until 2002, they were amalgamated with Kilmainhamwood (under the fighting name of Killough Gaels) in the minor grade. However, in '02 the decision was taken to go out on their own. The results have been immediate: at their first attempt, the 'Lough reached the Division Three minor league decider, only to fall at the final hurdle. This year, though, they came back stronger and more determined than ever, finishing the job in decidedly impressive fashion. It's worth stressing that this is a notoriously competitive and difficult competition to win. There was very little between the top four or five teams in the grade and Ballinlough had to summon up remarkable reserves of character at critical stages in their campaign to ultimately prevail. For example, in both their semi-final (against St Ciaran's) and final victories, they reversed earlier group stage defeats, which is no mean feat. But the character, determination and belief instilled by team manager Vincent Ryan and his assistant Aidan Finlay came to the surface when it mattered most. Vinny has been working with this particular crop of players for four years, while Aidan has been nurturing them for twice as long. Vinny's first year at the helm was 2000 and Ballinlough reached the U15 Division Three semi-final. The following year, as U16s, that team reached the county final. In 2002, the U17s had to play in Division Two, and were a little out of their depth. The same could not be said of the minor team in '03, however, who took full advantage of being regraded back to Div 3 and the 13-a-side fare that better suits a small rural club with sparse numbers to choose from. Ballinlough kicked off their campaign with an away victory over Dunderry and maintained their 100% record when conquering Walterstown at home. They drew away to St Pat's of Stamullen but lost at home to neighbours St Ciaran's (Carnaross/Moynalty). They also recorded wins over Blackfort Gaels (Kilmainhamwood/St Michael's), Ballivor and neighbours Oldcastle (Oldcastle's only defeat of the group stage!) but came away from Longwood with nothing. Still, that form was good enough to guarantee a semi-final spot. Longwood defeated Oldcastle after extra time in the first 'semi', while the 'Lough took on nearby St Ciaran's up the road in Drumbaragh. Considering that they had already lost to the Ciarans and were forced to field without Meath minor and inspirational captain Benji Smith, the victory that materialised was truly astonishing. The final was against Longwood - a fixture with a bit of history to it. Longwood had beaten Ballinlough in the U16 final two years earlier and also came out on top in the group stage of the 2003 minor league. So, effectively, it was the 'Lough's third crack at the south Meath boys. They came out on top ... but only after a replay! Both games took place in Athboy. Ballinlough trailed by eight points at the short whistle the first day and things were looking gloomy but they dug deep to force a replay in which they were never headed. The manner in which Ballinlough broke their minor duck (reversing the form against a team they hadn't beaten previously) suggests that this particular crop of players is improving all the time. Is this the case? Manager Vinny Ryan hopes so: "You will always be hoping that they're improving and we'd like to think that they're getting better with each passing year. We've shuffled things, moved a few players around, and have used different tactics at various stages depending on who we're playing. In general, the lads have adapted very well. These players have been together for a while now and hopefully they've learned from the experience." Vinny is quick to emphasise that Ballinlough deployed their full complement of 18 over the campaign and that every player contributed handsomely to their success. Each and every player was of equal importance. "We didn't have any subs, as such. It was an all-round team effort. The five lads who didn't make the starting 13 for the final all played at various stages throughout the year and we wouldn't have made it through to the final without them. That's a fact. All 18 players were vital." Of the 18, only five are ineligible for minor football next year, so Ballinlough should have another strong side at their disposal. For the record, Ballinlough's 2003 MFL Div 3 winning team was: Brian Smith; Dessie Reilly, Lorcan Maguire; Robbie Farrell, Derek Muldoon, Conor Briody; Benji Smith, Conor Maguire; Cian Mallon, David McEnroe, Simon Deevy; Nicholas Finlay, Philip Davis. Subs: Paul Tully, Barry Farrell, Alan Smith, Padraig Ryan, Andrew Hyland. In the past four years, Ballinlough have contested six juvenile finals, winning three - this year's minor and the U15/U17 double in 2001 (against Ballivor and Walterstown respectively). They were also beaten in last year's minor (by Dunsany) and U16 (by St Ciaran's) deciders, as well as the 2001 U16 final against Longwood. At the time of writing, the club's U13s - trained by Sean Smith - were preparing to play in a county U13 semi- final. "Sean has 21 consecutive years of involvement with underage football in Ballinlough, from U8 level to U14, and is one of the longest-serving underage mentors countrywide never mind in Meath! He was the first trainer these lads had and a great deal of credit is due to Sean for initially getting this team together. "Sean does it for us every week. The club is completely indebted to the service he has given and you couldn't speak highly enough of him. Also, Gary Corcoran is now in his second year with the U15s/U16s and he's doing a great job as well." Vinny himself played for the club's seniors in the latter part of the 2003 season, entering the fray in May having undergone two operations (knee; ankle) in January. It was a forgettable year for the north Meath outfit: "We were disappointed to be relegated to Division Two for the first time since 1996. We didn't perform particularly well in the championship either, though at least we preserved our senior status. As it stands, we're under no illusions ... we know we're in the lower echelons of senior football. "Ballinlough are going through a transition phase at the moment, with a lot of the older fellas who have been on the team since we won the junior championship in 1988 still involved and a lot of younger lads coming through, but very little in between. Basically, we're between two teams ... there are plenty of older lads and lots of young talent but very few players in their 20s. "But hopefully the underage successes will prove important. At least we have young players coming through who have a taste of success. That's vital for a rural club like Ballinlough with such a small population to pick from and the lower number of national school pupils. "We're struggling with numbers while other areas are developing rapidly but, if we can consolidate our senior status for another couple of years, there's plenty of talent coming through." Tweet

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