The Junior B FC decider provided the most dramatic conclusion to any of the Meath championship finals in 2003 with St Vincent's snatching the title in sensational fashion with a late, late goal from a penalty. Just when it appeared as if Boardsmill were about to claim the title, the Ardcath side threw everything bar the kitchen sink at the goals at the hospital end of Pairc Tailteann at the end of the first game of the three-tier programme on SFC final day and their persistence was richly rewarded. Following a schmozzle in front of the uprights, referee Gerry McGivney took the brave decision of awarding a penalty and long-serving full forward Richie Dunne did not look the 'gift horse' in the mouth as confidently slotted the kick to the net. That left St Vincent's winners by 1-10 to 2-6. The wearers of the maroon and white were bridging a gap of some 48 years and remarkably their last championship triumph before that was gained in the senior grade. That was in 1955 when Kells Harps were defeated in what was only the third Keegan Cup decider. St Vincent's, who had gained intermediate honours in '53 had no shortage of players with inter county experience when they won their one and only SFC title. There were just two divisions in the SFC that year and no semi-finals - the top sides in the respective groups met each other in the decider. The Ardcath side defeated Donaghmore, the previous year's champions Skryne, Trim and Dunboyne to reach the final where their opponents were the favourites. However, it would be more than ten more years before the Keegan Cup would be feted in Kells. This writer has a vague recollection of attending the 1955 Meath SFC final and can recall a blonde flier in the Vincent's attack. Jimmy Curran had already made his mark with the Mayo senior team and was one of the big stars of the famous triumph. Christo and Ja Hand, Des Taaffe, Paddy Dunne, Pat 'Chap' Black and rising star Mick Dunican were other notables on that winning team. Since then St Vincent's have had a few players who donned the green and gold of the county. None of them made as big an impact as Terry Kearns, who like Seamus Darby, will long be remembered as the scorer of a winning goal in an All-Ireland final. It wasn't as spectacular as the Darby 'rocket' for Offaly in 1982 but Kearns' punched effort in the second half was the difference between Meath and Cork in 1967. Since then players like Seamus Fanning and James Tallon were on successful Meath minor teams and in 2002 Ronan Sheridan was a member of the All-Ireland junior winning squad with another Ardcath clubman, Brian Carberry one of the selectors. St Vincent's also reached the SFC final in 1963 only to lose to Navan O'Mahonys. They had just two survivors from the '55 team, Mick Dunican and Nicky McQuillan. The Ardcath club which represents a small area in east Meath remained in senior football until the early '70s when they took the decision to drop down to intermediate ranks. There was another step down, to junior level, in 1980, and although the JFC semi-final stage was reached in 1991, the wearers of the maroon and white continued to struggle. Things got worse before getting a little better for the once proud club and in 2000 they were relegated from junior A to junior B. Then former Meath All-Ireland winner David Beggy came in as coach and results started to improve. In 2002 they got to the junior B semi-final but lost out to Walterstown, who were then beaten by Summerhill in the title decider. After being stuck in a rut for a number of years, St Vincent's learned to crawl and were up and running again in 2003. St Vincent's was one of six clubs fielding a first team in the JFC B, Boardsmill, Longwood, Clonard, St Brigid's and Bellewstown being the other five. Bellewstown is another club, which has dropped down a couple of grades over the years, and their Ardcath neighbours beat them by 1-13 to 0-7 in the opening round. Vincent's had a couple of setbacks in their group, losing to Seneschalstown and Blackhall Gaels in the last two divisional outings. But they were already through to the last eight, having recorded wins over Trim, Boardsmill and Castletown and drawn with Longwood. Richie Dunne was the top scorer throughout the campaign and he started strongly with ten points against Bellewstown while Maurice Carberry bagged a fine individual goal in that game. In the 4-4 to 1-1 second round success over Trim Dunne helped himself to half of the winning total while Aodghan Smith and Carberry also found the net. Then Vincent's came from seven points in arrears to draw with Longwood on a 1-11 to 2-8 scoreline. Three late pointed frees from Dunne, who had earlier scored 1-2, saved the day for the men from Ardcath. When St Vincent's and Boardsmill met in the fourth round at Bective little did they know that they were participating in a rehearsal for the final. A goal from substitute Paul Dunican ten minutes from the end was the crucial score in the 1-9 to 2-4 win. A 1-7 to 1-5 victory over Castletown put St Vincent's through to the knock out stages and then they suffered defeats to Seneschalstown (1-6 to 1-10) and Blackhall Gaels (0-10 to 4-3). That left the Ardcath side through to a quarterfinal tussle with O'Mahonys with David Beggy in opposition to his old club. The Navan club's third string was not strong enough for the east Meath opposition who ran out 2-12 to 1-7 winners. St Vincent's met Longwood for the second time at the semi-final stage and finished best to record a minimum margin victory, by 0-12 to 1-8, at Dunsany. At the end a point from a free by Richie Dunne from 25 metres enabled them to advance to a first championship final in 29 years. Again Beggy's charges displayed their battling qualities. They trailed by 0-5 to 1-4 at the break but with Dunne and Aodghan Smith to the fore in attack, they got just enough scores. Smith sent over the leveller before Dunne bridged the long gap with that late winner. When Boardsmill ran on to the Pairc Tailteann pitch on September 21st last they were appearing in their second consecutive county final, having won the Junior C crown last autumn. Even though St Vincent's left it late, they probably just about deserved their place in the sun. With Tommy Fields and Aodghan Smith both in good point-taking form, they built up a 0-7 to 0-2 interval lead and the contributions of those two were important. They shared nine points with Fields kicking over five and it was fitting that Dunne should dispatch the winning goal a few weeks after the club's most colourful personality, Dickser, passed away suddenly. Richie was very cool when taking the decisive penalty. "I had no doubt that I would score a goal from it. I had taken a few earlier in the year and found the net with them all," he remarked. "Some people might have felt that we were lucky to sneak the title but we were probably the better team over the hour. We sent over some very well taken points while they depended a bit on frees for scores. "Maybe we were lucky to get the penalty and my father must have been praying for us, maybe it was him who blew the whistle," said Richie. According to Dunne, the arrival of David Beggy at the club has been a highly significant factor in getting them back on the winning trail after a few years in the doldrums. "The commitment to training improved greatly since David joined us with the players showing him great respect," he remarked. The St Vincent's squad have some links with days when the club was performing in a higher grade. Full back Alan Kearns is a son of Paudge, one of a number of brothers who gave sterling service in the maroon and white, while wing back Niall Tallon is a son of James, the club chairman who did so much to lift the club in the last couple of years. Paul and John Dunican are sons of Mick, who was only 19 years old when starring at midfield in the Ardcath side's 1955 SFC triumph. Mick was an outstanding county midfielder for a few years and won a Railway Cup medal as a substitute in 1962. With most of the St Vincent's players under 25, they could make further progress in the next few seasons and 34-year-old Richie Dunne does not intend hanging up his boots just yet. And why should he after playing such a big part in the latest success? "We will be looking forward to returning to the junior A ranks. The junior B success should have given us a big lift and with most of the players having age on their side and the older lads like myself still keen, we can hold our own," concluded Dunne. The team and substitutes which brought the JFC B title to St Vincent's was: Paul Caffrey; Gerry McNally, Alan Kearns, Stephen Creed; Niall Tallon, Ronan Sheridan (captain), Eamon Reilly; Fergal Carberry, Sean McNally; Maurice Carberry, David Callaghan, Aodghan Smith; Tommy Field, Richie Dunne, Kieran Brady. Sub - Kieran Sheridan for F. Carberry, also Gerry Clerkin, Paul Dunican, Enda Murray, John Dunican, Leo Collins, Kenneth Connor, Joe Wall, Tomás Bowler. Tweet

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