Nobber gaels will have gleaned much satisfaction from the performance of their junior team in this year's championship where they reached the semi-final stages. Team trainer Andy Hayes hopes it is the beginning of a reversal of fortunes for the north Meath club. Anyone who would have suggested that Nobber would reach the penultimate stage of the junior championship having witnessed their heavy first round defeat at the hands of Gaeil Colmcille's second string at Carlanstown would have been carted away in a straight-jacket! The Nobber men were at the wrong end of a 1-11 to 0-5 scoreline and not even the most optimistic of the team's supporters would have boldly predicted they would qualify for the knock-out stages, let alone reach the semis'. Amazingly, however, after such an ignominious start to their campaign, Nobber came to within touching distance of reaching this year's junior decider only to be denied by eventual champions Curraha after a replay. Well known Nobber clubman Andy Hayes was the team's coach this year and he was delighted with the manner in which his players bounced back from that early upset to do themselves and the club proud. "We did start off badly against Kells but the lads responded well after that and they picked it up, fair play to them," remarked the affable Hayes. "We surpassed our expectations this year. At the beginning of the year we sat down and set out our goals; our main priority was to get out of Division 4 and anything that happened in the championship was to be considered a bonus. "But, in saying that, when you do reach the semi-final stages you do want to go as far as you can." Nobber qualified for a semi-final showdown with Curraha as a result of their surprise quarter-final win over Dunsany in Navan. The first game (v Curraha) failed to produce a winner but it would have been unfair had either side lost as they provided plenty of entertainment for the crowd assembled in Pairc Tailteann in a very enjoyable contest. 1-9 to 1-9 was the final score the first day. Second time out, extra-time appeared to be looming when the deadlock remained for the majority of the tie but Curraha produced an impressive final quarter to book their final ticket. Nobber led by 0-8 to 1-3 at half-time and they extended their lead soon after the resumption, but that was to be as good as it got for the north meath men as Brian Stafford's charges upped the tempo for the remainder of the game and won out on a scoreline of 1-10 to 0-11. It was a disappointing end to a wonderful championship campaign for the men in black and amber but all involved can be proud of their efforts this year. "It was very close, with 15 minutes remaining we were in the lead but we made mistakes near the end and Curraha punished us," revealed Andy. "There's no doubt that we could have won but we gave too much possession away, possibly due to a little bit of inexperience, and that proved to be our downfall. "We've a very young team though, with only about two over the 30 mark. Our lads will have learned a lot from playing games in Navan this year, we had three, the quarter-final against Dunsany and the two semi-finals. It had been a while since Nobber played in Pairc Tailteann prior to this year." Will we see the Nobber colours back in Pairc Tailteann next year? Perhaps in a Junior final? "It may be a bit too soon to be talking about winning a Junior championship but certainly I would hope that we will win it within a couple of years time. The lads learned this year what can be achieved with a little bit of hard work so we would be very hopeful for the future." According to Andy, the success enjoyed by the club this year stems from a vibrant underage structure which was put in place in Nobber approximately seven or eight years ago. The chairman of the Juvenile Committee is Larry McEntee, a man synonymous with Nobber underage teams, while Tom Lambe is chairman of the Minor committee and he is ably assisted by Andy's wife, Bernie, who is secretary. Christy Reilly and club chairman Dudley Farrell are other major contributors to the club's underage teams. "We're very much holding our own in underage competitions at the moment," revealed Andy pointing, in particular, to Dee Rangers' narrow defeat by St. Cianan's in this year's MFL Division 2 final. Nobber's record of providing players to intercounty teams in recent years would appear to back those claims. Gavin Farrelly and Brian Reilly were members of this year's Meath minor panel while Paul Clarke made a couple of appearances with the minors in league games. Brian Farrell (son of Dudley) was a member of the Meath U-16 panel last year while Andy's son, Andrew, was involved with this year's Leinster winning team. He came on a substitute in the final win over Dublin at Summerhill in early October. And not to be overshadowed by the male members of the Hayes household, Andy's daughter, Sarah, won an All-Ireland U-12 medal with the Royal County two years ago. A native of Athboy, Andy has been involved with Nobber GFC in various capacities for the past seventeen years. As well as being trainer of the club's first team, he is also a committee member and still togs out with the club's second team whenever he gets the chance. If all that weren't enough he somehow finds time to do a spot of refereeing. One of the secrets of this year's success, he says, was the support the management and players received from the club. "We received tremendous backing from the club this year, from chairman Dudley Farrell and secretary Teresa Smith in particular. Anything we have looked for we got and I think that type of support is part and parcel of gaining a little bit of success, helps keep everything running smoothly." Will everything run smoothly for Nobber GFC in 2002? Fingers crossed! The Nobber team which lost out to Curraha in the JFC semi-final was: D McMahon; J McCormack, P Clarke, B O'Reilly; G Englishby, S Carolan, A Clarke; G Farrelly (0-1), T Tierney; E Carolan, J Maguire (0-4), B Heffernan (0-2); M Reilly, B Farrell (0-1), G Weldon (0-3). Tweet

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