There's nothing like an underage win to give everyone associated with a club a big boost. The gaels of St Colmcille's know this only too well having enjoyed some notable underage triumphs in recent years. This year's U-12 Division I success was particularly sweet. Team manager Colm Hilliard recounts his side's march to glory. I was thrilled," enthused Colm Hilliard when asked to comment on this year's victorious U-12 Division 1 campaign. "Winning a Division 1 title was the highlight of my involvement in the GAA, no doubt about that." That's saying something coming from a man who won Junior (1983) and Intermediate (1988 as captain) county championship medals with the 'Cilles. At the start of the year, did Colm and his fellow selector, Andrew Towell, harbour high ambitions of going all the way in this year's competition? "Personally I did, based on the fact that we started with this team at U-10 level and we recognised that there was a lot of potential there. At U-10 level we competed in the North Dublin League and we were more than able to hold our own against strong Dublin clubs such as St Vincent's and Na Fianna. "Last year we finished as runners-up to Dunboyne in the U-12 Reserve League so we knew the talent was there. Our first U-12 team won the Division 2 title two years ago although there was only two survivors from that team eligible this year." He continued: "We commenced indoor coaching in Gormanston in February with a group of approximately fifty and worked from there. Incidentally, our second team did very well in this year's Reserve League." As the scoreline of 0-4 to 0-3 suggests, the final against St Peter's and Paul's at Dunshaughlin in July was certainly not one for those with a faint heart. Considering that the seasiders' had amassed an incredible total of 38-125 over ten games en route to the decider, no one would have predicted such a low scoring encounter. "It was nerve-wrecking to say the least! Having played at Junior, Intermediate and Senior club level in Meath I can't remember a more nailbiting game that I was involved in. "Credit must go to both sets of backs, however. I talked about this to the Dunboyne manager after that game and we were in agreement that the harassing, blocking and tackling of both defences was the main reason why the score was so low." At half-time the east Meath outfit were 0-3 to 0-1 to the good. The performances of Graham Reilly and Eoin Woods swung midfield in their favour in the opening 30 minutes and the defence, marshalled superbly by centre-back Thomas McCole, was giving nothing away. St Peter's and Paul's came strongly into contention in the second half, however, and a 56th minute Robert Madden point - the 'Cille's only score of the second half - proved to be the difference between the two sides when proceedings were brought to an end. Despite the closeness of the decider, Colm admits that he always felt deep down that his charges were going to scrape through. "While it was a tight game I can honestly say that at no stage during the game did I believe we would be beaten. I know that's easy to say after the event but it was a bit like this year's Leinster final between Meath and Dublin. We always seemed to be in control, in fact, we probably should have had the game wrapped up by the half-way stage. But, as I've already said, the Dunboyne defence deserves credit for that." After the final whistle had been blown, St Colmcille's captain Graham Reilly - who was celebrating his 12th birthday that very same day - was presented with the cup by Meath Juvenile Board secretary Mairead Delaney. "We celebrated afterwards with a meal in the Village Hotel and had a surprise birthday cake for Graham," revealed Colm. "It's a birthday I'm sure he won't forget in a hurry! "The entire club was delighted to see us winning a Division 1 title, the success reverberated good feelings throughout the club. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the club's committee members for all the support that have given juvenile football, it was second to none. Also to the parents of the players, their support was also very much appreciated. "All these players' first introduction to gaelic football would have come when they attended the Saturday morning coaching programme which the club has run for quite some time now. We're indebted to the people who give up their spare time to coach these youngsters." St Colmcille's have emerged a strong force to be reckoned with at underage level in Meath in recent years. In 2000, for example, they claimed the U-12, U-14 and U-16 Division 2 titles and reached the final of the Minor Division 1 championship which they lost to Navan O'Mahony's. That coupled with this year's performances augurs well for the future. "We would certainly be hopeful that the success we're enjoying at the moment at underage level will reap rich dividends in the future but we have to be careful because it doesn't always work out like that. "The future looks bright for St Colmcilles but we have to ensure that we keep the lads playing all the way up to minor level and then, things going according to plan, up on to the first team. There's many distractions out there for youngsters today. For example, we lost two of our most promising players, Niall Ronan and Niall Kirby, to rugby this year. "There's no doubt that the potential is there for the club to go on to bigger and better things in the future but everyone involved with have to work hard to keep the lads playing gaelic football." Meanwhile, Colm intends to remain at the helm for next year's U-12 competition. Unfortunately, just two of this year's team, his own son Cathal and Frank McCloskey (a son of John McCloskey who represented Meath in the All-Ireland minor final of 1977 against Down ) are eligible for 2002. Can next year's crop emulate the class of 2001 and secure some silverware? "I think it would be unfair on next year's team to start predicting that they are going to win anything. We will have a reasonably strong team and I expect them to be able to hold their own but it would be a bit premature to be talking about them as U-12 champions at this early stage. We'll give it our best shot though." The St Colmcille's U-12 team which brought up the spoils at St Peter's and Paul's expense was as follows: D O'Sullivan; S Griffin, R Madden, D McDowell; K Towell, T McCole, F McCloskey; G Reilly, E Woods; C Hilliard, T McHugh, P Collins; L O'Sullivan, D Collins, S McCann. Tweet

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