The Delaney Cup winged its way back to O'Mahonys after a 20 year wait. Too long of a wait judging by the talent on offer in the Navan club. Once upon a time Meath minor football championships were as common in Navan as traffic jams were on the two hills, Brews and Flower. How things changed, on the football front that is, right through the '80s and '90s. What was once plentiful developed into a real old rariety. Yes, Simonstown did bring home the bacon in '88, '90 and '95 but when Meath football folk and especially those of a traditional ilk talk about Navan, they usually refer to O'Mahonys and up to recently De La Salle in underage terms. Well, the famed Salles nursery, after a lean period by their own high standards, became redundant in the late '80s and came under the O'Mahonys banner. The change over was not an immediate success but tremendous work was completed behind the scenes and gradually the underage cups again made their way up by the Chinese, beyond Annavilles and to headquarters at Brews Hill. From 12 to 17 every trophy was garnered and on Sunday evening July 30th the haul was complete when County Board Minor Vice Chairman Eugene Comiskey handed over the Delaney Cup to O'Mahonys captain Stephen MacGabhann. His side had just handed out a wee bit of a hammering to old rivals St Colmcilles, 3-9 to 1-6 and the town youngsters were full value for their nine point success. One to savour for the O'Mahony faithful, probably the commencement of another good run at this level and a number of talented youngsters, many of whom are still underage in 2001, to recharge O'Mahonys somewhat decaying efforts at senior level. We mentioned hard work behind the scenes and the arrival of Navan O'Mahonys as minor champions in the summer gone was certainly no accident. Its roots tail back over a decade when raw youngsters were shown the skills of the game on the broad spaces circling O'Mahonys clubhouse. Challenges and tournaments were organised (and county success at under 8 and 10 levels) swiftly followed. The class of 2000 had already every achieveable medal in their back pocket. But the minor was still the elusive one and previous talented blue and white fifteens had made no major impression in this grade like in 1999 when Blackhall Gaels just pipped the town combination at the semi-final stage. And the warning signs were there when Seneschalstown nearly carried out a repeat 2000 semi-final beating in Kilberry. The sides were level 1-9 apiece entering the home straight and the future champions had to dig deep to scrape home on a 1-12 to 1-10 score line. Ironically the biggest obstacle placed in O'Mahonys path was that provided by the midfield pairing of the Sheridan brothers, Joe and Damien, both former O'Mahony stars. The Pairc Tailteann decider against Colmcilles saw O'Mahonys produce a different, more telling brand of football. It was O'Mahonys play at its best, running, supporting, short passing and some slick moves up front. Colmcilles had got the better of this particular Navan combination on previous occasions and forewarned, O'Mahonys tore into the opposition from the onset. Within five minutes Philip Treacy rattled the seasiders net following a fine pass from Darren O' Toole. By half time the winners had shot 2-3 to 1-2 clear, John Brennan the other goal scorer following fine work from Lee Russell. Colmcilles threatened briefly on the turnover but once diminutive Simon O'Connor struck for his side's third goal mid way through the half, young McGabhann had one hand on the trophy. An exciting young team O'Mahonys had stars right out from keen eyed keeper John McLarney right up to the run all day corner forward O'Connor. McGabhann played a captain's part on the edge of the square and was helped by corner backs Thomas Heery and Kieran Smith. The O'Mahonys half back trio of Paul Quinn, Lee Russell and Gerard Brennan are typically Navan outer defenders. Not the biggest in stature, but very quick and also willing to come forward. This Navan O'Mahonys XV was peppered by members of the successful St. Pats All-Ireland winning colleges combination. Shane McKeigue captained that school team and with Christy Blake, who lined out in a similar position for Pats, he formed a formidable midfield duo. Both sampled senior club fare in 2000 and will form a vital part of future O'Mahonys combinations. A very similar description for central attackers Darren O'Toole and Philip Treacy. Both are eligible again in 2001 and look certain for Meath minor involvement. Right half forward Paul Comey had a brilliant final while on the opposite wing, Stephen Murray continues to improve with each outing. Last but by no means least, corner forward John Brennan, Gerald's brother who finished his sides top scorer with a total of 1-2. Navan O'Mahonys did introduce one substitute, young flame haired Ian Matthews. Ian was another to play a huge part in that Pats success and was also a vital cog in the O'Mahonys combination. Injury prevented Ian from starting on final day as he is one of the few real automatic choices. We mentioned earlier about the huge amount of groundwork put in behind the scenes at O'Mahonys. People like Peter O'Toole (Darren's father) and Eamonn Dunphy, both selectors in 2000, were involved with this bunch of youngsters from the very moment they pulled the famed blue and white over their shoulders. Another was Ian Matthew's father, Oliver, the 'legend' as he was often referred to on Brews Hill. Ollie was a selector, mentor and friend to this bunch of talented youngsters and we are sure when the Delaney Cup was brought that short journey to the O'Mahonys clubrooms, a silent reflection of 'this was for you Ollie' touched all involved. Cathal O'Bric acted as team manager while former O'Mahonys favourite Colm Ratty took over the hot seat during the latter stages of the championship and what a fine job he did. The O'Mahonys team and scorers were: J McLarney, T Heery, S MacGabhann, K Smith, P Quinn, L Russell, G Brennan, C Blake, S McKeigue 0-1, P Comey 0-2, D O'Toole 0-1, S Murray 0-1, J Brennan 1-2, P Treacy 1-1, S O'Connor 1-1. Sub - I Matthews. Tony McCormack - Championship medals over four decades It was a wet miserable April Sunday in this Millennium year; the venue was Breffni Park, the team was St Pats Navan and the competition was the Hogan Cup or All-Ireland Colleges Senior Football Championship. On the victorious St Pats team there were two McCormacks - the one in the forwards scoring the points was Ian from Dunderry, the other at centre half back was Brian from Walterstown, or at least that what it said in the programme. What it didn't say was that Brian lives just outside Navan at Farganstown, that his parents Martin and Jacqueline are both as "Navan" as you can get and that his grandfather is Tony McCormack one of the greatest Meath club players of all time and star of many a famous victory on that great O'Mahonys team which swept all before it in the 50's. Brian was a real hero that day in Cavan at his school won the much coveted title for the first time and grandfather Tony, now in his late 60's but still looking lean and fit enough to play, was justifiably proud of his grandson's achievement. Tony McCormack first came to prominence when he won a Minor Football Championship medal with a team called Navan O'Growneys in 1946. He was a mere 15 years old with three more years as a minor to look forward to. De La Salle minor club was reformed in those years but the records show that Julianstown were minor champions in three successive years 1947-49. Yet this 1946 medal was not Tony's only success at minor level because in 1949, his last year minor, he was a member of the Trim team which won the Minor Hurling championship. "I used to ride the bike over to Trim" he says. You can imagine today's minors doing that!! He also "made" the Meath Minor Football Panel in '49 but still couldn't command a regular place on O'Mahonys Junior side in the first year of their existence. O'Mahonys actually won that Junior Championship and Tony won his medal as a sub but, as he points out, that O'Mahonys team contained many of the 1946 Parnells team which had won the Senior Championship but had disbanded in 1948. It was no easy task for an 18 year old to make the break-through into adult ranks in those circumstances. In those days the Junior champions went up to the Senior grade automatically, bypassing the intermediate, so the young red haired future star made his senior championship debut in 1950 against Skryne. His first taste of success came in the Feis Cup Final of 1951 and again the opponents were Skryne who of course had been Meath "Kingpins" all through the 40's winning six championships and six Feis Cups. Tony recalls Peter McDermott who had only recently transferred to O'Mahonys (from Young Irelands East Meath) saying at half time that he was well pleased to have put up a good show (O'Mahonys were in a comfortable lead) no matter what happened in the second half. Tony himself not being fully aware of Skryne's reputation in Feis Cup Finals saw no reason why the lead couldn't be maintained and was proved correct as O'Mahonys ran out easy winners. This was to be first of many great victories in the Blue and White Hoops. In 1953 the Syddan Club presented a magnificent Cup to Meath County Board in memory of Tom Keegan who had died back in 1940 from injuries accidentally received in an Intermediate match. The Cup is of course still the most coveted prize in Meath's GAA calendar. Syddan had been county champions for three of the previous four years so it could reasonably be expected that the great piece of silverware would be heading back to the Lobinstown area. If not it could be heading to the aforementioned Skryne who though not as good as in the 40's were still up there challenging for the title. However it was two town teams Trim and O'Mahonys who qualified for the big day and O'Mahonys were captained by none other than Tony McCormack playing at centrefield and partnered by 19 year old Patsy Ratty. Trim with Jim Fay, Ollie Reilly and Jimmy Farrell to the fore put up a stout challenge but the Cup stayed in Navan. Veterans Peter McDermott, Frankie Byrne and Jack "Duck" Callaghan were joined by youngsters like Tony, Patsy, Jack Moyles, Tony Sheridan and "Lolly" McEvoy to bring off a famous victory. It would be four years before the Keegan Cup victory would be repeated but in between there were more Feis Cup successes in '55 and '56 - the '55 victory after a replay was against old rivals Skryne and featured the return to Meath club football of the great Paddy O'Brien (he had played for about nine years for Dublin club Sean McDermotts). The '56 final is still remembered as a tempestuous and ill-tempered match against Syddan who went on to win the championship later in the year. Tony remembers that O'Mahonys were caught between two stools that year as their second string were going great guns in the Intermediate championship and the selectors didn't want to "interfere" until they were eliminated. That didn't happen - the Intermediates went the whole way and by then the Seniors had been knocked out. And so to 1957 and the first of five in a row. The '57, '58 and '59 finals were all against Skryne - one in Pairc Tailteann, one in Kells (draw and replay) and the third in Trim. Tony was ever present at midfield - well almost! In the '58 final Skryne held the Navan men to a draw. O'Mahonys weren't happy with midfield so for the replay Tony was at top of the right and into midfield came a Mayo county player Bill Shannon, a Garda newcomer to the town. O'Mahonys won the replay rather easily. The match was played in early December and when football started up again in the spring, Tony was back at midfield and Shannon was no longer stationed in Navan. A good quiz question there! Who was the man who won a Meath SFC medal by playing just once ever with the club concerned? The '59 final played in Trim in midsummer only eight months later was another closely fought affair with the town side coming out on top by the minimum margin - a last minute Patsy Ratty point. But it is the 1960 final against Drumbaragh, also at Trim, which Tony McCormack picks out as his own best display and the one from which he gained the greatest satisfaction even if the margin of victory was wider than the others. On that day he played on the '40' and scored two points. In 1961 Tony played in the early rounds but had gone to the USA before the concluding stages when Trim were defeated in the final played at Kells. By 1962 Tony had returned and played in both controversial matches against old rivals Skryne when O'Mahonys lost their crown at quarter-final stage. In '63 O'Mahonys were back in the final having reversed the '62 defeat by Skryne after two hours of exciting semi-final fare in Kells and it was surprise packets St Vincents Ardcath which provided the opposition in the final. Tony was togged out for the final but didn't get an opportunity to play. O'Mahonys had an easy victory. For some strange reason he didn't get a medal that year but as he says himself it didn't bother him - he already had six of them and was quite happy. Not that he ever thought of retiring although approaching 33 years of age - Tony continued to play with the club's second string and would you believe it? When O'Mahonys beat neighbours and fledgling club Simonstown Gaels in the 1970 Junior B final the team was captained by Tony McCormack. Also on the side was midfield partner of 17 years earlier Patsy Ratty. And that's not all. In the same year 1970 O'Mahonys won the Intermediate Hurling Championship and Tony was playing on that team also. He had already won a similar Hurling medal with the club in 1961. So that's the story of Tony McCormack, certainly one of Meath's greatest ever club players who didn't go on to make it at county level. Perhaps like O'Mahonys team-mate Eanna Giles he just didn't have the necessary physique. As stated Tony played mostly at midfield. He wasn't tall, he wasn't tough or physical. The ball seemed to come to him as he just drifted around the midfield area. He didn't jump with the six foot plus men - yet as often as not he ended up in possession and opened up the opposing defences with delicately placed foot passes. Perhaps it wouldn't work out like that at county level. There are many stories told of individual records and feats in the GAA world but Tony McCormack's achievements stand up to scrutiny anywhere. Championship wins in four decades - the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's. A first championship at minor at the age of 15 and his last two in football and hurling 24 years later when approaching his 40th birthday. In between, five senior championship final appearances aided and abetted by five Feis Cups resulting in ten victories. He never lost in a final. In addition participation in two further senior championship successes even if not actually taking part in the finals. Not bad. Eh! Tony, now retired and enjoying the odd game of golf, lives with wife Ita (nee Mockler) at Navan's Parnell Park. Ita's father the late Tommy Mockler was a much loved Bread Salesman who liked nothing better than to spread the O'Mahonys "Gospel" in the Skryne area (and any other area which wanted to listen) during those innocent by-gone days. Sons Robby and Barry play a prominent part in the affairs of the Meath Association in far-off New York. Barry of course was a Meath Minor and promising young player with O'Mahonys in the 70's. He was on the fringes of the County Senior Team when he emigrated at a young age. Martin (Brian's father) as already stated lives just into Johnstown/Walterstown parish while daughters Elaine and Marie are in the Kilberry and Slane areas. So, as he says himself, no grandchildren to play for O'Mahonys and he has to listen to banter from Walterstown and Wolfe Tones supporters. Tony regrets seeing O'Mahonys having to fight so hard to avoid relegation to Intermediate ranks particularly as the Senior Championship was won as recently as 1997 and this year's minor side, backed by so many of those St. Pat's College stars, won the Delaney Cup (Minor Championship) very convincingly. However, now that they have survived those two tremendous battles with Blackhall Gaels which were fought out with the ferocity of the great Skryne/O'Mahonys games of the past (before anyone even heard of the word relegation), he looks forward with hope to more great days ahead for the Blue and White Hoops. O'Mahony's retain u-14 Div 1 title Navan O'Mahony's retained the u-14 FL Division 1 crown with a comfortable victory over Blackhall Gaels in the final which was played in Dunsany, by 2-9 to 0-3. The first half was a closely contested affair with just two points, 0-4 to 0-2 in O'Mahony's favour, separating the sides. With midfielder John Brady and Stephen O'Toole gaining the upper hand at midfield, the Brews Hill side improved considerably in the second half and once Luke Flanagan struck for the first goal there was only going to be one winner. Substitute Michael Duke netted his team's second goal and O'Mahony's could even afford the luxury of settling for a point from a penalty. David Bray opted to kick over instead of go for goal. Blackhall only managed to score one point in the second half. After the game winning captain Gerard Murray received the cup from Juvenile Football Board chairman Mick Ryan. These two sides met a couple of weeks later in the championship decider when, unfortunately for O'Mahony's, Blackhall reversed the result to win by 2-5 to 1-4. O'Mahony's - J Murtagh; S Reilly, K Reilly, M Cooney; C Tormey, J Carrig, G Murray; S O'Toole (0-2), J Brady; S Conaty, P Smyth (0-3), C McGuinness (0-1); D Bray (0-3), L Flanagan (1-0), A Gillick. Subs - M Duke (1-0) for Conaty, J Molloy for Gillick.. Junior 'C' glory for O'Mahonys In a gloomy year for the senior footballers of O'Mahony's, the club's third string were the bright lights when collecting the Junior 'C' cup at the expense of Blackhall Gaels by 0-14 to 0-11. With county minors Tadgh Brosnan and George Beirne to the fore in attack, Blackhall looked the likely winners for the majority of the final at Pairc Tailteann in early October but the Brews Hill outfit produced a strong finish to earn the spoils. The decider was played a week after both clubs had drawn in the senior relegation play-off and the south Meath club, who had the advantage of the breeze in the first half, were 0-7 to 0-1 to the good after 22 minutes of play. O'Mahony's finished the half stronger though and points from John Brennan (he also got his team's first point of the game), Ronan Mallon and Aidan McCague left just four points in at the break, 0-8 to 0-4. Although Blackhall hit the first two points of the second half, it didn't take the team in blue and white stripes long to start eating away at the deficit and they outplayed their opponents by 0-7 to 0-1 for the remainder of the contest. Brennan was the main scorer-in-chief and finished with a personal tally of nine points. Simon O'Connor and substitute Donal Fitzsimons also got in on the scoring act in those closing stages. Four points from Brennan drew the sides level and just when a replay looked likely a brace from O'Connor, with Fitzsimons' pointing in between, won the title for O'Mahony's who had senior team manager Davy Nelson lining out at full-forward. Navan O'Mahony's - S Murray; R Brennan, K Smith, I Matthews; P Quinn, L Russell, G Brennan; M Harkin, A McCague (0-1); R Mallon (0-1), P Mallon, P Comey; J Brennan (0-9), D Nelson, S O'Connor (0-2). Sub - D Fitzsimons (0-1) for McCague, K Russell for Quinn, B Farrell for R Mallon. O'Mahony's coast to u-14 championship and Feile double It was all too easy for Navan O'Mahony's in this u-14 HC decider against Kilmessan at Kiltale when they stormed home by 5-12 to 2-6. Mark Sheerin's first half goal gave the Brews Hill outfit a narrow 1-5 to 0-4 half-time lead and the second half was all one way traffic with goals from Cormac McGuinness and Stephen O'Toole propelled the eventual winners into a 3-8 to 0-4 lead. To their credit, Kilmessan refused to throw in the towel and did attempt a revival at this stage but O'Mahony's stepped up a gear and further goals from Ciaran Tormey and O'Toole gave them a comfortable victory. Kevin Reilly, Fergal Lawlor, Tormey, O'Toole, Sheerin and Paddy Smyth were best for the Navan team. The same two teams clashed in the final of the Feile competition and there was the same outcome with the team in blue and white hoops emerging on top by 6-4 to 4-6. Again, O'Mahony's were always in control and led by 4-3 to 0-4 at the break. But Kilmessan produced a strong comeback on the resumption and fought back to narrow the gap to just two points. O'Mahony's weren't going to be denied, however, and late scores from Sean Keating and Kevin Reilly put the issue beyond any doubt. The O'Mahony's u-14 hurling team which faced Kilmessan in the championship decider was - B Dunphy; J Hayes, F Lawlor, K Dunne; J Brady, B Barber, M Cloone; K Reilly (0-2), C Tormey (1-0); C McGuinness (1-0), S O'Toole (2-2), M Sheerin (1-1); P Smyth (0-3), S Scully (0-3), S Keating (0-1). Sub - J Fagan for McGuinness. Tweet

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