After acute championship disappointment, the men from North Meath found the perfect remedy in the form of the Division 1 League title. They were celebrating in Ballinlough early this month when the club captured their second All County FL Div. 1 title in three years. Carlanstown was the scene of their latest triumph as Walterstown were defeated by 0-12 to 1-6 in an exciting final which belied the inclement weather conditions. A small enough crowd turned out to witness the P. Carney Ltd. sponsored outfit regain the title they won two years ago at Simonstown's expense. It was compensation for their unlucky championship quarter-final exit at the hands of eventual champions Skryne. Since that defeat training continued as normal with attendances reported to be good and they got their reward. There were many heroes wearing a red jersey, none more so than Francis Tunney. His accuracy from placed balls and open play - he finished with seven points, four from open play - laid the foundations for his side's success. Paddy Reynolds received his All Star award two nights previously but it was county colleague Jody Devine who was sporting the bigger smile at the final whistle. He registered two points and made a big contribution from the centre half forward berth, while Declan Lynch - who deputised as captain for the injured Vinny Ryan - and Gary McDonnell had the better of the midfield exchanges In the closing stages, when Walterstown were pushing hard for an equaliser, their defence collectively rose to the challenge. Charlie McCartan, Joseph Byrne and Philip O'Brien, in particular, were outstanding in this department. Walterstown will not have been happy with their performance. Not many of their players - with the exception of Paul McCarthy - can claim to have done themselves justice. Their attempts at goal left a lot to be desired, in the second half they hit an unforgivable twelve wides. They were first out of the starting blocks and were two points up in as many minutes. Christopher Reynolds and Paul McCarthy were the two on target. Francis Tunney opened Ballinlough's account from a free following a foul on Danny McCartan and Declan Lynch got them on level terms soon after. A tenth minute goal from Paul Browne, he pulled on the ball when a Charles McCarthy '45' fell short, gave Walterstown the early initiative. Paddy Woods and Paul McCarthy extended Walterstown's lead before Francis Tunney (two) and Jody Devine - a fine effort from the left sideline - brought Ballinlough closer. Christoper Reynolds could have added a second Walterstown goal shortly afterwards but his fisted effort fell into the grateful hands of 'keeper Tommy Smith who initiated a move down field which resulted in a Tomas Blake point. The team in red and white finished the half stronger with points from Blake and Devine to leave the electronic scoreboard reading 0-8 to 1-4. By the second half the wind had altered slightly in Ballinlough's favour - it was blowing cross field in the first half - and they took full advantage, even though Michael Tuite hit a bad wide inside the first minute. Francis Tunney brought his personal tally to 0-6 with three on the trot from play. The Black's supporters had to wait until the 16th minute before they had a score to cheer. Half-time substitute Brian McCormack converted a free following a foul on Christopher Reynolds. Another goal chance presented itself to Paul Browne two minutes later but this time he was denied by a brilliant Charlie McCartan block. Paul McCarthy reduced the deficit to two points with his third point of the game but a Tunney point in the 30th minute ensured the Tommy Mooney Cup was heading to north Meath. In his speech captain Declan Lynch acknowledged the contributions of manager Gerry Hanley and his selectors, Martin Lynch and Brendan Smith. Ballinlough - T. Smith; C. McCartan, J. Byrne, J. McCartan; K. Devine, P. O'Brien, B. Smyth; D. Lynch (0-1), G. McDonnell; P. Byrne, J. Devine (0-2), F. Tunney (0-7); D. McCartan, M. Tuite, T. Blake (0-2). Subs - M. McDonnell, P. Darmody, S. Byrne. On sacred ground Thanks to the efforts of Seamus Cahill, Ballinlough's grounds, just off the Oldcastle road on the way out of the village, could soon be challenging for 'Club Ground of the Year'. Every club has one. A person who'll work his finger to the bone for the sake of the local club. Seamus Cahill is Ballinlough's. One would be forgiven for comparing him to an Ariston electrical appliance because he keeps going on and on and on . . . Whether it be collecting gate receipts, fundraising etc., Seamus' actions speak louder than his words. Seamus attended his first Ballinlough GFC AGM fifty years ago in 1949, he was later elected onto the committee as a 17 year old and has been an ever present on the club's executive committe since. He was County Board delegate in 1996, but it has been as Chairman of the Park Committee that he's made his most significant contribution. This sub-committee was established three years ago and under the guidance of Seamus, the local pitch - which was officially opened in the 1st August 1993 when Meath played Derry - has never been looking so good. "It is very time consuming and I've burned a lot of rubber and diesel on the roads for the good of the club. People ask me why I do so much work, the answer is simple: I love gaelic football and the Ballinlough club. I've had many years of pleasure and joy with the lads and the club and it's a way of giving something back to the club." What improvements have been made to the club's facilities recently? "There has been a lot of work done on the Park these last two years," he replied. "My aim when I took over as chairman was to restore the playing surface for the players - grass growth had been thin on the ground - and to improve the surrounding area for spectators. "I got a new set of goalposts which cost £1,000 and a new set of nets. Both were sponsored by various people from the area. I got a new scoreboard which also cost £1,000 and that was sponsored by John Friary." Seamus continues: "The next thing was advertising hoardings for the pitch. I got thirty-five new ones this year which brought the total to fifty-five. Sixty is the target I'm hoping to achieve. The hoardings bring in a nice bit of income for the club each year." On behalf of the club, Seamus wishes to express gratitude to all the people who supported the club financially. "We're very appreciative to all the people who have supported us in the upgrading of the grounds. There's something about the GAA that makes people dig deeper into their pockets for fundraising. Without their support we wouldn't be able to do half the work." Despite the all the work which was carried out at the north Meath venue during the course of 1999, Seamus has no intentions of resting on his laurels. He, along with the club's executive committee, have ambitious plans for the future. "When I took on the job as Chairman of the Park Committee I said that, if enough funds could be raised, we'd build on an extension to the existing dressingrooms which would incorporate a referees room, a meeting room, a kitchen, more dressingrooms and so on. Hopefully, we're going to do that in 2000. "These things cost money and the purse strings are very tight at the minute so we'll have to do major fundraising of some type in the coming months. We're in for grants from the Central Council and the National Lottery - we didn't get anything from the Lottery last time around - but hopefully we'll have better luck in the future. "My biggest hope is that by the time we've all the development work completed we'll be close to winning Club Grounds of the Year." Seamus is eager to point out that it's by no means a one man show at Ballinlough. "The likes of Phil O'Brien, Michael Tuite, John Reilly, Julian McDonnell, Hugh Tully, Seamus, Gerry and Jack McNamee, Hugh McDonnell, Vincey Madden, Bob Ryan, Robert Stephens, Oliver Craughan and Jimmy Brady do a lot of work around the place. "We've been very fortunate to have some very good chairmen in the club down through the years and Paddy Jordan and Gerry Gaughran have been two of the best. "Bob Ryan, Hugh Tully and Paddy Jordan are trustees of the park." Seamus donned the red and white of Ballinlough from 1960 to '70. Together with Michael Tully and Maurice Nulty he formed the regular junior half-back line of that era. Others who were regulars on those teams include: Tom McDonnell, Peter Reilly, Sean Jordan, Sean Flood, Liam Keogh, Jim Melia and Seamus' brother Luke. Seamus captained the club for six of the ten years in the sixties but, unfortunately, silverware was a scarce commodity. His sole reward was a couple of tournament wins. The recent good form of Ballinlough on the playing field has provided him with much satisfaction. In 1996/'97 they collected the All County Division 2 and Division 1 League titles respectively. There was juvenile success to report in '98 while in the year just coming to an end there was more juvenile glory as well as good runs in the championship and league. "We've had some great wins this decade, at both adult and juvenile levels. The seniors had a good run in this year's championship and were very unlucky not to beat Skryne in the quarter-final. Reaching their second League final in three years was a fine achievement. "I have a lot of admiration for the lad that gets up of his bum and who puts on the jersey and goes out and plays football. He mightn't be the best in the world but he keeps trying and will improve as he goes on. The lad who dosen't know where the local pitch is, is the lad that you read about in the papers for all the wrong reasons." The affable Cahill, who was awarded 'Clubman of the Year' in 1998, adds: "I love going to games in Kells or Navan where I can sit back and relax and enjoy the match. When games are played in the Park I have to be there an hour before the throw-in to put on the showers, collect the gate receipts and so on. It's nice when someone else does the work." No one would begrudge Seamus that pleasure. Tweet

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