Standing at 5' 7", he wouldn't be most people's idea of the perfect goalkeeper. But when Bective were short of one this year, Davy Cahill agreed to stand between the sticks. He speaks about a long run in the intermediate championship, and an even longer one in football. This was always destined to be a crucial year for Bective. Having won just one intermediate championship match in their first year in the grade, they were again expected to struggle. With the dreaded spectre of relegation introduced for the first time, the team knew they had to surpass last year's exertions to survive. They did. And more. True to form, the pundits again continually underestimated the '97 Junior champions, with the predictions almost invariably favouring Bective's opponents through the year. Their '99 exploits will ensure that will no longer be the case. The odyssey was ended by eventual winners Syddan at the semi-final stage in October. Davy Cahill, who won a junior championship medal two years ago when lining out at midfield, started the summer at corner forward and ended it in goal. It was that type of year. Hopes were high on the south side of Navan before that semi-final clash, with many within the club visualising an ending similar to '97, when, despite claiming underdogs' status for virtually every match, the club claimed the junior title. It was with considerable optimism, then, that the side went into the match with Syddan. But, as Davy explains, the fact that Bective had claimed their semi-final place just seven days previously did not help the team. "We had spent three months concentrating on the Donaghmore/Ashbourne match that we needed to win to get into the semi-finals, so we were delighted to get that one out of the way. Then we had to play the semi-final a week later. It was all a bit messy, and I don't think we had enough time to focus ourselves on the game properly. We started so brightly, but one or two things went the wrong way for us, and we could never really get into the game when they went a bit ahead. People said to me, 'Ah, the lucky run has ended', but there was no lucky run; we won every game on merit. And fair play to Syddan, they went on to show that we weren't a bad side by winning the final. All the sides are very close, and it comes down to which side puts in the most effort, and Syddan put in more effort than anyone else." Bective's year began well with a relatively easy victory over Moynalty, and in the second group match Bective were faced with the challenge of Rathkenny. As Davy says, it was perceived as the vital game. "That was the one that I felt we had to win. Everybody expected St Pat's to qualify anyway, so I thought that to have any chance we had to beat Rathkenny." The match didn't go as was hoped. Bective disappointed in the second half, managing only a single pointed free in the entire 30 minutes as Rathkenny forced their way into the lead. A brace of excellent scores from county player Donal Curtis helped Rathkenny to victory, but the fact that there were only two points (0-10 to 1-5) between the sides at the finish, taking into account Bective's second period no-show, made it all the more depressing. A Ruairí Russell goal had given Bective a half-time lead, but Rathkenny took control in the second period. The general opinion was that the defeat all but ended Bective's chances of progressing to the latter stages of the championship. But Davy recalls a spirited performance just before the next championship match that made him, at least, hopeful for the remainder of the year. "We played Duleek in the league with a team that had four or five changes from the side that played Rathkenny, and we played very well. It was a good win, but on the downside PJ (McCabe) got injured that day, which left us without a goalkeeper. The selectors tried a couple of lads in challenges before the game against St Pat's, but nothing really came of it." With only two fit subs on the bench, five changes made to the starting team, and no natural goalkeeper to call on, few in the club held much hope for the match against the championship favourites. Second choice 'keeper Tomas Boyle was tied up with work commitments - the selectors had a dilemma. Who were they going to put in nets? When the candidates for the vacant goalkeeping position were perused, Davy Cahill's name came to the top of the list. He was not totally entering the unknown, however. Davy was the goalkeeper for Bective in an All-Ireland junior sevens competition in '98, while he also played in the position for his previous club Nobber during a spell in senior football in the eighties. "The way it worked out on the day we were to play St Pat's, it couldn't really have been any worse," he recalls. "I didn't know I was going to be playing in goals until when I was sitting in the dressing-room about ten minutes before the game. While the mood was fairly good, nobody expected anything at all from the game. We settled into it quickly, and got quick, early goals that really rattled Pat's. I think it was the tactics that won the game for us that day more than anything else. Martin (Barry) had everything spot on. Once we got into the lead, we slowed things down, and they started rushing things a bit. With my kick-outs, I was asked to sacrifice trying to get distance, and just make sure of finding a player. "Another factor, I think, was that we were probably underestimated in the game. Nobody expected us to cause much of a problem for St Pat's, so they could have been a bit complacent going into the game. Then when we went ahead, they couldn't really get themselves going; they were very subdued in the game." In the next match, which Bective had to win if they were to capitalise on beating St Pat's, Duleek provided the opposition. Davy is candid in his summation of the game. "We played poor enough that day, and did well to win in the end. We probably played better against Rathkenny and lost. Ruairi (Russell) got sent off and then they got a goal to put them a point up. But we fought back well and John Sheehan got a couple of late points to win the game." Further victories over St Brigid's and Donaghmore/Ashbourne propelled Bective into the semi-finals, but Syddan, as they had done on each outing throughout the year, proved too strong. Davy started '99 in his characteristic roving corner forward role, coming out the field to aid Bective's inexperienced midfield partnership of Alan Sheehan and Damien Collins, aged 19 and 20 respectively. The pair had never previously played together at this level, and Cahill's knowledge of the game helped them through a potentially difficult opening round match at the beginning of an excellent year. A decade and a half after lining out at right half back on the county junior side while playing with Nobber, Davy is still going strong, and should form an integral part of the Bective panel for the coming year. He admits, though, that he had slight reservations about continuing his playing career at the beginning of the year. "There wasn't a lot of optimism when training started back last January," Davy recalls. "Anything could have happened. To be honest, I was thinking that it might be my last year playing." And was it? "You see, I've learned never to think about things like that at this time of year," he replies cleverly. He may be in his late thirties, but he's fitter than most, and few in the club would like to see him hang up the boots just yet. Davy, who played all his underage football with Navan De La Salles, made his debut with the then Junior 'B' Bective at the age of 16. He took up residence in the north of the county in the early eighties, and joined Nobber a year after they won the intermediate championship in 1981. Four years after Bective's 1989 Junior 'B' championship win, he returned to his former club after helping Nobber to a county semi-final in his decade there. Back in junior football with Bective, he formed a steady partnership with Sean Moran at midfield, and the pair played in the engine room in the historic junior championship campaign of '97. Davy's final, however, was marred by the cracked ribs which he sustained in a typically committed challenge, and which forced him off the field and into hospital before half-time. "It was very disappointing to play all year up to the final," he says, "to put in all the effort, and then to miss most of the final." In '97, the rest of the side ensured that he had a medal to savour. In '99, though few could fault the application, the mission to claim another championship medal faltered at the penultimate stage. But with the run to the intermediate semi-finals behind them, it is certain that few will underestimate the challenge of Bective in the future. A man for all seasons John Moran has been a Bective stalwart for two decades. During that time he has seen a lot of changes, as he tells Shane Breslin. Few that have met John Moran could ever forget him. The man is thoroughly unique, the lifeblood of a club for almost two decades. For several years now, he has been threatening to call quits to his administrative days. For several years, he has been persuaded to "give it one more". It is not often that Bective need to use a public address system at their small, but excellent ground about three miles to the south of Navan. The day that Meath came to town, to play a challenge match against Clare at the official opening of the new pitch in '97, was one day that the tannoy came into use. Not many would relish having to speak coherently into a microphone for the benefit of thousands. John Moran certainly seemed to. His charisma bellowed from the loudspeakers as surely as if he was standing next to you. John lists that day among his proudest. "It was a great honour to be part of the club for the official opening, to see a Meath team play on the pitch we spent so long getting right. It is one of the great highlights of my time at Bective; it's what you strive to achieve from the start, but it takes a lot of time to bring about. It couldn't really live up to the championship win in '97, but it was definitely one of the better days." The club has had quite a few better days in recent years. From being generally regarded as one of the county's weakest clubs not long ago, Bective have made the difficult transition from the backwaters of junior football to within reach of the senior championship. Five years ago, the idea would have been ridiculed. John Moran is one who has been instrumental in bringing about the change, though his self-deprecating character leads him to seek alternatives on whom to heap praise. Martin Barry was trainer of the side for the past three years, taking the side to a junior title, to Division 3 and to the last four of the intermediate championship in his time. Last November, he decided against remaining with the club for another year. John Moran recognises the excellence of the job that Barry has done in a relatively short period of time. "Martin has to be thanked for the effort put in since he came to the club three years ago," says John. "A lot of work has to be done to keep up the level of achievement, but hopefully we'll be able to get someone to come in to take it up where Martin left off." John was delighted with the way the side conducted itself in a difficult grade in '99. "We had a very good intermediate championship. Of course, it could have been better, but you couldn't fault anybody. It was encouraging to see four or five fellas come in from the Junior C team and do a good job during the year. We will need more players to come through from Junior C and underage in the next few years if we are to keep the performances at a high standard." The underage part of the club has been developed extensively in recent years, and John is keen to pay tribute to certain people who have had a great influence in the area. "Men like Dessie O'Brien, Jerry O'Grady, Paddy McConnell, Gerry Keating, Jack Fagan and Jim Sullivan have all been deeply involved in the underage part of the club for a while now, and this year we began to see the results with two sides getting to finals." Unfortunately, neither the under 13s or under 14s managed to win their respective finals, but the progress has not gone unnoticed within the club. "There is a lot of enthusiasm at underage level," John points out, "and hopefully if we can look after the players fairly well, we can hold on to them for the future." New measures to be introduced by GAA authorities will define boundaries between Navan's three clubs at juvenile level for the first time. John Moran is hopeful that the club can continue to persuade enough families to send their children to play with Bective. "There is a huge amount of housing development going on in Navan at the moment, which will bring a lot of new residents into the area, but Bective is one of the areas that has remained nearly untouched. It means that we will have to fight to hold on to whatever players we get at underage level, but I'd hope we can manage that, and to bring a few of them on to adult level in the years to come." John, a Meath County Board official before he joined Bective in 1980, has coupled his secretary's duties with those of selector in recent years. When asked to outline his hopes for the coming summers, he is quick to fire a positive answer. "I think we have the players to win an intermediate championship, and that is what I'd be looking for in the next few years. I wouldn't like to settle for winning the junior championship, making the semi-final of the intermediate championship and getting a bit of success at underage level. They are only foundations; now we have to build upon them. We have a good young team and I'd be very hopeful." Bective's task in the intermediate championship will be made all the more difficult by the fact that two clubs were relegated from senior in '99, and both Slane and Carnaross will expect to go close to regaining their former status. But their exertions last summer, when it was left to Syddan (the only unbeaten side in the competition and the eventual winners) to knock them out at the penultimate stage, will fill everyone in the club with confidence as the next championship season awaits. One suspects that John Moran, who in a former life was a solid centre half back with Navan De La Salles and Commons, will remain thoroughly dedicated to Bective, in the near future at least. Since he was encouraged "by Mickey Morris and a few others" to get involved in the club two decades ago, he has been a model of application. His characteristic confidence, seen by so many for so long as misplaced or even misguided, has been partly repaid in recent years. The rest of the debt is now due . . . Tweet

Most Read Stories