When interviewed for Royal County 1996, former Meath and O'Mahonys forward Finian Murtagh had the following words to say about Paddy O'Brien: "Paddy has carried out tremendous work at Juvenile level for the past fifteen to twenty years, as long as I've been involved anyway. Ask anybody who came through the underage and they'll tell you the same, he has a great manner about him and all the players respect him as a result. He deserves a lot of credit for his efforts." Paddy O'Brien requires no introduction to Meath Gaels, his name has been synonymous with underage football in the O'Mahonys club since 1955, when he was elected secretary of the, now defunct, De La Salle club. By his own admission, Paddy was a modest enough footballer, his playing career was confined to participation in school leagues. His enthusiasm has never waned and together with daughter Mary, secretary/PRO of the O'Mahonys juvenile section, he continues to oversee the smooth running of the county's most illustrious gaelic football and hurling nursery. The club's underage chairman runs the rule over another profitable twelve months for the 'Hoops'. O'Mahonys 1999 Underage Roll of Honour: Football - U14 league and championship, U16 championship. People would be forgiven for believing that the U12 FC cup had taken up permanent residence in Brews Hill. O'Mahony's monopoly of the grade began in 1993 but Round Towers got their hands on it this year. "We decided to give someone else a turn," laughs the retired Post Master before adding: "fair play to Kells, they were a very good team and fully deserved their win." The U14 championship and league double was achieved with final wins over Summerhill and Blackhall Gaels respectively. #One of the highlights of Paddy's year was the U14s trip to Clare for the Féile na nÓg competition. "We've represented Meath in the Féile na nÓg the last three years and that has been a big honour for the club. The very principle of the Féile competition is a good one, young players from all over the country mixing together. This year it was in Clare and it was a very memorable trip. "Unfortunately, despite the great work done by team coach Tony Crosby, we didn't win the competition but we lost our two corner backs to injury which seriously damaged our chances. I feel we would have reached the final if they were available to us. We got great support from the players, parents and sponsors, without their help the trip would not have been possible. The hurlers also represented the county in the Féile na nGael which was held in Wexford. This was our third year in a row to represent Meath at the hurling Féile - much to the credit of Kevin Mullin, Dick Hogan, Gerry Kelly and Michael Regan." A local derby match with Simonstown ensured a large attendance was present in Kells for the U16 FC decider in July and they weren't disappointed. Both teams provided value for money with the blue and white hoops prevailing on a scoreline of 1-12 to 0-11. "That was a very entertaining final against Simonstown and we were delighted to get our hands on the cup. It was a very close game, thankfully the end result went in our favour. Full credit to the players who prepared hard for this competition and coaches/mentors, Peter O'Toole, Eamon Dunphy and Oliver Matthews." There hasn't been many disappointments for O'Mahonys at juvenile level in recent times, but their failure to capture the minor championship remains a source of irritation. 1980 was the last year the Delaney Cup came to Brews Hill. The Minor class of '99 were surprisingly knocked out by eventual champions Blackhall Gaels at the penultimate stage. "Not winning the minor this year was, to a certain degree, disappointing. I felt sorry for Cathal O Bric (the team's coach) and the lads. They had won everything up the line and I believed that they had the potential to win it this year." "They didn't do themselves justice in Walterstown, but that's not taking anything away from Blackhall Gaels because they were a very good side as they proved by defeating Summerhill in the final. We can't complain really, we've had a good innings with this team, hopefully now the majority of them will progress onto the adult teams. "That is one of the main objectives with all juvenile footballers. There's a lot of distractions nowadays for younger players so you have to work extra hard to keep them interested. I'm an optimist by nature so I fully expect to see plenty more of these players in the future." Questions & Answers What are the secret ingredients of O'Mahony's successful underage structure? In fairness we're fortunate to have a good group of people, with both the football and the hurling, who are more than willing to get involved with the various teams and help out. And we're lucky to have so many talented young players. It's a combination of good lads available to us and lots of people prepared to work with the various teams. A lack of pitches must pose problems for a club which boasts so many underage teams in football, hurling, ladies football and camogie, not to mention all the adult teams? We're tight enough with pitch spaces alright. The club ran a 'Super Draw' this year in a bid to raise finance to upgrade our pitches. We've a number of teams, at various levels, and there is a big demand on our pitches. St. Pats and the local national schools also avail of our facilities. In fairness, there's good liaison between the team mentors. In a way it's a good problem to have because, the way I look at it, I don't mind whether it's football, hurling, camogie or ladies football, as long as the place is full. Competition from other sports must also be a concern? Years ago there wasn't half as many distractions, there was nothing else to do but kick football. Soccer clubs are now more numerous in and around Navan and you have to work harder because you'll always find lads wherever there's a ball being kicked, whether it be a gaelic, soccer or rugby one. You've been involved with underage football/hurling for forty plus years now, what have been the main changes you've witnessed over the years? I remember cycling to and from places like the Yellow Furze to play games. Nowadays all you hear out of the lads is 'what time is the bus coming at?' Sometimes I tell them that we might cycle to the game; as you can imagine this results in plenty of raised eyebrows! The role played by local schools often goes unnoticed? Schools are very important, I don't think teachers who look after teams in schools are given enough credit. I spoke to a man from a rural club recently who was telling me that there's no interest at all amongst the teachers in his local school. His club was under pressure as a result at underage level. I've always had great admiration for the teachers in the schools who give up their free time to coach teams. The Cumann na mBunscol finals at Pairc Tailteann each year are evidence of the magnificent work being done by them. Is winning trophies the most satisfying aspect of your involvement with the underage? No not at all. When a team is successful you hear people talk about all the work that went in to preparing that team, but the same amount of work also goes in to preparing a team which doesn't win anything. I get a lot of satisfaction from seeing a moderate player developing into a good footballer/hurler as he moves up through the grades. That type of thing makes my day. The club is enjoying great times at the moment but what will happen if the well runs dry? I find that success comes around in cycles. While it would be great if we could continue this rich vein of form there will come a time when we may not win as much as we are now. You have to take the good times with the bad. But I have every reason to be optimistic. Officers of O'Mahonys Juvenile section during 1999 were: Chairman - Paddy O'Brien Vice-chairman - Tony Crosby Secretary/PRO - Mary O'Brien Finance officer - Frankie McEvoy Hurling officer - Dick Hogan Football officer - Declan Sheridan Committee - A. Macken, D. Murtagh, E. Murtagh, N. Cahill, K. Reilly, O. Murtagh, K. Mullen, T. Garry, P. Wade, E. Dunphy, S. Moran, J. Grehan, M. Regan, S. Daly, J. Loughran, P. Keane, P. O'Toole, L. Kerrane, B. O Bric, O. Matthews, R. Brennan, P. Smyth, S. McKeigue, M Smyth. Navan Hurlers Kevin Mullen is the Navan O'Mahony's Hurling chairman and with the amount of success they enjoyed during the course of 1999, it's not surprising that he's only too glad to talk about another good year for the blue and white brigade. When asked what O'Mahony's won on the hurling fields in 1999, Kevin Mullen paused for a deep breath before reeling off: "we won the U11 Ground Hurling title, the U11 'A' championship, the U13 'A' (which was our ninth in a row), the U14 'A' and Feile, Junior 'A' for the first time ever and the O'Growney Cup." At the time of writing the Brews Hill club are still involved in the U21 championship final against Boardsmill (they were going for their fourth in a row), the Minor semi-final and the Senior League final against Trim. When you read this you should know what way they fared out in those competitions but, win, lose or draw, 1999 will still be considered a good year for the small ball exponents of O'Mahonys, even if their senior hurlers made a disappointing exit from the championship at the hands of Killyon in a semi-final replay. "Losing to Killyon was a big disappointment, we should really have won it the first day," remarks Kevin who has been chairman of the club's Hurling Board for six years. "We had our chances and didn't take them. We badly missed David Connell who is a long term casualty following an injury he received playing for Meath while his brother Colm emigrated for a year. They would be two of the central men on our team and were big losses. "But we've great hope for the future. Twelve of the team which played in the replay against Killyon were U21, eleven of them are U21 again next year. So there's no doubt that we have players who will be capable of making a strong push for the senior championship in the coming years." O'Mahonys prospects have been boosted by the addition of some new arrivals into the town these last few years. "Pat Baker from Clare, Johnny Gardiner from Tipperary and Pat Roche from Limerick joined and are a big help to us. We've a predominantly young team so their experience and exemplary attitudes make them good leaders on the team, that was something we were badly missing in the past." The last time the Jubilee Cup visited Navan was in 1986/87. "I think if we were to win the championship now it would mean a lot more to the club," says Kevin before explaining: "there was no juvenile hurling in the club at that time and there were thirteen outsiders on those teams. The majority of the team nowadays is homegrown talent so a championship win would be of much more significance now." Kevin trained the O'Mahony's adult teams this year and was helped with the seniors by Liam Kerrane and Brendan Ryan. Those three along, with Pat Coone and Dick Hogan (who's the club's Juvenile Hurling officer), were in charge of the victorious juniors. O'Mahony's fielded three adult hurling teams for the first time in their history in 1999. Others who are assisting in promoting the small ball code within the club are Jim Loughran, Joe Grehan, Mickey Regan, Noel Quirke and, needless to say, Paddy O'Brien. As regards the county scene, O'Mahonys players featured prominently on the Royal County squad which captured the All-Ireland U21 'B' title at Kerry's expense. Alan Connell was captain and was accompanied by his brother Paul, Andrew Snow, Donal and Richard Hogan, John and James Burke, Niall McKeigue on the panel. Kevin was a selector with the county junior side. "To have so many players on an All-Ireland winning team was great for the club. It's proof of all the hard work that is being done in the club and it's great to see them getting the rewards. James Burke won his second All-Ireland Junior medal this year. "Two All-Ireland wins for a county like Meath is very good going. I think the talent is in the county, Nicky Horan for example, and others like him, would walk on to most county teams. I think forwards is the big problem in Meath hurling. We have any amount of good defenders but quality, scoring forwards are badly lacking." The O'Growney Cup win - in 100 years of the competition it was O'Mahony's first success - was a nice way to round off the year. Relegated Boardsmill provided the opposition at Athboy and Mullen's charges ran out winners on a scoreline of 0-9 to 1-4. A paper report of the game said that O'Mahonys were resting some of their players in advance of the U21 championship decider but Kevin refutes that claim. "We were short players because of injury. Winning the O'Growney Cup meant a lot to the club so there was no way we deliberately rested players." It wasn't as easy as many O'Mahonys supporters might have expected it to be. Their opponents dominated the opening proceedings and were 1-2 to 0-1 ahead at the interval. Thomas Loughran was the Navan side's sole scorer in during that period. Whatever Mullen, Kerrane and Ryan said to their team during the half-time break certainly had the desired effect. O'Mahonys emerged a different team for the second half. Loughran added another six points, one of which came from close to the sideline, and John Burke and Niall McKeigue also got in on the scoring act as the eventual winners took the lead for the first time. Boardsmill kept up the fight but James Burke was in inspired form in the O'Mahonys goal and kept them at bay. James Burke, John Gardiner, John Burke, Donal and Richie Hogan and Loughran did most to ensure O'Mahonys first O'Growney Cup win. O'Mahonys - James Burke; D. Hogan, R. Hogan, J. Leahy; B. Farrell, P. Baker, S. Kane; J. Gardnier, John Burke (0-1); S. McKeigue, P. Roche, N. McKeigue (0-1); D. Fitzsimons, R. Ward, T. Loughran (0-7). Subs - E. Kerrane, J. Gleeson. All that's needed now is a SHC success. "As I said we have the players, the lads like playing hurling, they train hard, hopefully now they will get the rewards their efforts deserve," Kevin concluded. O'Mahonys First winners of O'Loughlin Cup O'Mahonys put in a brilliant second half display to record a convincing win over Blackhall Gaels in that club's under 19 football tournament, played at Batterstown over the holiday weekend by 4-9 to 2-7. O'Mahonys had a point to spare at the interval 1-5 to 1-4. Blackhall had a goal minutes into the second half and at the end of the third quarter they were four points ahead. A goal from Micháel Reilly in the 46th minute heralded the start of a great comeback by O'Mahonys and Simon O'Connor and Thomas Loughran added two points before Reilly added his third goal from a penalty. Blackhall refused to relent and fought back with a point in the 53rd minute but Thomas Loughran was quick to reply with a point. On the call of time Shane McKeigue was fouled inside the parallelogram and Michael Reilly converted for his fourth goal to leave O'Mahonys convincing winners. This was a fine performance from a team made up of a number of Under 16, 17 and minor players and should be a source of encouragement for coach Cathal O'Bric. Prominent for O'Mahonys were Shane McKeigue, Micháel Reilly, Lee Russell, Paul Connell, Stephen MacGabhann, Ian Matthews and Thomas Loughran. O'Mahonys: S Murray, T Heery, P Connell, D Moran, L Russell (0-1), J Molloy, P Quinn, S McKeigue, S McGabhann (0-2), S O'Connor (0-2), D O'Toole, A Gillick (0-1), G O'Dowd, P Comey, M Reilly (4-1), T Loughran (0-1), B Cantwell, I Matthews. U16 Camogie title for O'Mahonys Elizabeth Oakes netted a hat-trick as O'Mahony's easily overcame Killyon in the 1998 U16 camogie final. In a one sided encounter at Killyon, the Navan outfit ran out winners on a scoreline of 6-4 to 1-0. Hilary Burke was also in the scoring form and she registered 2-2 while Maria Byrne weighed in with 1-1. They impressed along with Naomh Fahy and Pamela Fagan O'Mahony's scorers - E. Oakes (3-0), H. Burke (2-2), M. Flynn (1-1), G. Foley (0-1). Tweet

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