A patient man's reward
December 31, 1998
Not noted for their underage success, Ballinlough had reason to celebrate in 1998. U12 and U13 honours were garnered and a delighted Sean Smith talks to Royal County.
The Under 13 footballers of Ballinlough made history when they captured the 1997 Division 5 F.L. title at the expense of Dunderry. Played late last year at Kilberry, the boys from north Meath emerged victorious on a scoreline of 3-7 to 0-8.
For a small rural club like Ballinlough, underage success can be a scarce commodity. In fact a closer examination of the history books reveals that the red and whites hadn't won a juvenile title since 1977, the year in which Under 14 B honours were gained with a Bohermeen combination losing out.
That successful outfit consisted of present day senior stars Fergal O'Higgins, Declan Lynch and Raymond Lydon, and ironically the latter was coach of the 1997 all conquering Ballinlough youngsters with the winning touch. His co-manager was Sean Smith, a man whose name has been intrinsically linked with Ballinlough underage football since 1982.
Sean boasts a strong family GAA pedigree. His father Leo played on the Rathkenny team that won the senior championship back in 1919, and his brother Joe was Secretary of the Royal Meath Association in Dublin, as well as a long spell as Secretary of the Dublin Business Houses League.
Another brother Enda was involved with the Meath panel which won the Leinster final in 1954, and ten years later he was starring for Carlow in the National Football League semi-final against Derry.
Sean was equally at home on the football field, and was a goalkeeper of some distinction, donning the colours of both Killallon and Kingscourt Stars in county final games in Meath and Cavan.
Nowadays all his efforts are channelled towards the development of Ballinlough at juvenile level. Despite the lack of championship winning teams in the 'Lough down through the years, Sean Smith's interest has never waned. Many of the Ballinlough team which today holds its own amongst the elite of Meath football would have passed through Sean's hands at some stage or another.
Like all good underage mentors Sean advocates the point that it's not the winning that matters, but the taking part, yet after a 16 years involvement with no tangible reward he allows himself the luxury of basking in a rare glory.
"At recent A.G.M.s we were always asked what the state of play was at underage level," he reveals. "Year after year it was always doom and gloom. All I could say was the best we could hope for was a couple of lads from each year to make senior standard. Little did I, or anyone else know for that matter, that success was just around the corner.
"I was delighted for the lads. They all put in a big effort and got their just rewards. I'm there a long time now and teams have reached finals before, but this is the first one to actually go the whole way," he beams proudly.
The affable Smith traces the seeds of success back to 1996 when Nobber beat them in the Under 12 Division 4 league decider. It was then that he and Raymond Lydon first realised the potential of this particular batch of youngsters.
"In that year we won all our league matches running up to the final, during which we beat Nobber by a cricket score. For a place with such a small population it was a big event reaching the final. The parish was covered in flags and bunting and all of Ballinlough turned out for the final. In all the hype the lads forgot about the final and we ended up losing by five or six points.
"We knew we had a good team even though the final didn't reflect that," the Gypsum employee explained. "Myself and Raymond decided to enter the team in the under 13 league for only the second time. Ballinlough N.S. won Cumann na mBunscol competitions for two years running which also gave us an incentive to enter the competition."
Smith's charges blazed an impressive trail to the final accounting for St. Mary's at the penultimate stage. Dunderry provided the final opposition and a close game was anticipated as both sides had shared the spoils in an earlier encounter.
"It was always going to be a tight game but the match was fixed for 11.30 am on a Sunday morning which I was delighted with because I knew there wouldn't be too much hype surrounding the game. It meant that the team would be well prepared mentally."
That was very much in evidence as the eventual winners were the first to trouble the scoreboard operator and never relinquished the lead for the entire sixty minutes.
But, they didn't dominate proceedings by any means. The game was delicately poised entering the closing stages, until 1-1 from Nicholas Finlay hammered the final nail into the Dunderry coffin.
It was an impressive overall performance, with Basil Balfe, Benjy Smith, Conor Maguire, Padraig Muldoon, Michael Gaynor, David McEnroe and Gerard Smith in particular catching the eye.
The Ballinlough team which ended the 20 year underage famine was as follows:
B. Balfe; C. Maguire, B. Smith; D. Muldoon, N. Geraghty, J. O'Keefe; M. Gaynor, P. Muldoon; D. McEnroe (0-2), J. FarrelI (1-2), G. Smith (0-1); M. Briody (1-0), N. Finaly (1-2).
Unfortunately the winning formula wasn't maintained in the U14 grade with Castletown proving to be the rock on which Ballinlough's league aspirations perished in the final, while Ratoath knocked them out of the championship at the penultimate stage.
"It was disappointing," reflects Sean. "We had high hopes for the U14s after winning the U13. A lot of effort was put in, but it just wasn't to be."
The U12s is a different story however. They captured the club's first ever championship at that level with a smash and grab raid in the U12 FL Div. 4 final, goaling in the last minute to seal victory on a scoreline of 3-9 to 4-5 at Rathkenny's expense.
David McEnroe was the hero of the hour. The midfielder scored an amazing personal tally of 3-7, including the last minute winner. His opening goal ensured the sides went in level (1-3 each) at the break and Ballinlough looked to have sealed the issue when they opened up a six point gap midway through the second period.
Rathkenny battled back bravely and led by two points after 59 minutes, but it was appropriate that McEnroe had the final say with his third goal coming seconds later
Sean recalls those tension packed last couple of minutes: "It was unbelievable because Rathkenny had just got a goal to give them the lead and we scored one straight from the kick-out. I was sure the ref (David Coldrick) was going to blow for full-time but he must have said to himself that he would let it go for one more chance. Thankfully he did and we were able to take advantage."
En route to the decider, the 'Lough youngsters were unbeaten, drawing their opening game with Moynalty and later in the group, Kilmainhamwood. The semi-final was a re-match with Moynalty and in what Sean describes as "one hell of a game" his team prevailed by a solitary point.
While McEnroe may have captured all the headlines in the final, he received admirable assistance from Derek Muldoon, Shane Gaynor, Padraig Ryan, Brian Smith, Lorcan Maguire and Desmond O'Reilly. McEnroe, Muldoon and Smith were also stars of the U14 side.
"David was outstanding but it would be unfair to say it was a one man show. It was a great all round team performance and everyone gave their best. They showed a great fighting spirit to come back when Rathkenny had taken the lead. After all the effort, and hours of practice, it was great for them to get their reward."
The successful Ballinlough U12s were as follows: P. Ryan; L. Maguire, G. Smith, B. Matthews; L. Finnegan, D. Muldoon, D. O'Reilly; D. McEnroe, S. Gaynor; S. Finnegan, P. Davis, J. O'Higgins; A. Smith, R. Farrell, J. Gaynor.
Sub - N. Monaghan
With all the unprecedented success, Sean is eager to point out that it's far from a one man show he's running at Ballinlough. Along with himself and Raymond, Nuala Keane, Aidan Finlay, Brendan Smith, Padraig Geraghty, Padraig Maguire and Paddy Muldoon all make considerable contributions to the general well-being of the club's juvenile structure.
Now that his years of perseverance have finally paid off, will this win inspire future successes? In short, what does the future hold in store for Ballinlough at juvenile level? "I think once this bunch move on we'll be back to square one," he answers. "In a rural club like ours a talented team like this only come along every so often. Hopefully I'll be proved wrong," the affable Smith states with fingers crossed.
"But, we'll keep plugging away fielding the teams and after that you never know. A few years down the line we could have a team every bit as good. We'll have to wait and see," he concludes.
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