Martin Lynch is a top soccer coach. He's also from Dublin. An obvious choice then as manager of the Ratoath gaelic football team! As Royal County reveals, he's done a great job, living up to his own high standards. For the past two seasons, Ratoath GFC have benefited greatly from the presence in their parish of renowned international soccer coach - and Dub! - Martin Lynch. Martin has been living in the Meadowbank Hill part of Ratoath since February, 1997 and during that time has geared his considerable coaching talents towards the local GAA club, with dramatic results. In 1997, he took charge of the U21s and led them all the way to their county final wherein they were most unfortunate to finish runners-up. And last year, the club's junior A side showed a remarkable improvement on recent seasons under Lynch's guidance. Thanks to a little bit of timely intervention from the once dreaded 'foreign game', the future of football in Ratoath is looking a lot brighter than was the case a few years ago. Originally from the South Circular Road, Martin lived in Palmerstown for eighteen years before settling in Ratoath. As a coach, he is held in very high esteem among the soccer fraternity. However, he had never before tried his hand as a GAA coach. How did that come about? "Basically, my son Gerard started to play with the club and I went to a couple of the matches. Then, in September 1997, they asked me to look after the U21s; I met the committee and agreed to do it. As I was so well known among the soccer population, I'm sure some people recognised the name when I came to Ratoath. Before moving, I'd decided to take a break from the soccer as I'd had enough of the politics within the FAI, so when the GAA approached me, I was free to take up their offer." As it turned out, acquiring Martin's talents proved to be something of a coup for Ratoath. Granted, this was his first time to work with a GAA team - even though he'd had international success in soccer - but he soon discovered that the application of the same basic principles would create a winning formula. Martin learned that there are more similarities than differences when it comes to coaching the two games. Such was his reputation, Martin was putting his head on the chopping block in a way. He was simply expected to work the oracle. Okay, it was his first venture into GAA management, but this man had such an impressive track record in soccer that much was expected of him. He certainly didn't fail to deliver! Martin has thirty years of experience with soccer teams. Posts held during this time include coach of the Republic of Ireland youths and junior teams, manager/coach of the Republic of Ireland U15s and U16s, and Director of Coaching for two years at the DDSL - the largest schoolboy league in Europe! People like Stephen McPhail, Robbie Keane and Jason Kavanagh have all been through his hands at one stage . . . he worked with many of these young lads from they were ten or eleven! But surely great soccer coaches do not for good GAA coaches make? This notion was certainly rubbished by the success Martin enjoyed with the Ratoath U21s. He took them all the way to the 1997 league final wherein they would have triumphed had they enjoyed even a modicum of luck. The game went to a replay and Ratoath lost when their opponents, Drumconrath, scored a winning point about eight minutes into injury time. It was a controversial and bitterly disappointing end to a potentially glorious campaign. But, significantly, Ratoath were making huge strides forward. Here they were, fuming because they hadn't won a county title where previously even first round defeat was often greeted with little more than indifference! It was a seachange in attitude. Things were looking up! For Martin, it had been a successful first venture into GAA management. "It was certainly a whole new challenge for me," Martin reflects. "It was something new for the club as well - to have a soccer man in charge who just happens to be a Dub! But we got stuck in and made it work. The only approach I knew coming from the background I came from was an organised, professional one. We really pushed it. The U21 final replay was played on December 21st and from September until then the team trained very hard in all kinds of weather conditions. I asked a lot from them and they gave me a lot. It was a very successful campaign and we could easily have won it outright." When he became involved in gaelic games, Martin got a bit of "ribbing" over it . . . but he admits that he's always been massively interested in the GAA. "The biggest problem I had was the language barrier," he notes. "I was used to talking about 'flat back fours', 'pressurising the ball', 'stepping out' and stuff like that. I used to ask the lads what time the kick off was at and they had to keep reminding me that it was the throw-in! But, those minor details aside, there is no difference whatsoever in the preparation or organisation of a team. I'd say the main difference in the two games is probably that there's a lot more body contact in gaelic football; I really enjoy that roughness though." Is there much difference in the tactics a coach needs to employ for gaelic football and those used in soccer? "I actually discussed that very point with Mickey Barron one Sunday when the U21s were playing in Ardcath and, to a certain extent, his philosophy became mine. I had the gist of it myself already but had just needed somebody to bounce my ideas off. So, I bounced them off Mickey and he came back with some ideas to me. I came up with a strategy or game plan which centred around moving the ball quickly and using support play at all times. I also had some very interesting conversations on the same matter with former Monaghan footballer and All-Star (and current FAI physio) Ciaran Murray when I worked with him with the schoolboy international teams." Like Brian Kerr (who he's known for the best part of twenty years), Martin believes that the success of Irish soccer at international level in recent years is down to two factors - sheer, raw talent; and the incredible work of people at grass roots level. "The facilities in soccer are nothing compared to what the GAA has, but these people put so much voluntary work into the game. They don't get a penny. I still insist that there's not enough money going into soccer in this country and the success we've had is very much in spite of that. Our schoolboy teams are operating on shoestring budgets, under draconian conditions. When it comes to looking after players and teams, the GAA would put the soccer people to shame. I know that from how well my own son - who has international caps at U15 and U16 as a goalkeeper - was looked after when he joined up with the Meath minors last year." After having had such success with the club's U21s, Martin took over Ratoath's junior A team in 1998. He was overall team supremo and took in his good friend Dave Donaghue as trainer and Dermot Rooney (who has all the GAA coaching badges) as selector to complete a very formidable management team. The triumvirate had their work cut out. Martin reflects: "The club hadn't won a championship match in something like three years. We'd lost fourteen championship matches on the trot in 1996 and '97 and were in Division Four. We had to get in there and win some championship games to get that monkey off our back. Training went well and we went into the championship in good form." Ratoath met would-be finalists St. Marys in Duleek in their first outing and managed to pull off a major shock. They then beat Skryne in Walterstown. People were starting to take some notice. Some of the locals were getting a bit carried away, however. After all, it had been a long time since they made such a good start. "They seemed to think that success would land on our doorstep and were already suggesting to me, after only two games, that we must've been through to the quarter-final already. They didn't seem to realise how much work was needed to win such a competition. Personally, I thought we were making great progress but wasn't getting carried away. We had a lot of ground to make up and there was no point expecting miracles. "We were on the crest of a wave though. When we beat Meath Hill in our third game, you can just imagine the reaction! Things started to go pear shaped then, however. Graham Clark went to France and both David Eiffe and Damien Ryan went to America. Another fella went to London for a month and we picked up some injuries. While we were going well, we weren't strong enough to sustain it under such circumstances." A heavy defeat to Baconstown brought Ratoath back to earth with a bang. They then had a walkover against Navan O'Mahonys, victory over a poor Gaeltacht team and scraped through against Enfield. Six wins out of seven . . . impressive stuff! "Ourselves and St. Marys finished joint top and we had a choice of playing them or tossing a coin to see who'd go through to the semi-final. We played them and lost, having missed a vital penalty in the last minute. In hindsight, that was our big game and that's where it got away from us. We went into the quarter-final and faced Moylough who, like ourselves, were starving for success. They beat us 0-11 to 0-5 in Kilberry and so ended the dream." It was certainly disappointing but Ratoath had come a long way. They had a good run, recorded some great victories. The task ahead now is to build on the progress they made in 1998. Martin Lynch believes they have the potential to win a Junior Championship in the near future . . . if they're prepared to work at it. He feels that young players like Barry Crowley, Gerard Lynch, Paul Flaherty and Paul Kirwan should form the basis of this success. "We're surrounded by successful clubs here and, with the population growing, it has to get better for Ratoath. They have to just look after the young players, make them feel important and handle them carefully. If you convince a young lad that he can move mountains for you, he'll make a hell of an attempt at doing so! I honestly believe that half the battle is won off the pitch . . . the psychological approach is all important." Whether or not Martin Lynch continues his involvement with gaelic football in Ratoath in the future, he has certainly made a huge impact over the past two seasons. During those two years, he has transformed the club from no-hopers to genuine contenders. A year in review 1998 was a year that held out much hope but sadly ended without much success. We began our year with vivid memories of how close to real success we came with our Under 21 side in '97. Drumconrath beat us in the U21 final by two points after 8 minutes of injury time. However, we saw in this team a sign for the future. A firm commitment was made by all that a supreme effort would be required in 1998. A management team of Martin Lynch as manager, Dermot Rooney as Trainer and Dave Donoghue was appointed for the junior team. An exacting training schedule was initiated and it yielded success early on with great wins against St Mary's, Meath Hill and Skryne. Three hard nuts cracked and things looked rosy for the championship. Another win over An Gaeltacht and our tails were up but the wagon came of the rails slightly with a bad defeat at the hands of Baconstown. We completed our Divisional Championship campaign with a win over Enfield. We were then faced with a play off against St Mary's to decide Divisional Honours. A strong St Mary's side turned the tables on us this time in the sun at Bellewstown. Further bad luck awaited us against Moylagh which saw us play our worst football of the season. To find a reason why we failed to build on our early success is not easy. Certainly no effort was spared in preparing and supporting the team. Emigration and long periods between fixtures certainly did not help. We also suffered injuries to key players at critical times. Success in the A League was spoiled by the unavailability of key players for key matches. Nevertheless we remained comfortably away from the relegation zone and just missed out on promotion. The Junior C Season An indication of how this competition is run, is that, from the beginning of the championship, in May and up to mid September - Ratoath played just 4 Junior 'C' championship matches. It is very hard to keep players interested in training when there are so few games available. Something will have to be done at Co Board level to cater for this problem. Des Brady and Martin Mannering managed the Junior 'C' side and we had a strong panel of players. However, with the season running so long and loosing many players to the Junior 'A' squad we were beaten by Trim in the quarter final at Bective. Here again the signs are good as the players are available if we provide the football for them. There is a constant flow of good players coming through from the under age teams and it is a challenge to the club to ensure that these players stay with the club and are not poached by the senior clubs nearby. It is very disheartening to see many of our good players being poached under our noses when so much time and effort has gone into developing the talents of these players. An indication of how close we came to success was evident in the defeat of the 1998 U21 side by Cortown (a senior club) in Section A of the U21 competition at Bective, many at the game commented that it was one of the best matches seen for a long time. club development The club owns 27 acres of prime land at Brownstown. This is an extremely valuable asset of which many a club would be proud. Much credit must go to the members of the club who had the foresight to purchase this land some three years ago. However, major challenges lie ahead. We must embark in a major development without delay. Despite the best efforts no progress was made this year. There is a huge demand on our pitches by all the teams, which the club now fields - certainly a challenging year on the planning and development side lies ahead. Ratoath Juvenile Report 1998 was a reasonably successful year for Ratoath Gaelic club at juvenile level Teams were fielded at the following levels Football - U12, U13, U14, U15, U16, U17 Hurling - U11, U13, U14 Football Our Under 14 football team was probably the most successful team at this level for a number of years. They reached the semi-finals of the league after competing in division 3B, where they were beaten by Clan Na Gael of Enfield after a replay. They also reached the final of the U14B championship where Castletown beat them, again after a replay. Our under 12 and 16 teams finished in mid table in their respective leagues. The U13, U15 and U17 teams all gave a good account of themselves. At U10 level John Colreavy, Dermot Rooney and Hugh Daly ran a very successful mini league over the summer where over 80 boys took part. This is the rock on which we build our future success. They are continuing this good work with coaching every Saturday morning. From our U14 team a number of players went forward to trails for the county U14 team, from this group Patrick Hobbs was successful and played for the county team that won the Fr. Bannon Cup. A lot of the success for this team is due in no small way to the hard work of Ciaran O'Malley who spent many hours coaching them, and also to Tom Fitzmaurice, Martin Murphy and Alex Hobbs for their words of wisdom and calm, when selection and change was required. Hurling The U14 hurlers competed in division C of the league and gave a good account of themselves by finishing third in the league. They also took part in the feile competition where they were beaten in the second round. For the first time in the history of the club the U13 hurlers competed in division B of the competition where they gave an excellent account of themselves to finish in the top half of the table. The U11 hurlers took part in the ground-hurling league where they unfortunately were not very successful but had a lot of fun. Coaches Michael Barron, Paul Dolan, Damien Willis and Claire Dolan are doing some great work bringing this group through the skills. Four of the U14 hurling squad took part in the Feile skills competition and while no individual was outstanding the team score was such that they finished in the top half of the section. The team was Stephen Gorman, Donal Kirwin, Conor Brady and Diarmuid Brennan. - Ratoath Juvenile Club Tweet

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