Despite a superb run comprising four straight wins in Division C of the 2005 Meath junior football championship, Bective narrowly missed out on a place in the knockout stage of the competition - but they were not to be denied their first piece of adult silverware in eight years. Playing better football than they had done in quite some time, they finished the season in style, claiming the Division Five league crown with a 1-6 to 1-5 defeat of Clann na Gael at Bohermeen on Saturday October 1. Ruairi Russell believes there's plenty more where that came from. The Bective that stood forward in 2005 was an impressive beast. While the club suffered an undoubted blow when agile attacker Ruairi Russell was forced to miss the latter stages of the season through injury, they gave a reassuring account of themselves nonetheless, raising hopes that the momentum gathered can be maintained in the forthcoming campaign. In Group C of the junior championship, Bective could consider themselves somewhat unfortunate to be edged out before the business end commenced. There were eight teams in the group and three of them would maintain an interest beyond the group stage (two advancing to the quarter-finals, with the third-placed time earning a quarter-final play-off). When the full programme of matches had been fulfilled, Bective were the unlucky side stranded in fourth place, on nine points - one less than Drumbaragh and three shy of both St Michael's (who went on to win the competition out) and St Ultan's. Alas, interest in the competition ended there. Meanwhile, in the league, Bective were punching below their weight after suffering relegation at the back end of 2004 and they set about regaining their Division Four status in admirable fashion, booking a place in the Division Five decider with a series of comfortable victories. The final was played in blustery conditions at Bohermeen on the first day of October and Bective prevailed by 1-6 to 1-5, bagging some welcome silverware as well as promotion. The Athboy-An Gaeltacht combination took an early five-point lead (1-3 to 0-1) but Alan Sheehan netted at the other end to leave three between them at half time (1-4 to 1-1). Playing with strong wind assistance, Bective dominated possession on the resumption but found scores hard to come by. Clanns got the opening score of the second half (their last of the match) and the gradual revival started with frees from Brian Donnelly and Sheehan before Robbie McCormack cut the deficit to one. Cometh the hour, cometh the captain: corner back Brian Hogge finished off the best move of the match with an inspirational point for the equaliser with four minutes left. Clanns came close to regaining the lead with a free which flicked off the outside of the post and went behind before Donnelly held his nerve at the other end to convert a late free and give Bective their first adult silverware since the 1997 junior football championship victory. It was a fitting end to the season for a team that had contributed much. Bective played with great energy, enthusiasm, conviction, spirit and belief all year - even when things seemed to be conspiring against them - and the trophy collected at Bohermeen in early October was the very least they deserved. Despite the patent disappointment of suffering dreaded cruciate ligament woe in July, ace forward Ruairi Russell looks back on the year with a tone of genuine contentment. He was pleased with how the team performed and can't wait to return to action in '06. Speaking to 'Royal County 2005' on the eve of his operation in mid-October, the deadly marksman enthused: "It was definitely an improvement this year. We were looking for an improvement and that's what we got. A few new fellas came into the team and did really well. We expected to win Division Five, though, after going down the previous year, so we didn't go overboard with the celebrations…" What objectives did Davy Cahill set out for his team at the start of the year? "Our target was to win Division Five and have a decent championship run, which we achieved even though we didn't make it to the knockout stage. Next year we intend to take it a step further." Bective opened their championship account against group favourites and would-be JFC winners, St Michael's, earning a commendable 0-10 apiece draw. An eight-point defeat to Drumbaragh ensued but Bective got back on track with successive victories over Ballinabrackey, St Vincent's, Dunshaughlin and Dunderry. Unfortunately, their involvement was ended by St Ultan's in the final group match, 1-11 to 0-8 on Sunday August 14. The Bohermeen men led that match by 0-9 to 0-3 at the interval but Bective halved the deficit within five minutes of the restart, courtesy of points from Ciaran Breslin (2) and David Keating. Despite the controversial dismissal of centre back Keith Dunne, the Cannistown outfit remained within a couple of points as the referee's watch showed five minutes of action remaining. Numerical inferiority finally told, however, and the Bective challenge ran out of puff. "We were still in contention up to the Ultan's game and would have got to a quarter-final if we'd beaten them. The Ultan's were a good championship team this year, though, and it was a bridge too far," Ruairi concedes. "Our average age is only about 20 or 21, so hopefully with a year's extra experience we can go further. We'd be hoping for a semi-final or quarter-final place at least next year. Anything less would be a step backwards." Long term, how much can this team accomplish? "The last couple of years have been lean but this year has seen a huge improvement with young lads coming through from our successful minor team. We also had good minor and U17 sides last year, so the long-term future of Bective looks good." Ruairi Russell has been on the Bective first team for twelve years. The 1997 junior championship success was the undoubted highlight. Bective reached an intermediate semi-final in 1999, but were beaten by eventual winners Syddan. They were relegated the following year and have been bidding for a return to intermediate ranks ever since. "With the amount of quality players coming through, we're confident that it's only going to be a matter of time before we go intermediate and stay there. Underage teams in Bective have never been as successful as they are now, so there's a lot of hope in the club. We used to struggle just to get teams out and never had anything like the number of underage players we have now. The likes of Sean Reilly, Martin Mulhall and Jim Sullivan have done great work with the underage players and hopefully we'll reap the rewards of that at adult level. "We're as strong now as we've been in a few years and we definitely have the potential to become as strong as the side that reached that intermediate semi-final. We'll benefit from playing in Division Four next year and hopefully we'll finish in the top half." Having undergone a cruciate ligament operation in October, Ruairi hopes to return to action in April - in time for the 2006 Meath junior football championship. He's relishing the challenge: "Things are looking good for next year. I'll be looking over my shoulder. With so many young lads coming through, there's a lot more competition for starting places and that is certainly a welcome development." Bective, 2005 Division Five league winners: S Breslin; J Gleeson, G Brennan, B Hogge (0-1); G Gallagher, D O'Brien, N Davis; S Moran, J Fagan (0-1); K Brennan, A Sheehan (1-1), I Cahill; J Davis, R McCormack (0-1), B Donnelly (0-2) Tweet

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