St Vincent's hit the headlines when capturing the 2005 Meath U14 FL Division 3B title, beating Dunsany in the final on May 23. It was a landmark victory for the Ardcath outfit, who are engaged in an ongoing battle against unforgiving demographics. Hopes are high that further success will follow as the plucky Vincents endeavour to thrive against all odds. Small parish. Outpost. Declining numbers. Modest history. St Vincent's really are up against it. But they're not prepared to throw in the towel. Not now and not anytime soon. To the contrary, the club is determined to put on a brave face, to redouble their efforts and defeat the odds. These odds may conspire against them, but this isn't going to deter the good gaels of Ardcath. They're a truly resilient lot and the U14 breakthrough of 2005 was richly merited. Though the Vincents had scooped three U12 titles in succession from 2002 until '04, they have no recent record of success at U14 level whatsoever. Throw in the fact that they stepped up a grade - to Division Three - for the new season, and the great triumph of 2005 is placed firmly in perspective. James Tallon, John Brangan and Frank McNulty managed the all-conquering side and the wise triumvirate certainly got the best out of the young lads as Ardcath struck a telling blow for the underdog. John, James and Frank all have kids involved in the team themselves, so their appointments to the management team were as practical as they were successful. James, who was moving to juvenile management after a stint with the juniors, notes: "Training was very good from the start of the year, and the attitude was good. We're delighted with the victory. "Ardcath is the second smallest parish in County Meath and is one of only two parishes where the population is in decline. We're getting it hard to hold onto teachers in the schools, so we're doing well to win anything! There are two schools in the parish and there wouldn't be 100 pupils in total. Half of those are girls, so when you do the maths, it doesn't look great." Certainly not when compared to neighbouring Ratoath, where the population surge is in overdrive and the GAA club is thriving. There's no sign of any such developments in Ardcath just yet. While the area is relatively close to the capital, it's between roads and perhaps a little off the beaten path. Still, as the relentless population shift away from Dublin continues unabated, surely Ardcath will inevitably benefit. The hope in the GAA club is that this will happen sooner rather than later. Still, despite these far-from-ideal circumstances, St Vincent's surpassed all expectations in '05, claiming a very competitive U14 Division 3B FL title with a series of stunning displays (and also excelling at U12 level yet again). Co-manager James Tallon is quick to point out that the U14 victory is highly significant, even compared to the recent U12 wins: "There's a world of difference between U12 and U14 football. Under 14 is more physical and is a higher calibre of football. It's tougher. There's nowhere to hide. "Under 14s are generally lads who will go on to play adult football. They did exceptionally well to win their section out. We had some good, big, strong lads on the team and everyone played well." A number of the Maroon U14s really caught the eye in 2005. For example, Robert Tallon and Declan O'Sullivan both made the Meath U14 squad and were also good enough to play on the Curraha-Ardcath combination that contested an U16 Division Three final in early August. Pat Hand has been juvenile chairman for five years and also doubled up as manager of the U12 team in 2005. Reflecting on the events of the year in general, he points out that a concerted effort was made by all concerned, culminating in the magnificent 3-10 to 1-6 defeat of Dunsany in the U14 FL Div 3B final. Of course, the seeds for this success were planted much earlier, as Pat explains: "Some of the parents got together five or six years ago and rolled up their sleeves. Out of this, a new juvenile committee was born. There were some slight changes in personnel this year, but the momentum has been maintained. "Things were slow to take off. When we held our first AGM, we only had two or three people at the start. The kids were playing elsewhere and out first challenge was to get our own teams up and running at U12 and U14 levels, which we achieved. We won three U12 titles in a row and this year, even though we had limited numbers and a couple of girls played on the team, we reached the Division 4B semi-final and only lost to Blackhall Gaels by two points in Ratoath. "We were happy with the U12s because there probably wasn't a great deal expected of them. We'd a strong crop at U12 level for a few years but we didn't have the same numbers this time. We're hoping to be competing at U12 level again in 2006, because we had a very useful looking batch of U10s under James O'Brien this year." As for the U14s, they performed superbly over the course of the season. Having won their division out at U12 level two years earlier, they were elevated to Division Three status for the 2005 FL and made little of the step-up in class, storming to a memorable outright victory - a breakthrough that really put the Vincents on the map. The U14 Division 3B campaign began with an away defeat to St Cuthbert's, but the Vincents refused to panic and followed up with convincing wins over Rathkenny and Boardsmill. Gaeil Colmcille gave a walkover before St Vincent's followed up with a thrilling 2-4 to 1-4 victory over Dunsany in an exciting encounter in Ardcath. The would-be champions closed their group programme with impressive away successes at the expense of Carnaross and Bective. After turning the tables on the Cuthberts in the semi-final, the Maroons squared up to Dunsany in the decider on Monday May 23. On a windy day, the Ardcath boys trailed by six points at the interval. However, they took full advantage of the strong breeze in the second half and held their opponents scoreless therein as they completed a spectacular revival to win comfortably in the end. "It may be a small parish, but there's good interest in it," the juvenile chairman observes. "We have U8, 10, 12 and 14 teams as well as the U13 league, which takes place in August. Interest levels are high at present … it's amazing what a bit of success can do. The 8s and 10s trained on Wednesday and the 12s and 14s trained on Friday nights. We were happy with the response and the U14 win was no more than the players deserved. We only had a panel of about 20 and some of them were still under 12, so it was a great win." Pat managed the U12 team in conjunction with Martin St Ledger. "We didn't expect to go so well but we got the right results up as far as the semi-final. We were going for four in a row and the lads made a big effort. We'll only lose three or four of the U14s next year and a number of this year's U12s will graduate onto that team, so they should be quite strong again. We're also hoping to have a very useful U12 team in two years' time. "The aim is to keep bringing lads through. We're joined with Curraha at U15, 16, 17 and minor and we reached an U16 Division Three final which was played on Tuesday night, August 2. Oldcastle beat us by a point and we were missing one of our top players, so that's quite encouraging, especially as Ardcath had an equal representation on that team. "We also ran our first ever summer camps in 2005, with 85 kids from the local parishes involved from Tuesday-Friday, 9-12 August, so we're hoping to so that again as well." James O'Brien looked after the U10s and U8s in 2005. There were no competitive matches, but the players took part in local mini-leagues and challenges. The manager reflects: "We split them into U10s and U8s for the first time. We started back in mid-April and had training or a challenge match every Wednesday night right through the summer up until Patron Day in Ardcath [early September]. We had on average about twenty U10s and maybe twelve-fifteen U8s. "Some locals came on board to help with the U8s, which was marvellous. The main thing we were trying to teach them was co-ordination. Some of them were already very good before they came to us, but others hadn't kicked a ball before so we had to instil basic co-ordination. We saw massive improvements right across the board with the 8s. "I've been working with the U10s for two years now and they are playing nice football. They're improving and learning how to play as a team, which is very important. "We took part in the mini-league instigated by Donaghmore-Ashbourne and that was very worthwhile. There were eight teams involved altogether and everybody got to take part in the finals - first against second, third V fourth etc. Everyone got a medal. We played some friendlies too and the boys did well so I'm hoping St Vincent's will get a good group of players out of it." Is the club going surprisingly well then, in spite of the obvious factors working against them? "Yes, there's good interest. We had lean times six or seven years ago but it's picked up and we're still thriving. We didn't think we had the numbers at U12 level this year, but they got to the semi-final and that says a lot about the kind of spirit and belief that's in the club now. "The players are there - it's just a matter of getting them out." Tweet

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