St. Michael's land the big prize
November 30, 2005
Of all the triumphant scenes that followed county finals during 2005, one surely stands out more than any other. St. Michael's had beaten Navan O'Mahonys to win the Junior Football Championship for the first time since 1982 and everybody appeared to want to congratulate one of the greatest Meath players of all time.
Martin O'Connell, a man who had won all that could be won at inter-county level, had captured his second JFC medal at the age of 42 and was carried towards the Pairc Tailteann stand by jubilant supporters with a smile on his face as broad as the main street in Carlanstown!
O'Connell had been there 23 years earlier when the Carlanstown/Kilbeg combination got the better of Seneschalstown to claim the junior title and at a time when the vast majority of players would have been content with a seat in the crowd watching the younger generation leading the club's bid for glory, he was there in the thick of the action again.
In the near quarter of a century that separated those two championship successes O'Connell developed into one of the outstanding inter-county footballers of his era and was a key defensive figure in the All-Ireland successes of 1987, 88 and 96.
He is the only Meathman to play on three All-Ireland-winning teams and is the only man from the county to hold six Leinster SFC medals. Such was his impact in an inter-county career that spanned from his NFL debut against Cavan at Kingscourt in October, 1983 to 1997 that he was named on the Team of the Millennium - the only Meath player so honoured.
He won All-Star awards in 1988, 1990, 1991 and 1996 and was named Texaco Footballer of the Year in the latter year. During his lengthy stint on the Meath team he played in every position, including in goal for a spell at a ground-opening game against Clare in Kilbride.
It would take a book all of its own to catalogue Martin O'Connell's numerous achievements, which also include an IFC win with St. Michael's when they defeated Dunderry in 1989, yet he has remained a wonderfully modest man and as popular a footballer as has ever been produced by the Royal County.
And despite all the glorious triumphs like Leinster and All-Ireland Championships, National Leagues, All-Star awards and various other accolades, that beaming smile on his face after this year's Junior Championship success suggested that this triumph with his club meant just as much - if not more - to him.
Some members of the St. Michael's team weren't born when O'Connell helped the club to that 1982 success and what a wonderful honour and privilege it must have been for those youngsters to share a playing field with this greatest of footballers.
"At training Martin will do anything he is asked to do and he is fit to do it," said St. Michael's coach Dudley Farrell as he paid tribute to O'Connell. "He wanted to do everything this year. He has such a great competitive edge.
"He would always want to stay on after training to kick more ball. You would be telling him to go home. He came to me at training before the junior final and said he would play anywhere necessary to try and win it.
"I started him at full-forward, later moved him out to centre-forward and switched him to midfield for the last 10 minutes. He caught three balls for us which was vital. Winning it meant so much to him."
But, as O Connell himself would be quick to point out, the junior triumph was about a panel effort and it was a solid team performance that helped to get the better of Navan O Mahonys second string in the final on the first Sunday of October.
St. Michael's were expected to be one of the front-runners in the battle for the Matthew Ginnity Cup and were drawn in group C, a section that also included another of the big fancies for the title, St. Ultan's, Bective, Ballinabrackey, Drumbaragh, St. Vincent's and the second string sides from Dunderry and Dunshaughlin.
But when the Carlanstown/Kilbeg team managed only draws in their opening two matches there were those who questioned whether they would, after all, manage to make the impact their undoubted talent suggested they would.
Bective held them to a draw (0-10 each) in the opening round back in April and when another share of the spoils followed against Ballinabrackey (St. Michael's 0-11, Ballinabrackey 1-8) they had dropped two championship points which might well have impacted on their qualification prospects later in the summer.
Their first win came in the third round against St. Vincent's (1-15 to 0-7) and, in the absence of ace attacker Daithi Regan, who had sustained a serious back injury while playing for Meath in the Leinster Championship defeat to Dublin, they scored a runaway 22-point (4-14 to 0-4) win over Dunshaughlin.
The scores flowed again next time out when they beat Dunderry by 1-17 to 1-6 and that success left them unbeaten and on eight points from five outings as they awaited a crunch assignment against a St. Ultan's side which was the fancy of many to achieve outright success.
A 2-7 to 0-7 victory really made people sit up and appreciate that St. Michael's were capable of going all the way and they completed their group campaign with a 0-15 to 0-13 win over a Drumbaragh team that was later to exit the title race in a quarter-final against Kilmainham.
St. Michael's had achieved their first big goal and reached the quarter-finals where they came face to face with Dunsany, the beaten finalists in both 2002 and 2004, and another of the more fancied teams for the junior title.
Regan had worked hard to get himself back into action, covering many miles on his bicycle, and how glad his team-mates were to see him return for that meeting with Dunsany as he converted a difficult 40-metres free to earn them a draw at Walterstown.
Michael's led by 0-8 to 1-3 at the interval, but Dunsany rocked them with two further goals after the change of ends to push seven points clear by the three-quarter stage. However, a John Farrell goal gave Michael's a significant boost, as did the brilliance of young midfielder John Barry O'Reilly who set up attack after attack.
They were still two points behind with five minutes remaining, but Derek Flood slotted over a 45 and Regan had the last say with the equaliser. It finished St. Michael s 1-15, Dunsany 3-9 and the Carlanstown/Kilbeg combination were relieved to get a second chance.
They made the most of it, winning the replay by 0-15 to 0-12 at the same venue. O'Reilly was again magnificent as they built up a slender 0-6 to 0-5 interval advantage and, while Dunsany managed to stay in touch, Michael's finished with a flourish to book their semi-final ticket.
Kilmainham had done well to reach the last four, but they were rocked by three St. Michael's goals in the first 11 minutes at Kells - from Regan and Johnny Reilly (two) - which effectively ended the game as a contest. The lead stood at 3-2 to 1-0 at the break and there was no way back for Kilmainham who went under by 1-6 to 3-7. Unfortunately for the experienced Tom Halpin he was to miss the final after being sent off in the first half.
A superb first half display against the wind made all the difference for Michael's in a highly entertaining final against O'Mahonys. John Barry O'Reilly and John Farrell went through plenty of impressive work at midfield, Regan was highly influential and the ageless O'Connell was a huge help to the cause, especially when the going got tough in the second half.
Regan and Farrell got the Michael's goals as they opened up a 2-8 to 1-5 interval advantage and the lead stretched to 2-10 to 1-5 within eight minutes of the restart after Ciaran Lynch and Regan had pointed.
Michael's looked home and hosed, but they endured a 13-minute spell without a score as O'Mahonys, to their credit, battled away and gradually began to erode the eight-point deficit, bringing it back to three. But Regan got a crucial point which effectively secured the title and O'Mahonys were unable to get the goal they so badly needed. Michael's were three points (2-11 to 1-11) to the good at the end.
It was a proud moment for St. Michael's captain Sean Gaffney when he received the Matthew Ginnity Cup and the big aim for the team now will be to bring senior football back to the club.
"In a lot of games three or four will play well, but in a championship final you need 10 or 12 playing well," reflected coach Farrell. "They upped their game for the final and played very well. They really enjoyed winning it."
And how are St. Michael s looking forward to their first year back in the Intermediate Championship?
"There will be 10 or 11 teams from north Meath in it," Farrell added. "It will be very competitive. You would hope they wouldn't be inclined to settle for winning the JFC. We have a lot of young lads. Seven of them are on the under-21 team.
"The Junior Championship is won, it's history and it s time to move on from there."
The St. Michael's team in the final was: G. Owens; M. Rogers, James Farrell, D. Reilly; S. Gaffney, D. Flood, P. Clinton; JB O'Reilly (0-1), John Farrell (1-0); J. Reilly, M. O'Connell, P. O'Reilly (0-1); B. Farrell (0-1), D. Regan (1-5), C. Lynch (0-2). Subs - B. Ryan for J. Reilly, M. O'Kane for P. O Reilly, B. O'Brien for Gaffney.
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