Dream double eludes Ballinacree men

November 30, 2005
St. Brigid's came tantalizingly close to capturing both the junior B football championship and Division 4 titles in 2005. But their failure to win either prize was a source of great disappointment to leading scorer Tomas Blake. It was a case of what might have been for St. Brigid's this year as both the junior 'B' championship crown and promotion from Division 4 of the league eluded them in cruel circumstances. Narrow defeats to Boardsmill in the championship final and to North Meath rivals Moylagh in the league put paid to St. Brigid's hopes of taking any silverware from the year. The fact that both games were there for the winning has only added to the Ballinacree men's sense of frustration this winter. "It's disappointing to think that we let a junior 'B' championship and league promotion slip through our fingers," star forward Tomas Blake ruefully reflects. "We had two big chances but took neither of them. Even though we only lost by a point, I don't think we did ourselves justice against Boardsmill in the championship final. A lot of the lads were playing in Navan for the first time and the occasion might have got to them. "Missing out on promotion to Division 3 was equally disappointing. We had to beat Moylagh in our final match and things were looking good when we led by seven points at one stage. But we let them back into the game and they eventually beat us by a couple of points. That was an inexcusable defeat because Moylagh were mid-table and had nothing to play for." After ending a decade-long drought for silverware in 2004 by winning the Division 5 title, St. Brigid's were determined to build on that success this year. Under the management of Ballinlough's Ray Lydon and his fellow-selector George Plunkett, the North Meath outfit enjoyed a relatively smooth run to the junior 'B' final. They recorded comfortable wins over the likes of Castletown and Moynalvey in the group stages with their only blip being a draw with Blackhall Gaels in Simonstown. Blackhall had looked like taking the spoils until Blake came to St. Brigid's rescue with a last-gasp equalizing point. Defeat also stared St. Brigid's in the face when they met Trim in the semi-final. Trim led going into the closing stages, but the Ballinacree side finished strongly with Fergal Hennessy grabbing 1-1 and substitute Shane Geraghty also weighing in with a vital point to decide the issue. And so, 11 years after the club tasted victory in the junior 'A' championship final, St. Brigid's headed for Pairc Tailteann to face Boardsmill in the junior 'B' decider. Confidence was high among supporters with most pundits predicting a win for the navy and sky blues. But Boardsmill had other ideas and, despite conceding the lead for the only time in the third quarter, they fought back to claim victory by the narrowest of margins, 1-10 and 1-9, atoning for their 2003 final defeat to St. Vincent's in the process. Boardsmill began brightly with two points in the opening three minutes. Thomas Reilly registered the first and then a shot from Stephen Gibbons flew just inches over the crossbar. St. Brigid's replied with scores from Barry Hussey and Fergal Hennessy, but they failed to score again from play in the first half as the 'Mill took a firm grip on proceedings. While Brigid's kicked wide after wide, Boardsmill found the target regularly. Midfielder Keith Hamilton was especially prominent in this regard and he landed two fine long-range efforts to give the team in royal blue and white a 0-7 to 0-3 cushion at the break. The Ballinacree side emerged for the second half a different team. Within two minutes of the restart, Blake collected a delivery from wing back Hugh Fanning and fired over. Almost immediately, the same player levelled the scoring when he shot to the net after good work further out the field by AJ Gilsenan and Fanning. The St. Brigid's supporters were on their feet when Blake gave the North Meath outfit the lead in the 41st minute. Centre back and captain Brian Briody was playing out of his skin for the men in blue and navy during this period as Boardsmill struggled to curtail his dominance. But the game turned again when substitute David Farrell found the net from close range to leave St. Brigid's two points in arrears. After that, Ray Lydon's charges got to within a point twice but were unable to restore parity again as Boardsmill hung onto their slender advantage in determined fashion. Stephen Farrelly had a chance of a goal but the effort was kept out. In the closing stages, Blake and Hamilton were successful from frees, and while AJ Gilsenan scored a late point, it wasn't enough to save St. Brigid's from a heartbreaking loss. "Defeat is always harder to take when you lose by a point," says Blake, who was top-scorer in the final with 1-4. "We felt we had a very good chance beforehand, but we played as individuals and that's what beat us in the end. What also counted against us was the fact that we had an easy passage to the final. We got two byes from Navan O'Mahony's and Syddan, and our only tough match in the group stages was against Blackhall Gaels when we needed a late point to draw the match. "I thought we would go on to win the final after taking the lead after half-time, but we then conceded a sloppy goal and that did untold damage to our chances. We never really recovered from that setback," the former Ballinlough player adds. Blake takes encouragement from St. Brigid's league campaign, despite it ending in disappointment. "Having just come up from Division 5, our objective at the start of the year was to consolidate our position in Division 4. I think we surprised a good few people by almost gaining promotion for the second year in-a-row. "We had good wins over the likes of St. Mary's, Kilbride and Curraha, but unfortunately Moylagh beat us in our last game to deprive us of promotion." Tomas is convinced that St. Brigid's would have won at least one title in 2005 if they hadn't lost the services of three key players. Midfielder Peter Skelly spent much of the year on overseas duty with the army, his brother and regular centre forward Stephen emigrated to England, while the absence of wing forward Brendan Gilsenan, who emigrated to Australia, was also sorely felt. Blake burst onto the scene in 1994 when he helped St. Brigid's to their most recent junior 'A' championship success. He also won an under 21 championship with the North Meath club before transferring to Ballinlough, with whom he garnered a Division 1 medal in 1999 (Ballinlough narrowly lost to eventual Keegan Cup winners Skryne in the senior championship quarter-final that same year). The highly-rated sharpshooter played for Ballinlough for five years in all, and he also lined out for New York against Galway in the Connacht championship, before rejoining St. Brigid's two years ago. He was a key figure in last year's Division 5 success and is determined to win further silverware with the club in the coming years. "It is vitally important that we learn from the Boardsmill and Moylagh defeats. We played some good football this year, but when it came to the crunch, we were found wanting. "Our aim next year is to bounce back and to win the junior 'B' championship. But that won't happen unless the necessary sacrifices are made by every individual. We still have six or seven survivors from the 1994 junior 'A' championship winning team, while we are also fortunate to have a great crop of young players coming through. We've got to make this talent count," he concludes.

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