Building upwards
November 30, 2005
Steps that can only be good for the future development of camogie in the county were taken when Meath Local Sports Partnership, in recognition of the sport's centenary year in 2004, joined forces with Meath Camogie Board to put together an under-age development plan.
And an indication of the progress being made was very apparent last July when six clubs were rewarded for successfully executing the plan at a function in the Castle Arch Hotel, Trim, and it was revealed that participation in camogie had already increased and standards improved in these areas where the local schools were targeted.
Of the then 12 camogie clubs in the county 10 were fully committed to implementing the plan, with fledgling clubs Ratoath and Dunderry giving a commitment to undertake the plan once they were established.
The gathering heard that 39 people were trained in the code of ethics, 18 in sports injury and rescue emergency care and an impressive 42 in GAA foundation coaching, while the Boardsmill club had two people trained as children's officers. That was welcomed as an important development, with the view being that all clubs will have to have children's officers.
Meath Hurling Committee assistant secretary Brian Smyth was among the attendance, as were Ard stiurthoir Sheila Wallace and National Camogie Sponsorship and Finance Manager, Sinead O'Connor.
Clearly, a huge amount of dedicated work has gone into the plan which has the capacity to benefit the Co. Board and all the teams in Meath in the years to come.
The Ard stiurthoir said the plan will be a foundation for success in Meath and felt that the Co. Board should develop the plan for the county teams and adopt the same structures as the clubs.
Christine O Brien, the Coaching and Games Promotion Officer, did a huge amount of work to ensure the smooth and successful implementation of the plan and she was very thankful to the Co. Board for the manner in which they took the plan by the scruff of the neck, Meath Local Sports Partnership and its co-ordinator Mary Murphy, as well as Brian Smyth.
Of course, the clubs clearly put a huge amount of effort into the plan and it s certainly heartening and encouraging that over 300 hours of extra coaching was provided by the coaches from the clubs for primary schools, with no fewer than 2,000 children benefiting. The work being done in the schools will undoubtedly have a knock-on effect for the clubs and that can only do a world of good for the development of the great game of camogie in the county.
It was significant that three new clubs - Dunshaughlin, Na Fianna and Dunderry - affiliated at under-age level in 2005.
On the inter-county scene Meath were eliminated from the Leinster Junior Championship by Kildare, while the minors lost to Offaly, Kildare and Laois in their provincial championship.
A Meath resident had the honour of refereeing the All-Ireland Senior Championship final in which Cork got the better of reigning champions Tipperary at Croke Park in mid September.
John Pender is associated with the Round Towers club in Clondalkin, but he lives in Enfield. He became the second Meath man to referee the decider as John McDonnell was in charge of the 1932 and 1933 finals.
Pender has refereed at inter-county level since 1987 and took charge of the 2000 All-Ireland Junior Championship final involving Cork and Derry.
On the club front there was revenge for Kilmessan as they got the better of Killyon in the Senior Championship final at Pairc Tailteann, winning by 3-10 to 3-4.
Killyon had beaten Kilmessan by a point in the final the previous year, so that made the triumph all the sweeter and it was a very proud moment for Kilmessan captain Patricia Grimes when she received the Fay/O'Regan Cup from Camogie Board chairperson Brigid Carney.
Kilmessan s preparations for the decider weren't helped when they were awarded the semi-final on a walkover after Kiltale refused to play, while Killyon clearly appeared to have an advantage when it came to competitive edge as they had beaten Trim at the penultimate hurdle.
Kilmessan, who were aided by the return of Lisa Tyrrell, had beaten Killyon by five points in the qualification stages, while Killyon had new faces in Laura Maguire and Mary O'Halloran in their defence and Aoife Maguire at midfield.
The reigning champions made a great start to the final when Stephanie Heavey found the net with only 45 seconds gone and they were ahead by 1-3 to 0-0 after seven minutes after Sharon and Christine Raleigh and Heavey had added the points.
The advantage stood at 1-4 to 0-1 by the end of the opening quarter, but Kilmessan steadily upped the tempo and gained control as Ann Marie Dennehy turned in a very sound display at the heart of their defence.
Frances Lynch, who along with Nicola and Alison formed triplets on the Kilmessan team, and Aileen Donnelly began to get to grips with the midfield battle against Katie Connolly and Aoife Maguire and that helped Kilmessan battle back to lead by 2-4 to 1-4 at the interval.
Ann Marie Fagan and Karen Ward got the goals and Kilmessan added another with the second half only seconds old as Ward netted again. However, Killyon refused to throw in the towel and they ended a 25-minute spell without a score when Jackie Maher found the net.
They were level (3-4 each) near the end of the third quarter as Heavey goaled in superb style, but Kilmessan moved up another gear and scored a succession of points to clinch the title.
The teams in the final were
Kilmessan - P. Grimes; N. Lynch, A. Lynch, E. Doyle; B. Dennehy, AM Dennehy (0-1), S. Cusack; F. Lynch (0-3), A. Donnelly (0-2); S. Horan (0-2), AM Fagan (1-0), L. Tyrrell; M. Horan, K. Ward (2-0), A. Gorman (0-1). Subs - J. Cusack (0-1) for M. Horan, K. Ni Choileain for Gorman.
Killyon - M. Connolly; Margeret Burke, Mary Burke, M. O Halloran; D. Fitzsimons, S. Rattigan, L. Maguire; K. Connolly, A. Maguire; O. Ennis, S. Raleigh (0-1), F. Clarke; J. Maher (1-0), S. Heavey (2-1), C. Raleigh (0-2). Subs - C. Massey for Ennis, J. Raleigh for L. Maguire.
Referee - Jimmy Weldon (Westmeath).
Dunboyne made a significant breakthrough during the early autumn when they defeated Donaghmore/Ashbourne by 5-4 to 3-1 in the Junior Championship final at Ratoath.
They were well on their way to the title when they held a 2-3 to 0-1 interval advantage after Margaret O Connor had netted twice and Katie O'Connell stretched the lead when she netted at the start of the second half
There was no way back for Donaghmore/Ashbourne
The teams in the final were:
Dunboyne - P. White; C. Barker, D. Curran, E. Carty; M. Keogh, E. O Connor, S. Synan; S. Ledwith, A Thompson (0-2); S. Hackett (0-1), B. Reilly, A. Keogh; K. O Carroll (2-0), M. O Connor (2-0), M. Carroll (1-1). Subs - B. Moran for Carroll, C. Maguire for Reilly.
Donaghmore/Ashbourne - S. Keegan; E. Tormey, L. Dervan, J. Lanagan; S. Dervan, A. McAtamney, S. Keegan; L. Lynch (1-1), A. Kelly; R. Williams, L. Keegan, M. Finn; J. Broderick, D. Burnell (2-0), E. Broderick.
Killyon achieved a notable success when they won the Under-14 Championship for the first time since 1998, beating Kilmessan by 3-3 to 2-2 in the final at Boardsmill. Killyon had won the shield section of this championship in 2004, so this represented a very significant progression.
It was a superb team performance from the winners who led by 3-1 to 2-1 at the interval after Lisa Foley had goaled twice and Bronwyn Massey also found the net.
Killyon's Amy Gannon received the player of the match award.
The teams in the final were
Killyon - H. Coleman; S. Treacy, K. Gannon, R. McCormack; E. Raleigh, S. Kennedy (0-1), S. Ryan; MA Foley, A. Gannon; E. Rowley, L. Foley (2-2), S. Duignan; C. Heavey, B. Massey (1-0), E. Duignan. Subs - R. Ennis for Heavey, S. Connor for E. Duignan.
Kilmessan - T. Maguire; N. Doyle, M. Montague, N. Carroll; B. Lally, S. Harkin, C. Collins; J. Stephens (0-1), O. Doyle (1-1); C. Keegan, E. O Reilly, S. Keogh; S. Clarke, A. McLoughlin (1-0), B. Sheridan
Referee - Christy Rispin (Trim).
Ratoath won the Under-14 Shield when they defeated Dunboyne by 10-5 to 0-1 in the final.
Ashling O'Reilly and Orla McDonnell both netted twice in the first half as Ratoath built up a 4-1 to 0-0 interval lead and with Shaunagh Dowd, Katie King and Niamh Leonard adding to the goal tally early in the second half the issue was beyond doubt.
The teams in the final were
Ratoath - A. McCann; D. Dogelaur, J. Power, L. Cunaran; C. Laffey, N. Leonard (1-1), S. Birt; S. Dowd (2-0), A. O Reilly (2-1); C. Fagan, O. McDonnell (3-2), K. King (2-1); C. Collins, M. Halpin, S. Coakley. Subs - S. McGrath for Collins, L. McCann for King, E. Murphy for Coakley.
Dunboyne - M. Cashman; A. Hayes, M. Slevin, A. Dunne; D. Delaney, O. Curran, A. Crean; K. Lazari, A. Keogh; R. Crawley, C. Manning, C. Healy; E. Doherty (0-1), S. Cannon, A. Hayes. Subs - L. Carroll for Keogh, N. Ainsworth for A. Hayes.
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