After failing to register a win in the 2004 junior football championship, things could only get better for Ballycomoyle last year and they did - a lot better, in fact. Experienced defender and team captain Enda Kiernan was pleased with the team's improvement and is confident that further progress can be made in 2006. Stung by their failure to win a championship match in 2004, Ballycomoyle bounced back in impressive fashion last year to reach the semi-final where they lost to eventual champions Ballinagore. The North Westmeath outfit showed something close to their true form as they got the better of both Delvin and St, Loman's to qualify for the last four of the championship. But with county star Michael Ennis proving to be real thorn in their side, Ballycomoyle's hopes of reaching their first junior final since 1999 were decisively ended by the Brosnasiders. "There was a good buzz in the club last year, much better than the previous year," enthuses Ballycomoyle full back and captain Enda Kiernan. "We knew we hadn't done ourselves justice in 2004 and wanted to put things right. While hurling takes first priority with most of the lads, we got a good commitment from everyone last year and it was good to see that effort rewarded with a decent championship run. Hopefully, we'll be able to keep the momentum going in the coming year and maybe get to the final." Kiernan, who played with St. Brigid's, Blanchardstown and Delvin before transferring to Ballycomoyle in 1997, attributes the team's improvement to the input of player/manager Joe Williams. "Joe was the person most responsible for turning things around. Along with his fellow-selectors Seamus Leahy and Seamus Fay, he got the interest going again and he must take a lot of the credit. Joe is a great Ballycomoyle clubman and was an inspiration to us all last year. The fact that he's decided to stay on as a manager for another year can only be a good thing for the club." Ballycomoyle were the draw specialists in the group stages of last year's junior championship, finishing level with St. Fintan's/Multyfarnham, St. Paul's and Delvin. And despite losing to Ballinagore and Loughnavalley, they qualified for the knock-out stages courtesy of a play-off win over neighbours Delvin. The blue and whites opened their campaign when drawing 1-8 apiece with St. Fintan's/Multyfarnham at Shandonagh. Niall McKenna, Seamus Carroll and Alan Smith were prominent in defence, while centre forward was Ballycomoyle's scorer-in-chief. Joe Williams' charges had to settle for a share of the spoils once again when they met St. Paul's at Cusack Park. Barry Smyth and Mark McNicholas scored early points for Bal' but after McNicholas missed a goal chance, St. Paul's rallied to lead by four points at the interval. The introduction of Sean McEoin and David Gorman added pace to the Ballycomoyle attack, and they got themselves back into contention when Barry Smyth scored the only goal direct from a '45'. A few minutes later, Smyth levelled the scoring with a well-taken point. When Tossy Brady was dragged down for a penalty with time almost up, a Ballycomoyle win looked certain but David Gorman's effort was saved and the game ended in a 1-5 to 0-8 draw. Another draw with Delvin (0-8 to 1-5) followed before Ballycomoyle suffered back-to-back defeats to Ballinagore (1-6 to 5-12) and Loughnavalley (0-9 to 1-9). By virtue of their three draws, the blue and whites earned a play-off with Delvin to determine which team would progress to the quarter-final. Having drawn in the group stage, another close contest was expected but Ballycomoyle held all the aces as they powered to a 2-9 to 1-4 victory. Ballycomoyle blitzed the Valleymen in the first half to take a 1-7 to 0-2 lead into the break. Delvin had a chance to close the gap from the penalty spot, but John O'Shaughnessy's shot was well saved by Marius Reilly in the Ballycomoyle goal. The second half was a more evenly contested affair, but Delvin never looked like making up the deficit against a physically strong Ballycomoyle defence. In the quarter-final, Ballycomoyle accounted for St. Loman's by 2-11 to 0-14 at The Downs. Favoured by the wind in the first half, the north county outfit built up a 1-7 to 0-6 half-time lead. A second Ballycomoyle goal just after the resumption left Loman's with a mountain to climb, although points from Kenny Lyons, Michael McAdden and Ciaran Lynam left just one score separating the sides at the final whistle. Ballinagore provided tough semi-final opposition for Joe Williams' team at St. Loman's on September 10. The game was slow to catch fire with the first score coming after seven minutes from Ballinagore's rising star James Durkan. Michael Ennis added a second point before combining with Ger Linnane to score the opening goal to make it 1-2 to 0-0. Just when it seemed Ballycomoyle were in trouble, Mark McNicholas launched an attack which opened up the Ballinagore defence, and following up, Sean McEoin finished the ball to the net to cut the gap to two points with 14 minutes gone. Ballinagore replied with points from Durkan and Ennis, but Kevin Gavigan and Billy Ryan were both on the mark for Ballycomoyle before half-time to leave the interval score reading 1-2 to 1-5. Ballinagore began to turn the screw after the break with three unanswered points from Ger Linnane, Durkan and Ennis stretching their advantage to six. A pointed free from Kevin Gavigan reduced the deficit, but it proved to be Ballycomoyle's only score of the half as Ballinagore tagged on further points per Ennis, Linnane, Durkan and substitute Shane Heraty. Sean McEoin had a great chance to grab a late goal, but sent his effort wide as Ballinagore ran out winners by 1-13 to 1-3. "We knew Ballinagore would be difficult to beat and unfortunately for us, that's how it turned out," recalls Enda, who was a member of the county under 21 football panel in 1995. "We missed a couple of good scoring chances in the early stages and that unsettled us a bit. But it was no disgrace losing to Ballinagore. They proved what a good team they are by going on to win the county and Leinster championship." Ballycomoyle also reached the semi-final of the Junior Cup where they lost to Loughnavalley by 0-8 to 1-7. In the quarter-final, they beat St. Fintan's/Multyfarnham by 2-9 to 0-4. Kiernan is optimistic about Ballycomoyle's chances in this year's junior championship, although he admits that they remain a long shot to win it out. "If we can improve another notch on last year, we won't be that far off the mark. But it will take a huge effort from everyone to win the championship, especially with Caulry and Milltown having come down from the intermediate grade. Both of them will be aiming to go straight back up. "We have a decent squad of players now which is likely to get stronger over the next year or two when players from the 2004 championship winning St. Michael's team start filtering through. Hurling remains the big sport in North Westmeath, but football is definitely getting stronger thanks in no small part to the success of the county footballers," he concludes. The Ballycomoyle team which lost to Ballinagore in the junior football championship semi-final was: Marius Reilly; Seamus Carroll, Enda Kiernan, Maurice Gavigan; Ronan Fagan, Daniel Carty, Gary Farrelly; Billy Ryan, Mark McNicholas; Joe Williams, Tossy Brady, Barry Smyth; David Cunningham, Sean McEoin, Kevin Gavigan. Subs used: Derek Cheevers, Paul Molloy, Jimmy Ryan and Brendan Halpin. U12 girls "At the beginning of each season it seems that our under 12 girls panel is younger and smaller than previous years," says Helen Coyle who along with Dermot McKenna trains the team. "But maybe that says more about me than about them," she admits. 2005 was no different for Ballycomoyle. They started off with a small panel of big hearted players and as the year progressed the panel grew and the hearts grew. They played a game virtually every Tuesday and trained every Friday. The first game was against Clann Gaels in Multyfarnham on a very wet Tuesday evening in the first week in April. "Things didn't go Ballycomoyle's way that evening but the spirit that was to eventually take them to the County 'C' Final was very much in evidence. Players who were the youngsters the previous year began to show leadership and gave the mentors great hope for the year ahead. It helped to make up for the wetting we got on the night," says Dermot McKenna. In all the girls played a further 12 games against teams from both stronger and weaker parts of the county before eventually qualifying for the C semi-final against The Downs on September 10th. Playing The Downs in a county semi-final was never going to be easy even though Ballycomoyle had come out the better in an earlier encounter. This would only serve to make The Downs more determined. The first h alf was end to end football. Ballycomoyle came off the better and led by two points at half time. Ballycomoyle got an early goal in the second half and held that lead to the final whistle. The other semi-final between Shandonagh and Rochfordbridge was won by Shandonagh. Ballycomoyle were now in the final against Shandonagh to be played on October 8th at Springfield in Mullingar. The final was to be a match too far for the girls from Ballycomoyle. They held their own well in the first half leading by two points at half time. The second half, however, went very much Shandonagh's way and they were the eventual winners. Ballycomoyle can take great heart from the fact that only eight players from this panel of twenty six, will be over 12 for the 2006 season. The remaining eighteen will be ready to start the fight all over again. Tweet

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