By winning the Under 14 Roinn B Championship title and reaching the ACFL Division Two decider, Swanlinbar gaels showed that there's talent within the ranks from bottom to top. A first half blitz which saw them storm into a fourteen point interval lead proved all the springboard Swanlinbar's finely honed under 14s needed to get the better of near-neighbours Shannon Gaels by 3-12 to 3-4 in a topsy-turvy Roinn B Championship final at Ballyconnell last October. In what was an archetypal game of two halves, the winners were on fire in the opening half and a rout looked on the cards as Shannon Gaels took all of 23 minutes to open their account. The final was a real hum-dinger of an affair with both sides committed to all-out attack, thus setting the stage for a high-scoring and thoroughly enjoyable encounter. With ten Swanlinbar and five Corlough players comprising the blues' starting line-up, the winners-elect were a powerful force - and no more so than in the opening half when they really ran riot. Indeed, when scorer-in-chief Gearoid McKiernan rammed home two goals in the first four minutes and narrowly missed out on bagging another brace in between times, it looked like Swad held all the aces. Behind by 0-0 to 2-1 after barely six minutes, Shannon Gaels continued to operate on the backfoot in the face of almost incessant Swad attacks. Swad continued to pour forward and look threatening with each passing movement and despite the Gaels managing to chisel out a decent bit of possession, Swad stormed into a 2-4 to 0-0 lead by the quarter hour mark after Cian Feehan pointed slightly against the run of play. Meanwhile tenacious and skilful blocking by the alert Swad defence combined to frustrate Shannon Gaels even further as the second quarter gathered pace. The Gaels began to come more into the game and they were but an excellently parried shot by Swad 'keeper Damien McGovern in the 22nd minute kept the would-be losers at bay. In the follow-up, the impressive Roisin Leydon managed to clear her lines. One minute later though there was trouble again and the Gaels managed to break their duck when a close range effort got a slight deflection and fairly flew into the Swad net. The chasing team were to discover that Swad weren't in the humour to hand out sympathy votes. Instead, the Swad players continued to show themselves to be that bit more accurate. The lights were still stuck on green for the would-be winners as the first half came to a close and, predictably, a 1-1 tally by Christopher Curran saw Swad ease their way into a healthy 3-8 to 1-0 interval lead. As the second half began, the question on everyone's lips seemed to be how much the physically stronger Swanlinbar side were going to win by and not if they were going to win. To their credit though, Shannon Gaels rolled up their sleeves in the second half and made Swad work a lot harder in the second half. Indeed a goal after just three minutes by the Gaels seemed just the ticket to ignite a Lazarus-like recovery. Now Swad came under more pressure than they had hitherto been in the match. But the Swad defenders were in inspired form and rebuffed most of the Gaels best efforts even if the latter outfit did goal in the 22nd minute which cut Swad's lead to seven, 3-2 to 3-9. However that was as close as the Gaels got to gaining parity as Swad battened down the hatches to go on and consolidate their advantage. Like good and true champions, Swad refused to panic. With a level of maturity way beyond their years, the champions-elect showed an admirable degree of composure and will-to-win to press on and chip over points from Kevin McGovern and top-scorer Gearoid McKiernan to put the tin hat on an excellent and impressive victory. The Swanlinbar crew which produced such a devastating display in the Under 14 Roinn B Championship final was; Damien McGovern; Thomas O'Brien, Sheila Walsh, Roisin Leydon; Adrian Martin, Donal McGovern, Cathal Martin; Christopher Curran (1-2), Mary Cunningham (0-2); Cian Feehan (0-2), Kevin McGovern (0-1), Nora McGovern; Michael O'Rourke, Gearoid McKiernan (2-5, two frees), Declan Gilheany. Subs; Paul O'Brien for Mary Cunningham (inj); Mary Cunningham for Declan Gilheany. Swad's brave bid foiled If ever there was a case of a runner coming up on the blind side and nearly sneaking it, then Swanlinbar's spirited push for honours in the ACFL Division Two race epitomised such a daring bid. But the team's shock defeat of Ballyhaise in their semi-final did two things; firstly, it appeared to put final opponents Cuchulainns on red alert and, at the same time, it seemed to add a lot of fuel to the notion that Swad's name was on the cup. Sadly for the west Cavan crew, the script didn't hold good though. Mid-December isn't a time for Christmas presents and predictably Swad's didn't materialise as they lost out by the narrowest of margins,1-8 to 1-9, in a real torrid struggle at the Ballinagh venue. Swanlinbar put in a really brave effort but a disastrous first quarter which saw them fall six points behind proved a huge hindrance to their cause. That said, it took a last, gasp point by the Mullagh-based side to decide the issue at the first time of asking. Swanlinbar started the game in tentative fashion and they were made to pay for it, big-time. Fatally, Swad allowed their opponents to control the pace of the game in the opening quarter with a hat-trick of unanswered points putting the men from the west immediately on the backfoot. Swad scrambled to their feet in the minutes that followed and duly proceeded to show their mettle with Robbie Prior opening their account from a free to get them up and running. However midway through the half, Swanlinbar were rocked when Cuchulainns broke through for a goal to leave them 1-4 to 0-1 in front. It looked as if Cuchulainns were going to dominate but Swanlinbar had other ideas and they finished the half with a flourish, firing over two frees just before the break to cut Cuchulainns' lead to five points, 1-5 to 0-3. Swanlinbar began the second half as they ended the first on the attack and were back in contention when that man Prior sent over three frees in the opening seven minutes. A converted free steadied the Cuchulainns nerves as the game swung from one end of the field to the other in exciting fashion. Swad then had a purple patch which saw Mark Cunningham fist home a goal to put the blue and whites 1-8 to 1-6 clear midway through the second half. Sadly, Swad failed to maintain their momentum and they duly conceded two converted frees to leave the sides on level terms with five minutes left to play. The tide had irrevocably swung against the western boys and a point from play by Cuchulainns three minutes from time put an end to Swad's brave and gutsy league run. There was no shame in defeat for Swad though and the following players can feel proud of their efforts on ACFL Division Two final day; Gavin Leydon; Paul Prior, Kevin Brennan, Seamus Corrigan; Michael Curran, Thomas Prior, Adrian McGoldrick; Damien Prior, John Cunningham; Damien Leydon, Michael Cunningham, Paul Brennan; Robbie Prior (0-7), Kevin Prior, Rory McBarron. Sub used ; Mark Cunningham (1-1) Tweet

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