Overall underage football in county Cavan in 2006 was somewhat of a diluted product. However the heroics of Virginia Vocational School was 100% concentrate. For more years than schools football afficionados in Cavan care to remember, Tyrone teams - particularly Ballygawley's finest - have thwarted the best made plans of Virginia Vocational School to fulfill its destiny and scoop the Ulster senior, if not All-Ireland, title. So in emulating their predecessors' achievement in reaching the All-Ireland Under 18 decider in 1975 by going one step further and winning the national title, Virginia's Class of 2006 established itself as one of the most talented and successful group of underage footballers ever produced in Cavan. In 2006, the days of moral victories, hard luck stories and sympathetic slaps on the back were binned. Last April, it was a case of joy unconfined in Nenagh and an acceptance that a landmark win had been achieved, not alone for Virginia Vocational school but for Cavan Football Inc. So how was the war won? By dint of a lot of hard work, team-manager Niall Lynch will tell you - and after a lot of tough battles too. The battleground was originally confined to the fields of county Cavan, of course. The would-be national champions were fancied to at least graduate with petard intact from the domestic exchanges. And that's exactly how things panned out. Victories over St. Aidan's Cootehill, Bailieboro and Cavan Vocational School plus a draw with St. Clare's Ballyjamesduff eventually set them up for a convincing win over erstwhile adversaries Cavan Vocational School in the county decider. However the days of Virginia Vocational School accepting the laurel leaves on county final day and being content with their lot have long since gone. For the last number of years, it's been a case of Ulster or bust for Lynch and Co! It has to be stated though that tradition was against Cavan's newly elected senior vocational school champions. Word on the ground too had it that the latest batch of student footballers to come off the Virginia school's production line would be hard pressed to match the school's senior ambassadors in 2004 (Cian Mackey, Stephen Monaghan, Ronan Flanagan etc) who reached the Markey Cup final only to lose out to Ballygawley by two points. And there was little doubt but that if someone at the start of the season had offered the Virginia camp an Ulster title, never mind an All-Ireland, they would have grabbed it with both hands. Virginia's provincial campaign saw them kick things off with a win over Inver College of Carrickmacross in a first round game played in Shercock. Thereafter a one point victory (1-11 to 2-7) at Rooskey (Monaghan) in early March was achieved against Dean Maguire College, Carrickmore in the semi-final after a brace of points from Eugene Keating earned the Cavan lads a dramatic win. Interestingly, Niall fingers the win over the east Tyrone lads as arguably a pivotal win in the glory train. "I think the character of the side really shone through for that semi-final. Brian Coleman, our full-back, cried off just prior to the game with a quad injury leaving Christopher Tully to slot in at number three. "But the whole team really stepped up to the mark that day," he recalls. Next up was the Ulster final. Cue Ballygawley - Virginia's bogey team and the school which denied them in the Ulster final of 2003 lay in waiting in the final were coached by current Cavan supremo Martin McElkennon. The head-to-head on March 15th between McElkennon and Niall Lynch would see the latter leading his troops into the winner's enclosure. With a mixture of powerful defending, excellent work rate and precise shooting, Virginia held sway on the back of a 3-8 to 1-9 scoreline. "Winning any game is good but it was brilliant to win the provincial title and especially because it was Ballygawley that we beat. "That was the day all the lads played at the optimum of their ability, when we hit all the high notes," reflected team-manager Lynch. Drawn from seven different clubs, namely, Lurgan, Cuchulainns, Castlerahan, Killinkere, Lavey, Denn and Munterconnacht, the new Ulster champions immediately sported a spring in their steps and the provincial crown sat easily on their heads. So what did the most recent Virginia senior football team sport that others hadn't? "The team that won the Ulster and went onto win the All-Ireland had a fierce team ethic and a very high workrate. "I suppose they was more about the collective rather than the individual in 2006 but I'd have to say they did surprise me. "We weren't seen in Cavan as a team that would be fancied to do very well. Most people at the start of the year would have thought that we had more talented players in previous years. "They were a very confident bunch of players, not cocky, but with a great belief in their ability." Fulsome in his praise for the work carried out at under 14 level in Virginia by Ronan Flood and the assistance rendered him at senior level in the school by Michael Duffy (under 16 coach), Niall also paid tribute to the advice given him by business 'resultant' Bart McEnroe, a native of Oldcastle and now a Castlerahan clubman who helped Mickey Harte en route to Tyrone's Sam Maguire Cup triumph. In addition, county board coach Nicholas Walsh did marvellous work with the players in improving their tackling ability. Like any winning formula, all the ingredients went into the mix at just the right measure and combined brilliantly to make for a pretty tasty, award-winning dish! After Virginia dispensed with the challenge of Connacht ambassadors Colaiste Inver Erin in the appetiser to the final, it was all systems go for the mother and father of feasts in Nenagh; site of Virginia's last All-Ireland final sortie all of 31 years ago. As things panned out, Virginia Vocational School's finest wrote their names into the history books in late April by scooping the All-Ireland Vocational Schools Under 18 football decider after chiselling out a 0-10 to 1-5 win over Munster champions St. Brogan's. The Cavan and Ulster champions produced a brilliant final quarter to outgun the Cork lads in an absorbing decider which as as dramatic as it was entertaining. In careering to their first ever national title, Virginia completed a great year for the province of Ulster. "A great year for us, Cavan and Ulster," a delighted Niall admitted. "I've been involved in Gaelic football as a player and a coach but winning in Nenagh gave me the greatest pleasure of all," the Cuchulainns club stalwart added. In a closely fought encounter, the football played was of the very highest standard although the marksmanship at both ends of the field sometimes left a bit to be desired - "we didn't always hit the high notes in front of goal." Indeed, had Virginia capitalised on the four opportunities that came their way in the opening five minutes they could have settled the issue by the end of the opening quarter. Virginia rattled the crossbar twice and flashed two shots wide of the St. Brogan's goal. However despite those early misses, Virginia remained on the forefoot and opened the scoring after five minutes with a converted free from county minor Eugene Keating. Virginia continued to impress and further points from Ciaran Sexton and county minor Conor Smith left the Cork lads trailing by three points. It was the 20th minute before St. Brogan's opened their account with a free but Virginia were largely untroubled in the opening half as they went in at the interval, 0-5 to 0-2 to the good. Virginia found themselves up against the ropes in the third quarter and their lead was reduced to the minimun with 40 minutes on the clock. Terry Keating added on another point for Virginia but then the Cavan and Ulster champions moved up a gear to engineer a match-winning four points lead. St. Brogan's failed to lie down though and a brilliant solo goal by Ronan McCarthy left just a point between the sides. However Virginia stormed upfield moments later and Eugene Keating pointed a last minute free to seal the Cavan team's none-too flattering and historic 0-10 to 1-5 victory. "I thought the key moment in the game came with about five minutes left to play," Virginia's team-manager opined. "We were four points ahead but when they got their goal the pressure was really on but then immediately we went up the field and got a point - that was a great testimony to the side." A great testimony to all concerned. Bet former principal Brendan Kelly and the present incumbent Des Mooney wished they could go ahead now and patent that winning formula! Virginia's heroes in the All-Ireland final in Nenagh were as follows; Mark Clarke; Killian Farrelly, Brian Coleman, Diarmuid Foxe; Christopher Tully, Raymond Farrelly, Terence Ferguson; Eugene Keating (0-4, three frees), James McEnroe; Ciaran Sexton (0-1), Declan Costello, Terry Keating (0-2); Alan Cole, Conor Smith (0-3), Fergal Flanagan. Other squad members; Seamus Connolly, Darren Monaghan, Killian Murphy, Shane O'Reilly, Paul Cusack, Gary Daly, Michael Smith, Myles O'Reilly, Declan Smith, Paul Queally, Aogan Cooney, Kevin O'Connell, Owen McGarrell, James Smith, Norman Ormiston. Tweet

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