One of three GAA clubs in Navan, Bective may be the smallest of the trio but they continue to keep the flag flying proudly with their dedicated band of workers fielding teams in various football grades from the lowest underage up to junior. By Noel Coogan. The club which was formed close on 50 years ago back in 1962 enjoyed its brightest day in the autumn of 1997 when the JFC title was annexed with a memorable final victory over Skryne. There have been ups and downs since then with the first adult side going back down to the junior grade after a short flirtation with intermediate football. The Bective club has been putting in a lot of work at underage level over the last few years and in the present decade a number of county titles in grades from under 13 up to minor were annexed. One of the brightest stars to come up through the ranks over the last few years was Darragh Smyth, who was a member of the Meath team which gained Leinster minor football championship honours this year with the blond attacker making his mark in a wing forward role. Smyth scored a total of 2-6 in the six championship outings in the green and gold. After raising the white flag in the first three Leinster outings, he scored 1-1 in the provincial final win over Offaly. The pacy attacker was the only Meath player to get on target in all six outings and after putting over two points in the All-Ireland quarter-final against Tipperary in Portlaoise, he netted his second Croke Park goal with a spectacular strike in the second half against Tyrone. As they set out on another JFC voyage, Bective had a new man at the helm in former Na Fianna player and club chairman Damien Griffin who doubled up as a county junior selector. He had John Gleeson and Manus Tiernan as his fellow selectors. Although hopes were high before the spring kick-off it turned out to be a battle for survival. But they managed to stay in the grade with one win from six outings as their better score difference enabled them to avoid a relegation play-off. There were 26 starters in the Lynch's Pharmacy sponsored championship and Bective were in the seven-team section along with Wolfe Tones, Dunboyne, Drumbaragh, Kilmainham, Simonstown Gaels and St Mary's. Of those Kilmainham had the best recent form, being beaten finalists in 2006, while Wolfe Tones were back in the junior A ranks in which they were outright winners in 2003, having taken outright honours in the junior B championship in 2007. The latter pair would eventually emerge from the group and Wolfe Tones started off with a 0-11 to 1-5 victory over Bective at Simonstown. An unusual aspect of that games was that there were brothers on opposite sides with Shane Breslin in goals for Bective while Ciaran shot six points for the winners. It was 0-5 to 1-0 at the break and matters did not improve for Griffin's charges in the second period despite Kevin Brennan netting the goal and former Meath junior player Ruairi Russell, a member of Meath's All-Ireland winning team in 2003, putting over three points. Bective found it difficult to recover from the losing start and they also finished up on the wrong end of the scoreline in their next three JFC outings with two of the defeats being by the smallest possible margin. In the second round another senior club's seconds, Dunboyne, edged out Bective by 1-9 to 1-8 at Dunshaughlin. The men in green and white trailed by 0-4 to 1-5 at the break and Ruairi Russell applied the finishing touch to their goal. Although netminder Shane Breslin, Shane Sullivan, Cathal Lawlor and Jack Grant battled well for them, they were unable to completely wipe out the deficit. The Cannistown side conceded five goals in their third outing and Kilmainham punished such defensive frailties with a 5-7 to 1-13 win in the Saturday evening clash at Bohermeen. Three of the winners' goals were from penalty kicks netted by county minor Michael Newman who also sent over four points. Bective were 0-5 to 4-4 to the bad at half-time and although they did a bit better in the second period, it was not enough to prevent a third defeat. That became four when Drumbaragh just edged them out in a tight contest at Cortown where it finished 0-14 to 1-10. It was 0-8 to 1-5 at the interval and although Brian Cantwell put over five points and David Keating scored 1-2, it was another disappointing outing for the Cannistown club. Bective's only win in their five outings in the 2008 JFC was recorded at the fifth attempt when Simonstown were defeated by 2-10 to 1-9 at Seneschalstown. The foundations for that important win were laid in the first half when a 2-7 to 0-4 interval lead was built up. The goals were netted by David Keating and Brendan Gaffney and the two points gained in that outing enabled them to move away from the bottom of the table. There was another defeat for the Cannistown outfit when St Mary's gained their only group win with a 1-7 to 0-9 success over their fellow strugglers. Despite that victory, the Donore side finished bottom of the group with a score difference of minus 58 points, Simonstown had a deficit of 27 and Bective finished up with an arrears of just nine points. Bective also struggled in Division 4 of the All County A League in which fellow junior sides Drumbaragh and Kilbride forged well clear of the rest. After beginning that programme of games with a narrow home defeat to Ballivor, they recovered to score an away win over Kildalkey and share the points with Kilbride in Cannistown. Although they were placed in the upper half of the table in the spring, Bective began to slip down the ladder with defeats by Drumbaragh and Ballinabrackey detrimental to prospects of promotion. Despite finishing up with just two points in the JFC, Damien Griffin still took some positives from the campaign. The man who brought Na Fianna to two county under 21 finals as well as a couple of women's intermediate championship deciders feels there is cause for optimism in Bective with so many young players involved with the junior team this year. "After losing three games by one point we can't be that far away. We had five minors and seven under 21s on the panel but for the opening game against Wolfe Tones we were without James Davis and Brian Cantwell and they were big losses. "Brian returned to the team later in the year but James, a good half back, missed the entire championship. Despite losing by a point, we played well against Dunboyne and after that our outing against Kilmainham was a bit of a disaster as three penalties were conceded in the first quarter. I never saw that happening before. "We scored 1-13 that day and such a total would be enough to win a good few games. Soon after that we beat Kilmainham on their own pitch in a league game. Then we had a cracking championship game against Drumbaragh which we could have won but again lost by a point. "The win over Simonstown was enough to keep us in the junior A grade without having to go into a play-off and there was little to play for in the last group game against St Mary's because of the big score differences," said the Bective boss. Griffin said there was great commitment from the players. "The commitment was 100 per cent with up to 28 players involved in training sessions. I'll be with them again in the coming year and am looking forward to the challenge. With some of the younger players a year older they should be stronger and the team is well capable of doing a bit better," he said. A measure of the progress made by the Bective club over the last few years can be gauged by the fact that their minors operated in Division 2 for the first time this year. They had good results in the grade including a win over Dunboyne but eventually a defeat at the hands of Blackhall Gaels dashed hopes of making it through to the last four. While Darragh Smyth was the best known player on that team, there were also strong performances from lads like Ciaran Reilly, Jack Grant, Ben Malone and Marty Mulhall. Sean Reilly, Martin Mulhall and former junior team manager Brian Murtagh were the minor mentors. Gregory Crinion is the underage chairperson and he has no shortage of willing workers. They include Mary McConnell who was in charge of the under 10 squad while husband Paddy was the manager of the under 16s who played in Division 4 and went to the semi-final stage where defeat was their lot against Boardsmill. Following another busy year, the Bective club can look ahead to 2009 with renewed optimism and their dedication may be rewarded in the coming months. Bective/Cannistown Juvenile Football Club Under 8's and under 10's Our season began in March with training and continued every Friday evening at 6.00pm.until the end of October. Our under 8's are progressing well with over 30 children having loads of fun and participating in Go Games during the summer. They enjoyed their visits to Dunderry and Wolfe Tones where plenty of refreshments were supplied to the participants after the games. The mentors were Fiona O'Sullivan, David Cassidy and Diarmuid Smyth. Fiona and David even found the time to get married during the summer, and all the Bective club would like to wish them the best of luck and happiness in their new life together. In U10 mini leagues, ten games were played with some notable wins along the way. We also participated in two Go Games blitzes. All the boys and girls enjoyed another good year's football with many fine performances from budding young stars. The mentors are Mary McConnell (manager) and coach Paul Roche. Under 12 We just missed out on a semi-final place by one point after winning three games in a very tough division. We still believe we have the makings of a good team for the future with the likes of Cathal McConnell, Pauric Harkin, Darragh Maguire, Ciaran Casey, Kayliegh Crinion and Aisling Cassidy starring throughout the year. The management team was Greg Crinion and Gabriel Maguire. Under 14 We played out of Division 3B and reached the semi-final after playing some great football along the way. We lost to Bru Na Boinne in a thrilling semi-final. There were great performances from Pauric and Cathal McConnell, Ryan Keating, Paul McCabe and goalkeeper Gary Killion. The side performed well at U15 level qualifying for a semi-final appearance. The mentors are Vinno Keating, Sean Moran and Kenny Keelan. Under 16 Due to insufficient numbers we were beaten in our first two games. However with some welcome new recruits we won three of our next five, which got us to a play off in which we beat St. Cuthbert's. Despite missing some of our important players due to holidays, we were eventually beaten by Boardsmill in the very competitive semi-final. Great performances throughout the nine game campaign from goalkeeper Raymond Cahill, centre half back Cathal Kennedy, midfielder Ciaran McConnell and centre half forward Mark O'Brien. The manager was Paddy McConnell Minor Our minors competed in Division 2 for the first time and acquitted themselves very well, winning three games and narrowly missing out on a semi-final place. Our first game was played in March and our final game was played in September, in between those games the Meath Minors won a Leinster title and advanced to an All-Ireland semi-final. A special word of thanks go to the mentors Martin Mulhall, Sean Reilly Brian Murtagh and Peter Byrne for all their time and effort. Our own Darragh Smyth was a prominent member of that Meath minor team, playing a starring role in every round of the championship. We congratulate Darragh and wish him the very best for the future. Girls Thanks to the dedication and hard work of Patricia Meade and Jackie Crinion we now have a very successful girls team who got to the semi final of their competition only to be beaten by a strong Wolfe Tones team. Three of our under 12 girls, Hanna Grant, Kayleigh Crinion and Bernie Keating made it onto the Meath panel, while Lorraine Fox made it onto the Meath under 14 panel. Thanks again, to the dedication and hard work of all the underage mentors mentioned above, without them the club wouldn't function. Tweet

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