Not a lot of people expected the new Duleek/Bellewstown amalgamation to mount a significant challenge in this year's Senior Football Championship, but to their credit they warmed to the big challenge quite well, played some very good football during the group stages and advanced to the quarter-finals where Wolfe Tones ended their interest in the competition. Duleek had ended many years of frustration when former Dublin player Barney Rock guided them to an overdue intermediate title in 2005 - their first success in the grade since 1978 - and in their first two years in the senior ranks they failed to reach the knockout stages, though they went close in 2006 when the competition was run on the eight teams per group format. Bellewstown's greatest day came in 1986 when they defeated Simonstown Gaels in the final at Kells to win the Junior Championship. How the fortunes of the finalists that day were to change as the Navan men moved up through the ranks, winning the junior title in 1990, the intermediate crown in 1995 and contesting senior deciders in 2003 and 2004. That memorable 1986 success earned Bellewstown the right to play intermediate football, but they gradually slipped back to a position where they were playing in the Junior B Championship after their relegation from the junior grade in 2002. Many areas around them, including Duleek, have experienced massive population growth in more recent years, but Bellewstown has remained much the same. It's difficult to compete in a situation like that and, therefore, joining forces with Duleek obviously made most sense. The new amalgamation was always going to be dominated by players from Duleek, but among the Bellewstown brigade has been that very talented forward Mark Collins who was a member of the Meath team which won the Leinster Minor Championship this year. Former Louth goalkeeper Colm Nally acted as Duleek/Bellewstown coach and the selectors were Stephen Mills, Mickey Naughton and Trevor Connell. They were drawn in group C of the Senior Championship where the strongest team was always likely to be Dunshaughlin. Also in the mix were last year's intermediate winners Donaghmore/Ashbourne, Kilmainhamwood and Trim. And it was against Dunshaughlin, the dominant force in the senior grade in the early years of this decade, that Duleek/Bellewstown made their championship debut. The new amalgamation got off to a losing start at Ratoath, but the performance for much of the contest suggested that they might yet have a say in the qualification race. Duleek/Bellewstown made the worst possible start when Conor Staunton goaled for Dunshaughlin after two minutes, but they refused to allow that early blow to upset them and scored a goal of their own four minutes later when Des Teelin fed the ball to Kieran Collins who netted. Chris Carney, Peter Curran and Conal McGinley were among the point scorers in the opening half as they pushed into a wind-assisted 1-7 to 1-2 interval lead and when Mark Collins notched their second goal after 39 minutes a shock looked a possibility. However, Dunshaughlin were by no means finished and boosted by a goal from Niall Kelly they were on level terms with 10 minutes of normal time to play. Late points from Cillian Finn and Kelly gave them a 2-10 to 2-8 victory and while the result was disappointing for Duleek/Bellewstown, the performance must have given them hope for the games to come. They didn't manage to add to their goals haul when they met Trim in the second round at Pairc Tailteann, but they scored plenty of points instead and won comfortably by 0-15 to 0-5. Early scores by Curran and Mark Collins settled them and they were ahead by 0-8 to 0-2 at the break after McGinley, Paudge Howard, Curran, Collins, Carney and Gordon Hynes had added to their tally. Trim proved wasteful by comparison and Duleek/Bellewstown increased their lead to 0-11 to 0-3 in the third quarter on the way to a victory which gave their quest for a place in the knockout stages a significant boost. The biggest victory recorded by any team in the competition followed in the third round at Simonstown where they defeated Kilmainhamwood by 5-16 to 1-4. The weather was atrocious due to thunder, lightning and heavy rain, but that didn't prevent Duleek/Bellewstown from being totally dominant. Kieran Collins was on the mark with a brace of first half goals as they raced into a commanding 2-10 to 0-0 interval lead. Kilmainhamwood got a goal of their own when Colm Gilcreest netted at the start of the second period, but that was merely a consolation score. Curran, Daire Ferguson and Bryan Cudden found the net for Duleek/Bellewstown subsequently and they were all of 24 points clear at the finish. Duleek/Bellewstown and Donaghmore/Ashbourne were tied for second position on four points going into their final round assignment at Pairc Tailteann, but the former had a significantly better score difference. A poor game ended level on 0-9 each and that outcome meant both sides went through to play knockout football. By virtue of that superior score difference brought about by their massive win over Kilmainhamwood, Duleek/Bellewstown finished second in the group behind Dunshaughlin and went directly into the quarter-finals, while Donaghmore/Ashbourne had to overcome St Patrick's in a preliminary contest to reach that stage. Duleek/Bellewstown relied heavily on the accuracy of Mark Collins and Curran from frees against last year's intermediate kingpins and didn't get their first score from play until 10 minutes from the end. They trailed by 0-3 to 0-4 at the break, but it could have been a greater deficit because the wasteful opposition kicked seven wides in the opening period. However, Duleek/Bellewstown had been deprived of a goal in that half when Padraig Durkan in the Donaghmore/Ashbourne goal saved well from Howard. He produced another brilliant stop from Donard Ferguson's shot within 30 seconds of the restart. Ricky Nolan was equally impressive at the other end seven minutes later when he made a great save from Niall Farrell's effort at the expense of a point. That score gave Donaghmore/Ashbourne a two point lead, but the teams were level on four occasions subsequently. Duleek/Bellewstown finally found their range from play as McGinley, Howard and Daire Ferguson all split the uprights in a productive seven minute spell to give them the lead, but they were deprived of victory when substitute Tony Morgan equalised for Donaghmore/Ashbourne with his first touch. A quarter-final clash with 2006 champions Wolfe Tones at Pairc Tailteann represented a massive challenge and it proved too great as Cian Ward inflicted major damage in a 4-7 to 1-11 victory for Tony Kearney's team. Ward contributed 4-4 and it might have been even more as his early penalty was well saved by Nolan. But he followed up with two goals, the first of them from another penalty, and Duleek/Bellewstown found themselves behind by 0-0 to 2-2 after 14 minutes. To their credit, they recomposed themselves and with Mark Collins (two), Daire Ferguson and Howard pointing they were adrift by 0-4 to 2-3 at the interval. Howard scored the first point of the second period, but two more Ward goals left Wolfe Tones ahead by 4-3 to 0-6 13 minutes into the second half and the result was beyond doubt. Paul Martin was sent off 25 minutes into the second half, before Duleek/Bellewstown finished the game with a goal from a Curran penalty and points from substitutes Darren Mills and Michael Dowling. Obviously, losing that game was a big disappointment for all concerned, but Duleek/Bellewstown can certainly take a lot of positives from their first year together and look forward to next year with renewed hope. The Duleek/Bellewstown team against Wolfe Tones was - R Nolan; D Crosby, K Smith, J Martin; S McArdle, P Martin, G Hynes; K McDonnell, T Cunningham; P Curran (1-1), P Howard (0-3), Donard Ferguson; Daire Ferguson (0-1), C McGinley, M Collins (0-4). Subs - D Teelin for McArdle, C Carney for McDonnell, M Dowling (0-1) for McGinley, D Mills (0-1) for Daire Ferguson, J Devereux for Crosby. LADIES IN SUPER FORM The Duleek/Bellewstown ladies' team enjoyed a wonderful year in 2008 which was highlighted by their stunning victory over Gaeil Colmcille in the Junior Championship final at Seneschalstown where the performance suggested that there could be even more silverware to come in the years ahead for this highly talented bunch of players. Under the guidance of a management team made up of Michael Collins, Peter Reilly and Colin Crosby they looked impressive throughout the competition, but they reserved their best performance for the biggest day when they beat the Kells side by a whopping 5-18 to 1-2 in the decider. The Junior B crown had been won last year with a runaway final victory over Clann na nGael and on the evidence of this latest success they will be hard to beat at intermediate level next year as well. It was a fine team performance against Gaeil Colmcille, who had beaten them in the Junior B decider back in 2006, but the 'player of the match' was Debbie Rogers who contributed a highly impressive 2-5 to the winning tally. Alex Goodman was the next best scorer with 1-4. The honour of captaining the successful team went to full-back Ciara Power. The Duleek/Bellewstown team in the final was - M McGuirk; V Reilly, C Power, J McDonnell; C Collins, N Barnett, M Dunne (0-1); E Murphy, R Lenehan (0-1); O Byrne (0-4), A Goodman (1-4), V McGinn (0-2); R Duffy (1-1), L Burke (1-0), D Rogers (2-5). Subs - O White for Barnett, L Mohan for Collins, L Woods for Byrne, R Andrews for Duffy, S Rooney for Reill So far, so good It was a historic first year for the Duleek-Bellewstown amalgamation and the consensus of opinion from both sides of the union is that the new partnership enjoyed a very positive maiden voyage. Speaking to 'Royal County 2008', both Barney Callaghan (chairman) and John Moore (vice treasurer) expressed their complete satisfaction with how things have progressed thus far for the new club. History was made on January 14 2008 when the amalgamation of Duleek and Bellewstown was ratified by Meath County Board to give rise to a new senior outfit, simply called Duleek-Bellewstown. The club fielded three adult teams in their inaugural season and training went very well twice weekly in Bellewstown under the watchful eye of former Dublin U21 and Louth senior goalkeeper Colm Nally. Looking back on the year in general, representatives from both sides of the camp were delighted with how things transpired and by the manner in which the two former clubs knitted together so seamlessly. "I'm very happy with it," says Barney Callaghan when asked to assess the coming together from a Duleek perspective. "It has provided us with a greater volume of players and, when you have the players, that makes a difference. We are all the one parish anyway and we always played underage together, so it was a natural thing to do. It has brought a bigger body of players together and that is vital. "We now have better training sessions, which are attended by more players and which are more enjoyable than ever before. We fielded three teams instead of two, and that benefited everybody. The lads all went to school together and know each other well, having played underage together. Duleek-Bellewstown is the name of the parish and it's only right that we should have a club to represent the whole parish." Barney was encouraged by how the Bellewstown members approached the amalgamation. "If there were any dissenting voices in either camp, it wouldn't have happened," he reasons. "We discussed it in Duleek and the proposal had 100% approval and I can only assume there was something similar in Bellewstown. If a significant number of people were opposed to the whole idea, we would never have gone ahead." The new club reached the knockout phase of the SFC before succumbing to Wolfe Tones. "I think the results were reasonable," the chairman continues. "If you put two mediocre teams together, that doesn't mean you'll get a good one straight away. It'll take a bit of time. I think we'll get much stronger over the next decade or so. Then again, just because we got to a quarter-final, that doesn't mean we'll do it again next year. There are a lot of good teams in Meath." Barney agrees that the whole departure has provided the community as a whole with a major boost: "It's good for the parish to have everybody working together. In the past, I suppose it might have appeared as if there were two independent republics in the parish, even though there was never a major divide. But there were two separate entities and the new club has certainly had a unifying effect on everybody. As soon as it was mentioned, everybody recognised that it was the right thing to do." For the time being, the club is limited facilities-wise and one of the big challenges facing Duleek-Bellewstown is to somehow break free of the current confines. The amalgamation has improved things substantially but, ultimately, some new facilities would be welcome. "For now, we have a choice of two places to go to and that's a good thing. Most things are extremely positive." "The players have gelled well together and that's the most important thing of all," Barney concludes. "Once they are enjoying themselves and playing well, everything else will fall into place. We have 25 or 30 lads at training now and that's a lot better than ten or 15." Looking at the new arrangement from a Bellewstown viewpoint, John Moore concurs: "I'm happy enough. It has worked out well for everybody. We won the reserve league with a fair few of our lads on the team and that was a big thing. Those lads have got a medal and, prior to this year, we hadn't won anything for 20 years. We're delighted with that. We also got to the final of the U21 championship and we could well have won that but for injuries to two more Bellewstown lads - John Flood and Padraig Howard. All in all, we were happy with the way the year went. "And next year should be even better. Personally, I think we could even have amalgamated a couple of years earlier. Next year will be our second year together and I believe the club should be stronger as a result. Everybody will be more attuned to the whole idea and we should have come to terms fully with the amalgamation by 2009." If the first year can be viewed as a mini-experiment, where people adjusted to the new circumstances, John believes it might still take another season or so before everyone is totally settled into the swing of things. "It'll take two or three years for everybody to bed in. Hopefully, everyone will stay on and we'll have no defectors. One of the things we were adamant about last year was that there would be a third team and that worked out well and everybody got to play plenty of games. "Everybody in the club got on well throughout the year and the training went really well in Bellewstown, with around 40 lads out training every night. On a bad night, it was in the mid 30s and we'll take that! Colm Nally was a very good trainer and the lads really enjoyed working with him. He seems to have a very good approach to training, with interesting and enjoyable drills, so hopefully we'll have similar numbers again in '09. "There's also a good mix of committee men. Everybody is getting on well and there are no problems. We're all looking forward to next year and there's no reason why we can't continue to move forward. To be honest, the whole thing has worked out better than I thought. It's something we should have considered four or five years ago but, now we're here, it's good to be going down this road. We're all the one parish and it's only right that we should pull together." As vice treasurer, John is aware of the financial implications of the cooperative but is confident that all obstacles can be transcended: "It costs a lot of money to keep it going, but we can cope with that. It's working well and we don't have any complaints. We got a bit of silverware already and that's a good start for us." B FL: Duleek/Bellewstown take first silverware Duleek/Bellewstown received their first piece of silverware as a new club when they defeated Ratoath, 1-8 to 1-7, in this Div3B League Final played in Dunganny on the last Sunday in October. The first quarter was a closely fought affair with both sides doing their best to get the upper hand. Darren Mills, with two pointed frees, James Deveraux and Bryan Cudden were the scorers for Duleek/Bellewstown in that first quarter. A well taken penalty by Ratoath brought them back into the game. However, just on the stroke of half time a high centre into the Ratoath goalmouth was partly blocked only for Ned Black to rise highest and fist to the net to level the game, 1-4 apiece. The second half was more of an eventful half with both teams opening the play up on the large Dunganny surface. Mills pointed another free before a well taken effort from Casey Dunne put the East Meath side ahead. Dunne was to get his marching orders soon after for a second bookable offence. Captain Karl Reilly led by example in the full back line winning much of the broken ball in that area. Stephen McArdle and Joey Martin played well in the half back line, while Andrew Power contributed much around the middle of the field. Both sides recorded a number of wides in the last quarter. Duleek/Bellewstown goalkeeper Paddy Healy dived well to his right to save a disputed penalty to keep the newly formed club in the game at three quarter mark. Mills pointed a last minute free to leave the minimum between the sides at the end and a hard fought but deserving win for Duleek/Bellewstown. Gary Reilly worked hard throughout the field as did Daragh Lenehan when introduced for the injured Joey Martin. Joey did come back on towards the end of the game as did Jamie Flaherty who did his bit for the cause. Duleek/Bellewstown - Paddy Healy, Karl Reilly (Captain), Adam Everard, Paul Callaghan, Stephen McArdle, David Moore, Joey Martin, Casey Dunne (0-1), Andrew Power, Bryan Cudden (0-1), James Deveraux (0-1), Darren Mills (0-5, 5 frees), Neil Black (1-0), Gary Reilly, Tony Andrews. Subs - Daragh Lenehan for Joey Martin, Jamie Flaherty for Tony Andrews, Kevin Campbell for Ned Black. Tweet

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