When St Michael's lost their first two group games in the 2008 Intermediate Football Championship it looked odds on that they would end up in a battle for survival in the grade just three years after winning the junior title, but instead they picked things up to earn a quarter-final place and also claim the Division 3 FL title. But in a remarkable transformation they turned things around in dramatic fashion by making a brilliant recovery to beat Nobber in the third round and they then got the better of St Colmcille's and Oldcastle to earn a quarter-final place. Losing to St Ultan's at the last eight stage was undoubtedly a big disappointment, but given the manner in which the Bohermeen/Martry combination went on to clinch the title, St Michael's certainly have grounds for optimism as they set their sights on the 2009 campaign. Their coach was former Navan O'Mahonys and Meath goalkeeper Donal Smyth, the man who also refereed this year's drawn SHC final, and the selectors were Jim O'Reilly, Sean Gaffney and Pat O'Connell. They were drawn in group A of the championship along with Na Fianna, Nobber, Cortown, Oldcastle and St Colmcille's. Having failed to reach the knockout stages in the previous two years, St Michael's prospects of doing so in 2008 didn't exactly look good when they lost their opening round game against Cortown at Kilberry. Cortown, who were to go on and lose the final to parish rivals St Ultan's, scored with consistency in the first half and led by 0-10 to 1-5 at the interval after Ciaran Lynch had notched the Michael's goal. Former Meath player Daithi Regan became a greater influence in the second period, but Cortown still managed to extend their advantage to six points at the three-quarter stage. St Michael's reduced the deficit to two points, but that was as near as they managed to get and the defeat on a 1-11 to 0-16 score line meant the pressure was on when they travelled to Athboy to meet Na Fianna in the second round. Two goals in the first half appeared to put the Baconstown/Enfield combination in the driving seat, but Michael's scored the last four points of the period to trail by the minimum (0-8 to 2-3) at the break. Na Fianna tagged on three points after the resumption and those scores guided them in the direction of the winning post as it finished 2-10 to 0-10. A fight against relegation back to the junior ranks looked very much on the cards when St Michael's fell well behind late in their third round match against Nobber at Kilmainhamwood where they trailed by 0-3 to 0-6 at the interval. Nobber pushed well clear and looked certain to win when they led by eight points with as many minutes to play. But in one of the best comebacks of the year on the Meath club football front, Michael's refused to accept what appeared to be the inevitable and boosted by goals from Ben Farrell and substitute Tom Halpin they stormed past the Nobber men to win by 2-8 to 0-12. That amazing victory marked a turning point in St Michael's championship campaign and they followed it with a superb performance in the fourth round when they easily beat St Colmcille's by 2-13 to 0-8 at Slane to knock the threat of relegation on the head and give themselves a chance of playing knockout football. A goal from Regan helped them to lead by 1-7 to 0-4 at the break and with Ciaran Lynch, Regan, Derek Flood, Brendan Ryan, Johnny Reilly and Philip Rogers particularly effective they pushed clear to be 11 points to the good at the end. After a lengthy break in the championship action, the big question was would St Michael's be able to maintain the momentum when the competition resumed. Their last group assignment was against relegation-threatened Oldcastle at Marty and the minimum requirement was a victory which would give them a chance of progressing from the section. St Michael's led by 1-7 to 1-3 at the change of ends and went on to win by 1-10 to 2-3. With other results going their way they had completed a remarkable recovery and scraped through to the knockout stages. Cortown headed the group on seven points and Na Fianna, St Michael's and Nobber were all on six. When the calculators were activated the results revealed that Na Fianna had a points difference of plus 13 and would qualify as group runners-up. Michael's, who were on plus nine, filled the third qualifying place and the unlucky team was Nobber who were on minus one. The importance of what happened at Kilmainhamwood earlier in the championship was very clear to both sides at that stage. St Michael's ran champions to be St Ultan's very close in the quarter-final which was played at Pairc Tailteann on a wet Friday night. They really put it up to an accomplished Ultan's side which is likely to make a favourable impression in the senior ranks, but lost out by 0-12 to 1-11. Michael's never led and trailed by 0-4 to 1-6 at the interval after Johnny Reilly, Robert Briody, Ciaran Lynch and a '45' from full-back Derek Flood accounted for their first half points. It was clearly going to take a much improved showing in the second period if they were to revive their fortunes and they responded superbly. St Ultan's extended their advantage to 1-7 to 0-4 early in the second half, but St Michael's battled back courageously and had cut the deficit to the minimum by the 43rd minute after impressive centre-forward Lynch had pointed four times, Daithi Regan added another two and Flood sent over his second '45'. They were looking good at that stage as they put St Ultan's under a lot of pressure, but the champions to be responded with a brace of points to be three ahead going into the final quarter. Regan slotted over two frees to cut the gap to the minimum again, but Ultan's replied with a couple of points once again to leave a goal between the teams. Regan completed St Michael's scoring with a pointed free and went for a goal from a placed ball deep into injury time. However, as the excitement reached fever pitch his effort was blocked and St Ultan's were through to the last four. The St Michael's team in the quarter-final was - D O'Connell; M Reilly, D Flood (0-2), D Reilly; S Gaffney, P Rogers, P Clinton; B Ryan, P O'Reilly; R Briody (0-1), C Lynch (0-6), T Moriarty; J Reilly (0-1), T Halpin, D Regan (0-2). Subs - JB O'Reilly for Briody, B Farrell for Halpin, M Rogers for Gaffney. League win St. Michael's had a number of games in hand in their Division 3 FL campaign and their good form from the championship carried over as they confidently put together a string of performances which saw them clinch a top two finish at the expense of Nobber. A final meeting with Ballinlough on the first Sunday of November was the reward for Donal Smyth's men and a Johnny Reilly's 35th minute goal proved to be the decisive score as they claimed a minimum margin win over their fellow north Meath men at Athboy. Reilly fisted a Daithi Regan delivery to the Ballinlough net to leave it 1-7 to 1-4 and the Carlanstown/Kilbeg side were never subsequently reeled but had to withstand considerable pressure in the latter stages that included nearly four minutes of stoppage time. Daithi Regan closed St Michael's account in the 48th minute with a pointed free that left the board reading 1-10 to 1-5. Despite playing against the fall of ground on a fine afternoon, Ballinlough posted four points in the latter stages but were unable to make up the deficit. Donal Smyth's men nearly got in for a couple of scores on the break in the latter stages that would have soothed the nerves of the St Michael's contingent. Having won the lost a toss of the coin, St Michael's were forced to change to their predominantly black alternative strip and having found themselves 0-0 to 0-2 in arrears early on. St Michael's were back on level terms by the 12th minute before Ballinlough kicked on with Peader Byrne placing Derek Muldoon for a goal six minutes later. Ballinlough led by four points on two occasions in the third quarter but St Michael's finished with a flourish with team captain Peter Clinton sending over an excellent effort from play before former county man Daithi Regan landed a free to leave it 0-5 to 1-4 at the break. Within three minutes of the restart a pointed from Ciaran Lynch and Ben Farrell's white flag from play levelled matters for the second and final time. Then came Reilly's goal which ultimately proved decisive as St Michael's gained some consolation for their narrow IFC quarter-final exit at the hands of eventual winners St Ultan's by claiming the Jack Cummins Cup. The St Michael's side on duty in the final was: D. O'Connell; T. Moriarity, D. Flood, D. Reilly; M. Rogers, P. Rogers, S. Gaffney; P. O'Reilly, B. Ryan; R. Farrell, C. Lynch (0-3, 1 free), J. Reilly (1-0); B. Farrell (0-1), P. Clinton (0-1), D. Regan (0-5). Subs - J. B. O'Reilly for Farrell, M. Reilly for Gaffney, T. Halpin for J. Reilly, C. McCormack for P. O'Reilly. Second string St Michael's second string played in the Junior C Championship, but failed to reach the knockout stages. They did score one very big victory in the group stages when defeating Skryne's third string by 2-20 to 0-9, but there were also defeats against St Ultan's (2-9 to 2-14), Navan O'Mahonys (0-14 to 2-13) and Dunboyne (1-7 to 4-14). Ladies making rapid progress The St Michael's ladies' team made another big leap up the ladder of progression in 2008 when they won the Intermediate Championship a year after they had claimed the junior title in highly impressive fashion. Last year they scored a comprehensive victory over Wolfe Tones in the final to win the JFC and there is every indication that they will once again be a power at senior level in the future after this year's intermediate triumph which was achieved with a 2-8 to 0-8 victory over Na Fianna in the decider at Simonstown. The game was a poignant occasion for the St Michael's club after the death of Rosemary Regan - whose daughter Aisleen played a starring role in the success - a week before the match. The corner-forward was instrumental in setting up her side's first goal when she dispossessed the Na Fianna 'keeper and passed to Fiona Nevin who netted. That score left St Michael's ahead by 1-1 to 0-0 after eight minutes. The Enfield/Baconstown combination replied with a point, but a superb score from Helen Coldrick restored Michael's four-point advantage. The influential Gillian Bennett stretched the lead and Aisleen Regan gave her team a huge boost when she scored their second goal after being set up by Megan O'Brien. That helped St Michael's to hold a 2-3 to 0-3 lead at the break, but Na Fianna, who were playing in their third successive IFC final, improved after the change of ends. However, impressive defending by Sinead McCormack, Theresa O'Brien - mother of Megan - and Mary Smith meant they added only two points as they dominated the third quarter. With their advantage cut to four points, St Michael's regained their composure and with Bennett scoring two points and Megan O'Brien, Leanne Lynch and Coldrick also splitting the uprights they were comfortable winners in the end. St Michael's were managed by Peter Murtagh from Mullagh and the selectors were Christy Regan and Eugene Yore. The St Michael's team in the final was - L Yore; T O'Brien, R Gilsenan, S McCormack; Lisa Lynch, E Lynch, M Smith; L Keenan, M Clinton; M O'Brien (0-1), H Coldrick (0-2), F Nevin (1-0); Leanne Lynch (0-1), G Bennett (0-4), A Regan (1-0). Subs - A Gargan for Coldrick, C Stafford for Leanne Lynch. Tweet

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