The good fight
November 30, 2006
This time 20 years ago Bellewstown GFC was living the high life as players, officials and its passionate band of supporters shortened the winter months of 1986 with glorious memories of a fabulous championship triumph. By Paul Clarke.
What a year that was two decades ago as the club situated on the famous Hill of Crockafotha added extra colour to the Meath GAA scene en route to an historic first Junior Football Championship victory and also celebrated another highly significant occasion with the official opening of Howard Park in May.
That was an evening of immense pride and satisfaction for all concerned when Meath, who were on the verge of a first Leinster SFC win in 16 years, played Louth in a challenge match to mark the occasion. It represented the fulfilment of every club's desire - to have a good home of their own.
But the most satisfying day in the history of a club that had been formed as St. Teresa's GFC, Bellewstown, approximately 20 years earlier lay ahead of them when their loyal and loud band of supporters made the trip across the county to Kells for the Junior Championship final against Navan club Simonstown Gaels.
Navan's Pairc Tailteann was out of commission at that time due to upgrading ahead of its official reopening in 1988, so Pairc Cholmcille provided the setting for the greatest victory in the relatively short history of the Bellewstown club. Scores were as rare as hens teeth on that historic day, but all that mattered to Bellewstown was the result as they shaded the verdict by 0-5 to 0-4.
What a proud moment it was for everybody who had worked so hard for the success, but particularly for team captain Peter Collins who had the added satisfaction of receiving the Matthew Ginnity Cup from County Board chairman Fintan Ginnity who was in his first year in the position.
How the fortunes of the two clubs that contested the junior decider that day have contrasted. Few could have envisaged the amazing rise to prominence of Simonstown Gaels as their players trudged dejectedly from the Kells pitch after a one-point defeat. They went on to win the junior title four years later in 1990 and made the jump up to the senior grade when they annexed the Intermediate Championship in 1995.
Appearances in two Senior Championship finals back-to-back in 2003 and 2004 brought disappointment in the shape of defeat on both occasions, but when you contrast their upward spiral with Bellewstown's decline it represents a dramatic difference in fortunes over the years that followed the clubs' junior triumphs.
Essentially, Simonstown used to be a rural-style club outside of Navan, but with the rapid and dramatic rise in the population of the town it's now situated in what has popularly become known as 'North Navan' and is adjacent to housing estate after housing estate.
By contrast, Bellewstown today isn't a great deal different to the Bellewstown of a couple of decades ago and unlike nearby places such as Duleek, Julianstown and Stamullen, it hasn't experienced phenomenal rates of house building and the population explosions that go with it.
Therefore, it's probably not all that surprising that Bellewstown have slid down the Meath GAA ladder from playing intermediate football following that 1986 triumph to operating in the Junior B grade following their relegation from the Junior Championship in 2002.
But Bellewstown is a proud club and possesses a passionate desire to experience better times again. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case in the 2006 Junior B Championship when they struggled again and failed to win any of their games. They finished their Group B campaign with four points, but they came as a result of walk-overs from Na Fianna and Navan O'Mahonys, both of whom withdrew from the competition.
Every team likes to set the right tone for the campaign ahead with a confidence-boosting opening win to the championship, but despite scoring three goals Bellewstown got off to a disappointing start when going under to Blackhall Gaels' second string by 3-3 to 2-12 at Skryne on the third Sunday of April. Blackhall went on to dominate the section, winning all seven games.
Moynalty, who had been demoted to the Junior B ranks when they lost a JFC relegation play-off to St. Vincent's in 2004, were next up in the second round at Rathkenny and a narrow defeat was the outcome for Bellewstown as they went under by 2-5 to 1-9. They were the better team for much of the opening half and moved ahead, but Moynalty rallied to hold a 0-7 to 1-1 interval lead.
That advantage was extended significantly when Moynalty scored their goal, but Bellewstown, to their credit, refused to throw in the towel and battled back bravely. Indeed, they looked set for a first win of the competition when a point ahead with time running out, but David Murtagh scored two late points to give the north Meath side victory.
Donaghmore/Ashbourne's second team provided the opposition in the third round of group matches at Ratoath and Bellewstown were well in the hunt when they trailed by 0-3 to 0-5 at the interval. But a second-half goal from Declan McAuley proved decisive as Donaghmore/Ashbourne won by four points on a 1-8 to 0-7 score line.
A tally of 1-10 wins a fair few matches at this level, but it wasn't sufficient for Bellewstown as they conceded too many goals in the fourth round against Cortown's second string at Seneschalstown and again went under by four points (1-10 to 4-5).
Bellewstown hardly experienced much satisfaction when they received a walk-over from Na Fianna in the fifth round and their losing sequence continued next time out when Dunshaughlin beat them by 1-14 to 1-8 at Skryne to reach the quarter-finals. A goal from Michael Johnson helped Dunshaughlin to a very useful 1-8 to 0-5 half-time advantage and there was no way back for Bellewstown after that.
Navan O'Mahonys' third team was supposed to provide the opposition in the final round of group games, but they had pulled out of the championship and a second walk-over of the competition for Bellewstown was the disappointing outcome and another very disappointing Junior B campaign concluded.
Due to receiving those two unsatisfactory walk-overs, Bellewstown played only five matches in the group stages of the championship and finished sixth in their section on four points, 10 adrift of group winners Blackhall Gaels who had a 100 per cent winning record. Moynalty finished second on 11, the same as Dunshaughlin who had an inferior score difference. Donaghmore/Ashbourne were fourth on eight and Cortown finished fifth on six.
"We suffered narrow defeats in some of our games, but I think if we had the lads we should have had we would have won matches in the Junior B Championship," said long-serving Bellewstown clubman John Kirwan as he reflected on the 2006 campaign.
"George Clarke, the former Castletown player who lives in Duleek, was training us and I would have to say that training didn't go too badly. But the last few years have been disappointing, knowing that you are not going to win games. That said, morale was good in the camp this year. We were just a shade away from winning games.
"Unfortunately, lads have left to go to other clubs in the last few years and we just don't have a lot coming through to replace them. We are in the same position that we were three, four and five years ago. We will just have to see if we can carry on.
"We play under-age football with Duleek, but I would say the only club we could consider amalgamating with would be St. Vincent's. There was an amalgamation there involving Bellewstown, Ardcath and Cushinstown in the past, known as Young Irelands, but we went on our own in 1966.
"However, I think if we did amalgamate a lot of the lads would give it up."
The hope has to be that Bellewstown can soldier on and come out the other side stronger than they are at the moment.
YOUNG TALENT
Adult football may have brought no joy for the Bellewstown club in 2006, but there was certainly a bright light in the shape of a very talented young player called Mark Collins who made a very notable impression as a member of the Meath under-16 football team.
The Royal County failed to make a significant impact during the annual Gerry Reilly Under-16 Memorial Tournament in Oldcastle during the summer, as the Gerry McEntee-managed Dublin side took the competition by storm en route to a 10-point win over Westmeath in the final, but Collins certainly stood out.
Collins, who plays his under-age football with the Duleek/Bellewstown combination, St. Cianan's, was on the losing side in the second round match against Westmeath as Meath went under by the narrowest of margins (2-13 to 2-14), but his personal tally of eight points from the right half-forward position was a feature of the game.
He is obviously a player worth keeping an eye out for in the years ahead.
Another very talented Bellewstown youngster is Brian Moore, who is a nephew of Christy Moore, the man who managed the Meath team that won the All-Ireland Minor Championship title with that sensational victory over Armagh in the 1992 final.
With the future in mind, Bellewstown will hope they can hold onto these youngsters, as such players would boost their panel considerably over the coming years.
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