League is more than just compensation
November 30, 2006
There were high expectation in Blackhall Gaels at the start of the year that the championship could be brought back to the parish, but at the end of
the season those involved with the club had to be content with the ACFL Division 2 trophy.
Most clubs would be delighted to claim a league title but Blackhall's mission statement from the beginning of the year was to make amends for their 2005 county final defeat to Dunboyne. After going through the group stages undefeated and beating neighbours Dunboyne in the quarter-final, they fell at the penultimate fence as they went down to Navan O'Mahonys.
The players and everyone involved with the club might be disappointed that their ultimate goal slipped through their hands but there's no doubting this team will be challenging for domestic honours for years to come. The strength and quality of their panel was shown this year as manager Gordon Ward had to plan most of his games without the influential pair of Sean Whelan and Tadhg Brosnan. Whelan missed most of the campaign through injury and his free taking ability was sorely missed while the influential Brosnan showed his quality by returning to the fold for the league final and kicking four points.
Gordon Ward's side struggled to find their form in the opening half of the league final against Seneschalstown in Dunsany and they trailed by 0-5 to 0-2 at half-time. But not for the first time during the year Ward had the right words of encouragement at the break, as his side picked themselves up and found the net four minutes after the restart through corner forward David Carty. Substitute Robert Cox had an instant effect as he poked the ball to the net for goal number two after a bit of ping-pong around the Seneschalstown goal to give Blackhall a lead that they never relinquished. The former senior county champions captured the league crown after a workmanlike performance which earned them a deserved place back in Division 1.
One player who wasn't involved in the league final through injury was Alan Nestor and the minor star has been delighted with his rise to the senior ranks in the Batterstown/Kilcloon club.
"It's great to be involved with this bunch of players. I love going out to train with the likes of Anthony Moyles, Tadhg Brosnan and the likes. You're game definitely comes on working with them," said Nestor.
"Gordon Ward has been great to me and all the players throughout the year. The league was great to win as next year we'll be back with the big teams. I couldn't play in the final as I'd glandular fever but it was great to have something at the end of the year although the Keegan Cup was our main aim. I thought it might be hard to regroup after the semi-final loss to O'Mahonys but there was a huge turnout at training after we went out of the championship so the lads deserve a lot of credit for their dedication."
Blackhall are known for their inspirational comebacks in the past and Nestor sees this as both a negative and a positive. "While it's great to see the battling spirit and determination in this team it can be a hindrance as well. Sometimes we give ourselves too much to do. It's great to know that sometimes this team isn't beaten but it can be damaging at times. Against O'Mahonys I felt we never got out of the blocks, playing against the wind in the first half we gave away too much, we lost midfield and never took our chances in the forwards. We kicked some silly wides and when you're playing against dangerous forwards like Stephen Bray and Tommy Loughran you'll get punished."
Nestor believes Tadhg Brosnan and Sean Whelan were a huge loss to the side. "They are two top players and it was really tough to lose them both. Tadhg does so much when he's there, even if he's not playing at his best he always frees up space for the others and Sean's deadly with the ball both from frees and play so it definitely put a bit more emphasis and pressure on the likes of myself and David Carty. Coming from the Meath minor set up definitely helped. The pace may be quicker at that level but it's far more physical when you play senior so you have to adapt," admitted Nestor.
Looking to next year he feels they can find the right mix to make it back to the top of the senior pile. "We definitely have the talent here. It's just to find the right mix, with the experience that some of the players have and the players coming through we just have to find the right blend between the young and the old."
Blackhall opened their championship campaign with a hard fought draw with senior newcomers Duleek; both teams were a bit rusty on the day but served up an entertaining encounter. The Kilcloon/Batterstown combination had their first win under their belt in the next round when they saw off stiff competition from Summerhill.
One of the games of the championship came in round three where Ward's side took on Simonstown Gaels. Both teams played free flowing football and served up a treat for both sets of supporters. Although Blackhall opened up an early lead they only led by a single point at half-time. Simonstown came out with a new found purpose and went ahead 14 minutes into the second half. County player Anthony Moyles showed his class when introduced as a sub and brought his side back to life. The club captain was involved in most of his sides scores in the run-in. Brosnan had his second goal of the game after a long ball from Denis Beirne and it looked like Blackhall had the points until two late Simonstown scores left the two sides deadlocked and a share of the spoils. Brosnan finished with 2-3 on the day adding to his already polished reputation and was aided in his efforts by Dermot O'Brien and Mark Crampton.
The drawn game against Simonstown seemed to be the turning point for the Gaels as they went on to claim seven points from their next four games. A 2-11 to 2-8 win over St. Patrick's was followed by a 1-11 to 2-4 win over Kilmainhamwood, before the spoils were shared with Dunshaughlin. In the last game of the group Navan O'Mahony's were seen off by a point.
Having topped the group, a repeat of the previous year's final was paired for a quarter final match-up, as Dunboyne finished fourth in Group B. Blackhall led by a point at half-time through some wonderful defensive performances from Dan O'Neill, John Joyce and Dermot O'Brien. However the tables were turned in the second half as Dermot Morris's Dunboyne men found their stride and quickly went ahead. Blackhall looked like losing to their rivals for the second year in a row until a final flourish left their neighbours in total shock. Trailing by three going into the final few minutes, Jonathon Meyler toe-poked the ball to the net after Andy McEntee failed to gather a high ball to leave the sides level. Then up stepped county minor star Alan Nestor with a stunning attempt from an acute angle in the dying seconds of the game to send the Gaels through to the semi final.
A two point loss to Navan O'Mahonys in the semi-final was the end of Blackhall's championship journey. Many will put the defeat down to the terrible start they made that saw them trailing by seven points at half-time. But as usual they staged a determined fight back in the second half that saw David Carty and Mark Crampton find the net. At one stage the two sides were level and Gordon Ward's men looked to be in the ascendancy but Blackhall seemed to use up all their energy in their spirited comeback as the town side went on to win with two points to spare.
It was a disappointing end to the championship for the Batterstown/Kilcloon combination but given the talent at their disposal and their tremendous team spirit, there is little doubt that any team that has serious intentions of landing the Keegan Cup will see Blackhall Gaels as one of the biggest obstacles in their way.
The Blackhall Gaels team which claimed the ACFL Division 2 title was: M. Whelan; D. O'Brien, G. Beirne, B. Moyles; J. Joyce, P. Brady, D. O'Neill; A. Moyles, M. Ferris; D. Beirne, T. Brosnan, N. O'Hora; D. Carty, J. Meyler, M. Crampton. Subs - J. Callanan, R. Cox, D. Dalton.
A tough christening
Nobody said it was going to be easy - and it wasn't. Blackhall Gaels made the big step-up by winning the IHC last year, but their historic first campaign in the SHC was challenging in the extreme and at the time of writing the club's status in the top flight of Meath hurling was in the balance.
Blackhall failed to gain any points in Group B of the 2006 qualification campaign and finished bottom of their section. They were then fixed to play the Athboy/An Gaeltacht combination, Clann na nGael, in a relegation play-off at Trim on the same day as the All-Ireland football final in mid-September, but the club requested a postponement from the County Committee's Fixtures Committee on the grounds that they were unable to field a team due to a combination of holidays, injuries, exams and the fact that they had at least two people acting as stewards at Croke Park.
The do or die battle for survival didn't go ahead, but they hadn't been granted a postponement, and when Blackhall were granted a refixture Clann na nGael weren't happy and appealed the decision to Leinster Council. At the time of going to press, the issue still hadn't been resolved.
It will be recalled that Blackhall defeated Na Fianna by 0-13 to 0-12 in last year's intermediate final, a year after they had made a tremendous breakthrough in the small ball code by getting the better of one of the true traditional powers in Meath hurling, Kilmessan, in the Minor Championship decider.
Those two triumphs represented fantastic achievements for the Batterstown/Kilcloon combination and were a testament to the huge amount of work that has gone into the promotion of the game in the club since its foundation. But they found life in the Senior Championship tough at the first time of asking and suffered some heavy defeats against the stronger teams in the section.
Blackhall, with Martin Curran again managing the team and Michael Mullally, Frank Broad, Peter Farrell, Sonny Carr, Brian Heavin and Richard Morris acting as selectors, were drawn in a group that also included Boardsmill, Drumree, Rathmolyon, who went on to take the championship by storm and conclude a great campaign by lifting the Jubilee Cup, the eventual beaten finalists Dunboyne and Trim.
They opened their campaign on the last Saturday of April with a match against Boardsmill at Trim and got a taste of the greater demands that come with playing in the premier grade when the 'Mill came out on top by 10 points (2-15 to 2-5). However, Blackhall made the best possible start when Alan Cleary found the net, but they managed to score only a further point in the first half and trailed by 1-1 to 1-8 at the interval.
Significantly, Boardsmill struck with their second goal which effectively killed off the match as a contest, but Blackhall never stopped battling and were rewarded with a Michael Mullally goal. Unfortunately, they also missed a number of chances from frees and that certainly didn't help their cause on their debut day in the Senior Championship.
Drumree provided the second round opposition at Ratoath and this was a match Blackhall would surely have viewed as offering a very realistic chance to get a couple of precious group points in the bag in the early stages of the divisional campaign. However, that's not how it worked out as Drumree got the victory that was ultimately to secure their survival in the top flight.
Conor Burke, Johnny Meyler and Darren O'Loughlin played well for Blackhall who moved into an early 0-2 to 0-0 lead, but Drumree led by 0-5 to 0-2 at the end of a low-scoring first half and pushed into a decent advantage (1-6 to 0-3) when they notched their goal six minutes after the change of ends.
That lead stretched to 1-8 to 0-3 and when Drumree had two players sent off Blackhall must have saw some hope of a possible revival. But it wasn't to be as too much damage had already been inflicted and it finished 1-9 to 0-7.
With two rounds of group matches out of the way Blackhall were pointless and already they were in serious danger of falling into a battle to hold onto their senior status in their first campaign in the grade. And things certainly didn't get any better in the third round at Longwood when high-flying Rathmolyon hit them with four first half goals that gave them a 4-8 to 0-2 interval lead and put the match well beyond Blackhall.
To their credit, however, they never threw in the towel and actually won the second period by 2-6 to 2-3. However, Rathmolyon had done all their best work in the opening half hour and were 15 points clear at the final whistle as it ended 6-11 to 2-8.
Another heavy defeat followed in the fourth round at Kilmessan when Trim inflicted a 17-point (4-12 to 0-7) defeat and with no points gained in the group stages it looked odds on that Blackhall would fall into that dreaded relegation play-off.
Dunboyne have been one of the most consistent teams in the Senior Championship in recent years without making the big breakthrough and were to go on and lose another final when Rathmolyon got the better of them in October. John Gorry's side had improved as the competition progressed and they provided the opposition for Blackhall in a vitally important fifth round game for both sides, for totally different reasons - Dunboyne to keep their qualification hopes alive and Blackhall to give their survival hopes a boost.
And it was Dunboyne who got the victory they so badly needed, a success that left them in a position to make it to the knockout stages through the play-off route. The St. Peter's men were well on their way to the win at Kilmessan when ahead by 2-11 to 0-4 at the interval and they were all of 23 points (3-23 to 1-6) clear at the finish.
The defeat meant Blackhall were pointless and isolated at the bottom of the group, with Drumree safe thanks to that victory achieved in the second round game between the sides.
CAMOGIE GIRLS GO CLOSE
The Blackhall Gaels camogie team was part of history in 2006 when they contested the first Meath Intermediate Championship final against neighbours Dunboyne at Ratoath in September. Meath Camogie Board decided to introduce an intermediate competition this year and, while Blackhall's progressive campaign ended in ultimate disappointment, getting to the decided represented a fine achievement.
Dunboyne, a former senior power in the game and winners of the premier title on no fewer than 10 occasions, had to work hard to secure a 1-5 to 0-6 victory and for long spells it looked as if the Blackhall girls might be first to get their hands on the new trophy. Margaret O'Connor gave Dunboyne a significant boost with a goal after less than two minutes, but the Batterstown/Kilcloon combination recovered very well from that early blow and proceeded to hold them scoreless for all of 36 minutes.
Emily Mangan sent over two points for Blackhall in the first half and with Jane Burke also on target they were on level terms (0-3 to 1-0) at the interval. Jane Dolan and Mangan added points early in the second period and they were looking good with a 0-5 to 1-0 advantage. However, the lead was down to the minimum (0-6 to 1-2) at the three-quarter stage after Dolan had scored Blackhall's last point.
Blackhall defended heroically in an attempt to keep their advantage intact, but Sinead Hackett was on the mark with a Dunboyne point to leave them on level terms with eight minutes to play. It was anybody's game at that stage as the excitement intensified, but it was the Dunboyne side which found most when it was needed most as they finished with the last two points of the game from Marie Carroll and Aoife Thompson to shade the verdict and become the inaugural winners of the Intermediate Championship.
Losing on the biggest day of all represented a big disappointment for the players and team management after a memorable championship, but many positives can be taken from the campaign and Blackhall can certainly look forward to the 2007 competition with considerable optimism and enthusiasm.
The Blackhall Gaels team in the final was - A. Heavin; C. O'Brien, N. Gleeson, H. Murphy; H. Geraghty, K. Murphy, P. Fahy; J. Dolan (0-2), J. Burke (0-1); N. Heavin, C. Griffin, J. Jordan; M. Farrell, E. Mangan (0-3), S. Hughes. Subs - C. Burke for Hughes, SJ Brody for Heavin, Hughes for Farrell.
An indication that Blackhall Gaels are producing talented young players came when they also reached the Under-14 Championship final where, unfortunately, they also met with defeat as Ratoath won by 6-6 to 2-1.
Blackhall made a great start with an early Christine Troy goal, but Ratoath were in front by 1-3 to 1-1 at the break and pushed clear in the second period. Troy was named 'player of the match'.
The Blackhall Gaels team in the final was - A. Coyle; C. Whitty, E. Delaney, B. Brosnan; E. Keane, A. Keane, A. Dolan; G. Ennis, N. Kelleher; E. Mahon (1-0), C. Troy (1-1), A. Mullally; A. Crosbie, E. Delaney, E. Troy.
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