Clann na nGael footballers have established themselves as a decent junior 'A' team and as this year's results in the championship prove, they are not to far away from competing at the business end of the campaign. The club have taken time to find their feet since the amalgamation of Athboy and Rathcairn, but steadily they have shown signs of improvement as each campaign have gone by and there are high hopes in the area that the next step will be to the intermediate grade. Success breeds confidence and winning the reserve league Division 6 title may not mean a lot to some clubs, but it is an important stepping stone for the fledgling amalgamation side. The junior A side were boosted by the return of Shane McAnarney to the club following his absence through emigration to the States and UK in recent years. However, McAnarney's involvement with the Meath senior football squad limited his appearances with the club, especially in the league. Once again, the team was looked after by manager Mick Mellett and his selectors Padraig Seoige and Sean Carrigy, three men who have dedicated great time and effort to the club down through the years. A decent start to the league campaign meant left Clann na nGael in a decent position following the early rounds of the campaign, which was a boost ahead of their opening championship match. A 2-15 to 2-7 win over Boardsmill in the opening match was soon followed by a narrow one point win over St Vincent's as they began the campaign with two wins out of two. Moynalvey were the next side to be put to the sword as a 1-14 to 1-11 win was recorded to leave the Athboy/Rathcairn combination in pole position to make it to the knockout stages of the championship. Even though they did manage a further win against St Mary's, defeats to eventual winners St Ultan's, St Peter's Dunboyne and Dunsany left Mellett's charges fourth in the table, even though they were level on points with Dunboyne and had a better scoring average, the fact that the South Meath side had won the meeting between the sides meant they went through to the quarterfinals, while Clann na nGael were left to rue what might have been. Ironically, head-to-heads were to affect Clann na Gael's year in the league also as wins over St Brigid's, Dunsany, Kilmainham, Meath Hill, Moylagh, St Vincent's and Drumbaragh, plus a draw in their opening match against Bective left them battling for a place in the Division 4 league final. Clann na nGael only lost two matches during the league campaign to St Michael's who topped the table and St Mary's who finished second and with Clann na nGael afforded the opportunity to draw level on points with the Donore outfit, the fact that they had already lost to the second placed team, meant their remaining fixture against Moynalvey was irrelevant. "It was disappointing to lose out on the league and championship in such a way. The lads deserve great credit for the work they put in all year," said Mick. "We had great numbers all year at training and averaged between 25 and 30 lads there most nights, which is a great boost for everyone. There are many people in the club who do great work, especially the committee members and all the people who looked after the various teams." Mick is confident that Clann na nGael have the players to win a junior title and stressed that the players must believe in themselves that they can do so. "I think their performances this year proved that they are thereabouts. Of the three games lost, you could say that we should have beaten Dunsany and Dunboyne as the chances were there to be taken. St Ultan's were very strong and so they proved by winning the junior championship," he added. Clann na nGael has an abundance of young talent coming through the ranks and this fact along with the more experienced players like Paul Flood, Tommy Hanley, Dan O'Neill and Shane McAnarney form the basis for a very good side. The club has completed major redevelopment work on their grounds over the past year with the addition of an under-12 pitch, while they have also realigned the exsisting pitch and creating more car parking space and the benefit of this has seen more high profile matches played in Athboy. Without doubt, Clann na nGael have the players, facilities and determination to become one of the biggest clubs in the county, while the population boom in the area has also been attributed to the burgeoning numbers at underage level. One of the first aims of the amalgamation outfit was to develop an underage structure that would cater for all ages and hopefully develop the youngsters into stars of the future. With the hard work of many club members, Clann na nGael are beginning to see the fruits of their labour pay off and more success at all levels is a guarantee. The reserve league side was looked after by Cathal Seoige, Sean Carrigy, Peader McDonagh and Brian Duffy. Following a tough campaign, which they topped the group, losing only one match along the way, they earned their place in the final against Ratoath, who finished second in the division. A four-point win was recorded over the South Meath side as Clann na Gael took their first title in this grade, much to the delight of all involved. The club can look forward to the 2007 campaign with great anticipation as all their teams are capable of winning honours and who knows, maybe the Matthew Ginnity Cup could be destined for Athboy and Rathcairn areas. So near yet so far Clann na nGael hurlers must be wondering what they have to do to get some luck on their side as the Athboy/Rathcairn could easily have qualified for the knockout stages of the championship, but instead ended bottom of the group. Not many would have given them a chance of earning a place in the last four at the start of the year as they were placed in a group along with defending champions Killyon, Kilmessan, Kildalkey, Kiltale and Navan O'Mahony's. Ironically four of the teams in the group made up the semi-final pairings for the 2005 campaign, but Clann na nGael were undaunted by the task. The opening championship match paired them with Kilmessan and despite a decent start to the match, Eddie Priest's charges lost ground in the second half and the blue and whites pulled away to record a comfortable victory by 1-18 to 1-10. Many may have felt that Clann na nGael's season may have continued in the same trend, but that was not to be the case as they proved in their second outing against neighbours and fierce rivals Kildalkey. In recent years, the blue and whites have had the better of the meetings between the sides, but the Athboy based outfit entered this match determined to make amends for the opening round defeat. Once again, Clann na nGael started brightly and were more than a match for their opponents. Leading with ten minutes to go, it looked as if they were going to record their first win of the championship, but a late rally by Kildalkey yielded a two-point win on a scoreline of 2-5 to 1-10. It was a heartbreaking defeat for Clann na nGael and one that in all fairness should not have happened, but with three matches remaining they still had the chance of picking up some points along the way. Defending champions Killyon hadn't had the best of starts to the defence of their campaign and needed to pick up some points when they faced the amalgamation side. As was becoming the story of their year, Clann na nGael stayed with their opponents for long periods of the match, and as was the case in the previous match against Kildalkey, they couldn't hold on to the lead and lost the game by 1-13 to 1-10. With no points on the board, they needed a win badly and with Kiltale having failed to pick up any points at this stage of the championship, this match was seen as a real do or die outing. Kiltale had reached last year's semi final, but had failed to build on that during the 2006 campaign. Priest's troops knew that this was their best chance of a win. However, unlike other matches, Clann na nGael started poorly and were left trailing from early. Their cause was not helped following the dismissal of forward Daithi Geraghty in the first half and it looked as if the Clann were headed for a heavy defeat. The second half saw the Kiltale rearguard under constant pressure and when Barry Doherty goaled with ten minutes remaining to leave two points between the sides, the Clann na Gael players could sense victory. Even though, a Gary Mangan free reduced the deficit to one, time ran out and it was another agonising defeat for Clann na nGael by 0-14 to 1-10. That result left the Athboy side needing a win over Navan O'Mahony's in their last match and to force a three-way play-off with O'Mahony's and Kiltale. The club had to put the disappointment of their previous outings behind them and put in a strong performance against a side that have so far failed to fulfil their potential at this level. Clann na nGael made a decent start to the match and were more than a match for the Navan side for long periods, and as had been the case so often in their matches, they could not find the killer instinct to put away their opponents and O'Mahony's managed to hold on for an unmerited three-point win, 1-10 to 1-7. This was a major blow to a side that had results gone their way could well have been preparing for a county semi-final, instead of facing a relegation play-off against Blackhall Gaels. The club's junior side faired much better as for the second consecutive year, they reached the junior 2 decider. Following an excellent victory over neighbours Kildalkey in the semi-final, they faced Na Fianna in the final, but despite being favourites to clinch the title, it was the Enfield/Baconstown outfit that claimed glory. At the time of going to press, the matter of the relegation play off final between Clann na nGael and Blackhall Gaels was in the hands of the Leinster Council and no decision had been made with regards the scheduling of the match. Tweet

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