Nobber earned the tag of draw specialists during the 2006 Intermediate Football Championship when they finished level in four of their seven group matches. That might be termed consistent, but it was a trend that threatened to derail their qualification hopes before they eventually scraped through to the last eight. The club certainly went for a big name to manage their intermediate team. Colm Coyle was a brilliantly versatile player with Seneschalstown and Meath before throwing in his lot with St. Ultan's for a short spell. He later managed the Monaghan senior footballers, was a Meath selector under Sean Boylan and recently capped it all by becoming manager of the Royal County. Nobber must have felt reasonably optimistic of outright success as they set out on the IFC trail last April in pursuit of a first title in the grade since 1980. Ironically, their selectors were both members of that '80 team - Edward Cassidy and John O'Reilly. The 2002 junior champions advanced to the semi-finals last year when they surrendered a healthy lead before losing to Syddan and it was a similar scenario this term when it came to knockout football as they gave away a decent advantage at the quarter-final stage against neighbours Castletown and bowed out of the battle for the Mattie McDonnell Cup. Nobber's Group B opponents in the 2006 IFC were Oldcastle, Rathkenny, Ratoath, Syddan, Slane, St. Colmcille's and St. Michael's and they just couldn't win in the opening rounds of the divisional campaign - though they couldn't lose either. Oldcastle, who were to go very close to reaching the final as they bowed out to a late Drumconrath point at the penultimate hurdle over five months later, provided the first round opposition at Carnaross and Nobber looked likely to start their campaign with a win before Ronan Farrelly slotted over a late free to earn Oldcastle a share of the spoils. Robert Pakenham was sent off for Oldcastle late in the first half and Nobber edged into a 0-5 to 0-2 interval lead. They extended the advantage, but Oldcastle recovered well to lead by 1-4 to 0-6 at the three-quarter stage. A brace of points from Brian Farrell gave Nobber the lead again, before parity was restored. Andrew Hayes was on the mark to give Nobber the edge again, but Farrelly had the last word with that equaliser. Nobber gave away another late score as they drew again in the second round, this time a goal against Rathkenny at Kilberry. Gavin Farrelly's goal helped Nobber to lead by 1-6 to 0-5 at the interval, but Rathkenny reduced the deficit to two before Coyle's men pushed five clear with 18 minutes remaining. Rathkenny, who were later to take the title race by storm after a less than encouraging start, were still three points adrift (1-6 to 1-9) with time running out, but Richie Timmons netted from a last minute penalty to earn them a deserved draw. Astonishingly, Nobber's third successive draw followed when they travelled to Drumconrath to play Syddan in a repeat of the previous year's semi-final. This time it was Nobber who relied on a late point to earn a draw as Farrell equalised. Nobber were guilty of poor shooting in the first half, but got a crucial goal to be level (1-5 to 0-8) at the change of ends. The second period was always close, but Syddan looked capable of winning until Farrell's timely intervention with that equaliser. It finished 1-11 to 0-14 which meant his side were still without a championship win. They were also without a defeat and had three points in the bag from as many outings. However, their only defeat of the group stages was just around the corner and came against St. Colmcille's when the sides met at Slane. Nobber played well in the first half and led by the minimum at the interval. Darren Lambe stretched the advantage with a goal, but the seasiders upped the tempo and, aided by a goal from a penalty, they edged through by two points (2-7 to 1-8). That defeat dealt a serious blow to Nobber's hopes of advancing to the knockout stages and when a fourth draw followed in the fifth round against struggling Slane at Rathkenny things didn't look much better. Substitute Lambe goaled to help Nobber to a slender 1-4 to 0-6 half-time lead, but the concession of two goals late in the second half appeared to spell utter disaster until Farrell rescued a point when he split the uprights deep into injury time. The reality after that outcome was that Nobber had to set their sights firmly on winning their remaining two matches if they were to have any chance of achieving their first mission of reaching the business end of the title race. Ratoath, managed by another former Meath great in Mattie Kerrigan, provided the opposition in the sixth round at Seneschalstown and Nobber achieved their first victory of the group campaign when they scored by 1-11 to 2-3 to give themselves an outside chance of making it through to the last eight. Farrell was in brilliant form for Nobber, contributing a highly significant 1-6, and 1-3 of that impressive personal tally came in the first half and helped his side to open up what looked like a very comprehensive eight point (1-7 to 0-2) lead at the break. However, they eased up in the second period and the concession of two goals ensured a nervous finish before they had five points to spare at the final whistle. Castletown provided the setting for a meeting with last year's junior champions St. Michael's in the seventh and final round of matches in the marathon group stages and Nobber achieved only their second win of the campaign when three goals proved vitally important in a six-point (3-11 to 0-14) success. The Carlanstown/Kilbeg combination provided a very stern challenge and it was all to play for at the interval when they shaded the issue by the minimum (0-7 to 0-6), but Nobber's three goals all arrived in the second period and propelled them towards victory and a quarter-final meeting with Castletown. Farrell, who was again hugely influential as he finished with a great personal contribution of 2-7, notched two of those goals and Brendan Heffernan got the other to kill off St. Michael's stubborn resistance. To say the very least, it had been a strange Group B campaign for Nobber, made up of two victories in the last two rounds, those four draws and just one defeat, but at the end of it all they had achieved goal number one and made it to the quarter-finals on eight points from a possible 14. That left them just one clear of Syddan, so that in itself represented some sort of revenge for the previous year's semi-final loss to the same opposition. However, the dream of stepping back up to the senior ranks was shattered soon after when Nobber under-performed in the second half of the quarter-final that attracted a big attendance to Syddan and Castletown won by 0-13 to 0-10 to advance to the penultimate hurdle where they, in turn, suffered bitter disappointment when losing to another of their neighbours, Rathkenny. But it all looked so promising at half-time in Syddan when Nobber opened up a four-point (0-9 to 0-5) advantage. Farrell was very much on song once again, which is always a good sign, but the impressive form wasn't maintained into the second period when Nobber faded badly and Castletown took over completely. Sean Barry's team had looked very poor in the opening 30 minutes, but that all changed in the second period when they were a revitalised side and played with a confidence and flair that overwhelmed Nobber completely. Amazingly, a Nobber team that had tallied nine points in the first half could manage to add only one in the second and with Castletown improving dramatically and scoring eight times they were three clear at the end. Nobber were out and the battle to win a first intermediate title since that memorable and historic breakthrough triumph in 1980 - when a team that included such outstanding footballers as Gerry McEntee and PJ O'Halloran got the better of Harps in the final - goes on. "A lot of the games we drew in the group we could have won," said Nobber's George Kellett. "We didn't lose them, but we didn't win them either. We still got through to the quarter-finals and had a four-point lead at half-time against Castletown. We were cruising. But we collapsed in the second half and scored only a point. "In some games we seemed to have a habit of building up big leads, but couldn't hold onto them. Gordon Weldon was away from us in America and Andy Hayes was there for a spell as well. Paul Clarke was also in America and then moved on to Australia. They were big losses to us. "The reality is that we are working out of a small pool here and we can't afford to be without players like those lads. We really need to get out of Div. 3 in the A League, but we miss Brian Farrell when we can't have him for league games. "I know it's the same for every club with players on the county team, but we really miss Brian when he's not playing in the league." Nobber's second string operated in the Junior C Championship and advanced from a group that also included Carnaross, Oldcastle, St. Michael's, Kilmainhamwood and Ballinlough to qualify for a quarter-final meeting against Duleek at Slane. However, that's where their campaign came to an end as Duleek won very comfortably by 14 points on a 2-10 to 0-2 score line. U13s continue to impress Nobber's Under 13 squad continue to achieve success. Having won the Under 12 Division 3 title in 2005 Nobber moved up a grade to Div. 2B for the 2006 Under 13 League. Pitched in a division with Dunderry, Skryne, Round Towers, St. Pats and Na Fianna it was anticipated that, while being confident of acquitting themselves well, they would find the going a lot tougher at this level. However, their reservations in that regard were unfounded in that they recorded facile victories over all opposition and qualified to meet St. Pats in the final. In that match, played at Slane, Nobber settled into their rhythm quickly, with centre-forward James Halpin taking a pass from midfielder Fiachra McEntee on the throw in, soloing through and planting the ball in the net within 10 seconds of the start. With a hat-trick of goals from full-forward Declan Shields and points from McEntee, Halpin and Shiels, Nobber led 4 - 8 to 0 - 1 at half time with centre back Paul Meade and McEntee providing a constant supply of ball to the forwards. Continuing to dominate in the second half Shields (2), Halpin and 10 year old Sean Meade added further goals for Nobber to run out easy winners on a scoreline of 8 -14 to 2 - 2. The strong and polished performances of Karl Casserly in goals, Liam Halpin at fullback, Meade, McEntee, Halpin (James) and Shields down the middle allied with the excellent performances of Philip Cassidy, Dean Curtis, Aaron Casey, Eanna Fagan, Ian Brady, David Cassidy, Stephen O'Brien, Jonathon Donohoe and Sean Meade ensured that there was no route for St. Pats to establish dominance in any sector. Over a four year period this team has lost only one match. They won 17 and drew 1 match out of 18 at Under 10 level in 2003. In 2005 they lost one match by a point in the under 12 league, when without the services of Declan Shiels and the injured James Halpin playing in goals. They avenged that defeat, in the final, by beating Carnaross on a scoreline of 2 -14 to 0 -5 and having come through 2006 with a 100% record they can look forward to the challenge of playing at a higher level in the 2007 Under 14 campaign. Final Lineout : K. Casserly, P. Cassidy, L. Halpin, D. Curtis, A. Casey, P. Meade, E. Fagan, I. Brady, F. McEntee (0-5) D. Cassidy, J. Halpin (2-5) S. O'Brien, J. Donohoe, D. Shields (5-4) S. Meade (1-0) Subs; D. Farrelly for S. Meade, C. Cassidy for D. Cassidy, T. McEntee for J. Donohoe, D. Halpin for I. Brady, R. Clarke and D. Lanney Tweet

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