Ratoath went for one of the most respected authorities in the game to manage their Intermediate Football Championship team in 2006 but, unfortunately, they didn't manage to mount a serious challenge for a place in the knockout stages, though they gave a good account of themselves and were seriously hampered by injuries which worked against them in a big way. Mattie Kerrigan was a member of the Meath team that won the county's third All-Ireland SFC title in 1967, was an All-Star full-forward in 1975 after he had played a leading role in that wonderful National League triumph which culminated in a brilliant win over Dublin in the final and was part of the great Summerhill team that won four Keegan Cups in succession between 1974 and '77 and added a Leinster title for good measure. That's just a small selection of the many highlights of Kerrigan's fantastic playing career, before he became a very astute coach. He managed the Meath senior team briefly, was a successful coach of Meath under-age trams and went on to manage both Westmeath and Cavan. So when Ratoath secured the services of the popular Summerhill clubman they had certainly brought a vastly experienced and knowledgeable man on board. And alongside Kerrigan was another highly experienced and respected man, Joe Tallon, who is a seriously good trainer. Ratoath's selectors were Joe Clarke, a native of Kiltale, and Brian Rooney. Anybody visiting Ratoath after a gap of a few years always comments on the phenomenal amount of house building which has been taking place in the area and if they take a trip a short way out the road to Sean Eiffe Park they remark on the tremendous facilities which the local GAA club has put in place as it responds in a very positive way to the challenges that come with being part of a rapidly developing community. If Ratoath eventually achieve their ambition to become a senior club, and the chances are that they will in the not too distant future, the players will be assured of the finest facilities possible, which is essential in this day and age. Ratoath had known what it was like to experience disappointment in the race for the Junior Championship title before they made the breakthrough by winning the competition for the first time in 34 years in 2004. The disappointments included final defeats to Gaeil Colmcille in 1992 and an emerging power in Wolfe Tones in 2003, so when they got the better of Dunsany in the decider two years ago it represented a major breakthrough and brought a huge amount of joy and satisfaction to the players, management and all those associated with the club. The aim for the future has to be to take another step up, but it wasn't to be in Ratoath's second year back in the second highest grade in 2006 when they didn't manage to make it through to the business end of the race for the Mattie McDonnell Cup. Ratoath were drawn in Group B of the Intermediate Championship and it had all the appearances of a difficult and demanding section containing the previous year's beaten finalists Syddan, Nobber and St. Colmcille's, who had both reached the 2005 semi-finals, last year's junior champions St. Michael's, a strong Oldcastle team, improving Rathkenny and Slane, who had struggled to hold onto their intermediate status last year. Tough or what! Donore was Ratoath's first port of call in their bid to make it through to the quarter-finals and they made the desired winning start as they defeated Rathkenny by three points on a 1-10 to 1-7 score line. That represented the ideal start, but the group stages of the championships are a marathon, not a sprint, and there was a long, long way to go. Ratoath could hardly have asked for a tougher second round assignment than against Syddan who had lost to Duleek after a replay in the previous year's final. That match took place at Walterstown and produced Ratoath's heaviest defeat of the championship as Syddan won easily by 1-12 to 0-6. After that loss, the third round clash against St. Colmcille's at Seneschalstown was a match they really wanted to win to avoid any sort of serious slide in form and it represented another very testing assignment because the seasiders had demonstrated that they were an ever improving team in 2005 when they advanced to the semi-finals where they lost to champions to be Duleek. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be for Ratoath as they went under by 0-6 to 1-6, but they did get back on the rails next time out at Skryne when they comfortably saw off Slane's challenge, winning by all of nine points (2-10 to 0-7). There was little between the teams in the first half and Ratoath held a 0-7 to 0-4 interval advantage, by which stage goalkeeper Michael Fogarty had produced a very good save from Colm Wogan, but full-forward Robbie Madden helped himself to a brace of second half goals to point Ratoath firmly in the direction of the winning post. Madden, who finished with a fine personal tally of 2-2, Simon Donnelly, Terry Maher and Fogarty, who also saved a late penalty from Keith Harding, were especially impressive for Ratoath who needed that win to help knock any notions of a possible relegation play-off place on the head. St. Michael's had beaten Navan O'Mahonys' second string in the final to win the Junior Championship in 2005 and they prevented Ratoath from recording back-to-back victories when they won the fifth round meeting of the sides at Seneschalstown by just two points (3-7 to 1-11) as the concession of so many goals proved very damaging for Ratoath. The Carlanstown/Kilbeg combination also held a two-point (2-3 to 1-4) lead at the interval and despite a brilliant performance from former Meath minor Ger McCullagh, who scored six points over the hour, Ratoath couldn't overhaul the deficit. One of the big guns in the intermediate grade, Colm Coyle's Nobber, provided the opposition in the sixth round, again at Seneschalstown, which certainly wasn't a happy hunting ground for Ratoath, and the north county side won by 1-11 to 2-3 to earn their first success of the competition and stay in the hunt for a qualification place. By contrast, Ratoath were out of contention at that stage and Nobber had the two points effectively wrapped up at half-time when they led by 1-7 to 0-2 after county player Brian Farrell had notched 1-3 of the 1-6 he got overall. Ratoath limited Nobber to only four points in the second half and added 2-1 themselves, but the damage had been inflicted in the opening 30 minutes. Kilberry was the venue for Ratoath's last group outing against Oldcastle, who went on to top the section and, while Ratoath trailed by only a point (0-6 to 0-7) at the interval, the side from the north-west of the county edged three points clear by the final whistle (0-12 to 0-9). At the end of the Group B campaign Ratoath were down in seventh position on four points after recording two victories and suffering five defeats. "The main priority was to stay in the Intermediate Championship and in Div. 2 of the League," said Mattie Kerrigan as he reflected on the Ratoath intermediate team's campaign. "It was their first year in Div. 2 of the league and their second year in the IFC. "I think they would have qualified for the quarter-finals but for a horrendous list of injuries which didn't help at all. We were right there in the shake up going into the last three games in the group, but injuries, holidays and lads going away to work, including to Thailand, worked against us. It meant we were down to six or seven of our regular team at that stage. No club can afford to be in that position, not even the big senior clubs like Navan O'Mahonys. "But I would have to say that I was very proud of the players. They played some great stuff, played exceptionally well and were competitive. There was only a kick of the ball in it in some of the games we were beaten in. Looking back on it, we were unlucky in some of those games." It comes as absolutely no surprise that Kerrigan, a man who has seen so much in his long association with the GAA, was highly impressed by what he saw during his stint with this very progressive and forward-thinking club. "With the exception of one of two players they are all local lads," he added. "I have to say I have huge admiration for the club. I was absolutely astonished to see the number of teams they field in football, hurling, ladies' football and camogie. It's a credit to all involved. It's a huge organisation in Ratoath and a massive amount of work goes into it. They have a very hard-working chairman in Andy Fahy. "When you think of the County Board project that is being put in place at Dunganny, here is a club doing much the same thing. They have impressed me enormously." It's an indication of the amount of footballers Ratoath are catering for at adult level alone that they also fielded a team in the Junior C and Junior D Championships, with the Junior D side making it to the semi-finals where they lost by a point to Walterstown. International Feile Over the weekend of the 21st and 22nd April, the Ratoath club were invited to participate in the International Feile Peil in Birmingham. This followed on from a visit by Warwickshire school GAA teams to our clubhouse in 2005. Our panel was Conor Rooney, Conor McGill, Wayne Doyle, Aidan Quigley, Eamonn Wallace, Brian Power, Colm O'Riordan, Bryan McMahon, Jack McGowan, Patrick Flood, Colm McCullagh. Twenty six teams took part in this competition, fifteen from the UK seven from the South and two teams from Co Tyrone. Ratoath were drawn in a group of four, St Michaels A from Blackrock in Cork, St Josephs from Watton Cross in Birmingham, John Mitchell's A also from Birmingham. In the first game Ratoath met St Michael's A and won 3-17 to 2-5. The next game was against Sean McDermott's which Ratoath again won 4-17 to 3-2, followed by another win over St Joseph's 3-17 to 2-3. In day two Ratoath were drawn against Sigerson's from Strabane in Co Tyrone, Sean McDermott's from Birmingham, and Bandon from Co Cork. The game against Sigerson's was won 1-5 to 0-3, and the next game against Sean McDermott's was won 2-6 to 0-3, and the game against Bandon was won 0-16 to 0-2. So Ratoath progressed to the semi-final against St Enda's Omagh, Co Tyrone which they won on a score line of 4-7 to 2-2. In the meantime Sigerson's were in a play off against Ballymun Kickhams Dublin, which Sigersons won. So Ratoath were to meet Sigerson's in the final. The side lines were jammed for his final, which Ratoath won 1-4 to 0-3. At the presentation the Ratoath team, mentors and parents were delighted when Bryan McMahon was announced Player of the Tournament. In total Ratoath scored 18 goals and 89 points. Tweet

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