A number of teams from Bohermeen parish have won the Meath Junior Football Championship down the decades and St Ultan's were picking up the title for the second time in seven years when becoming the latest recipients of the Matthew Ginnity Cup in October. By Noel Coogan. Martry were winners as far back as 1907 and five times after that, the last success coming in 1964, the year before Bohermeen enjoyed an outright success. In 1993 Cortown took their first step up to the senior grade and they were relegated down to the intermediate ranks the evening before St Ultan's gained promotion back up. After the JFC triumph in 2000 St Ultan's only lasted three years in the higher grade, being relegated at the end of their IFC campaign in 2003.Current county senior boss Colm Coyle was their manager in the first year of the new century when he was also a player. After the three times All-Ireland winner moved on to hold positions with the Meath and Monaghan senior county teams, Ultan's had future Royal County selectors Benny Reddy and Jody Devine in charge before bringing in Sean Kelly from neighbouring Dunderry. The wearers of the green and black jerseys have been among the most fancied sides in the JFC over the last three years and after stumbling against Ratoath and Longwood in the home straight in the two previous attempts, they put in a clear round in 2006, playing ten games and winning them all. Sean Kelly had his first session with St Ultan's on January 6 and team captain Brian Mulroe said the manager showed the players great leadership and set a goal for them to aim at. In his victory speech Mulroe said a decision was taken in January that they were going to win the championship. Sean Kelly had the cousins Ken and Vincent Rennicks as his assistants and Vincent Rennicks was also a selector for the 2000 success. Brian Mulroe, Colm Travers, Shea McLoughlin, Thomas Coyne and Gary Rogers filled starting roles in both finals while Alan Ball and John Bennett, who came on in the second half against Kilmainham. Rogers, who has made a name for himself as a soccer goalkeeper in the Eircom League, minding the nets for Drogheda United, Dublin City and Bray Wanderers, returned to his home club for the closing stages of the JFC and made a major impact. Manager Kelly was full of praise for the contribution of the centre forward, saying "He's a great leader and he young players look up to him, he is a great inspiration and someone like him is badly needed for a club like ours." St Ultan's had no shortage of young players with eight of those who figured in the final 22 years or younger. The one on 22 is Paul Murray who was on the Meath minor team which reached the All-Ireland in 2002 and is the holder of an All-Ireland Colleges SFC medal won with St Patrick's, Navan. Teenage defenders Kieran Lynch and Darren Mallon as well as Gary Gorman, who made an attacking impression after coming on in the last quarter of the final, were members of the St Pat's side which lost narrowly in the Hogan Cup decider last May. In the ten games played St Ultan's finished up with an impressive score difference of plus 73 points. In most of their outings they were as bit too strong for the opposition and in two of them they finished up with winning margins of 26 and 13 points. St Ultan's were one of four teams in their group with the holy word in their title and in the opening round St Mary's, who would end up at the bottom of the table, were well beaten on a 0-12 to 0-3 scoreline. That was one of just two games in which the Bohermeen side failed to find the net. The second game was against Dunsany, a side who have been knocking at the intermediate door for a few years, and a close contest ended 1-11 to 2-5. The previous year's junior B winners, Boardsmill, gave Ultan's a close game, losing by just two points, 1-14 to 2-9. After defeating 2003 junior B victors, St Vincent's, by 2-8 to 0-6 there was a repeat of the 2000 JFC final against Dunboyne in round five. Six years earlier it was 1-11 to 0-6 but the margin was much more comprehensive last summer with Sean Kelly's charges keeping the umpires very busy as they ran up a total of 5-17 while conceding just 0-6. That was followed by another two points game as Moynalvey were edged out on a 1-12 to 2-7 scoreline before the winning run was continued at the expense of Athboy side Clann na nGael who were defeated by 1-12 to 1-9. After seeming to drop down a gear in their last two group ties, St Ultan's clicked up when trouncing Drumbaragh by 13 points, 2-19 to 2-6, in a quarter-final clash. Then in the penultimate round the Bohermeen side gained revenge for the 2005 defeat by Longwood with a 0-13 to 1-7 win putting them back in the final. Although performing a bit below their best on a rainy day, St Ultan's justified final favouritism with a 1-10 to 1-6 victory over neighbours Kilmainham. Apart from a short spell in the first half, the men in green and black were in the lead and held a 1-6 to 1-3 advantage at the break. They had started strongly with four points in the opening eight minutes with three of them coming from frees. Gary Rogers converted the first and then was fouled for Cian Rennicks to double the lead before Colm Travers raised a white flag and Rogers kicked the second of his four points. After going 0-4 to 1-3 behind St Ultan's finished the first half with 1-2 in a decisive four-minute spell. Rennicks pointed his second free and midfielder Kevin Galligan had the sides level. On the half hour corner forward Rennicks netted the goal after taking a pass from Derek O'Brien. Although it took Ultan's 20 minutes to score in the second half, they comfortably held out and while the victory was not spectacular, manager Kelly paid tribute to a fine team effort. "Our backs did very well, our midfield won a fair share of possession but the forwards did not play as well as usual," said the former Dunderry and Meath player. Kelly suggested that the 2007 IFC could be more interesting if St Ultan's are drawn to play against Cortown or Dunderry. Cian Rennicks top scored in the final with 1-3 to bring his total over the ten games to 1-39. Colm Travers, who was the winning captain in 2000, did well with 1-17. The St Ultan's team which won the 2006 JFC was: Neil Burke; Thomas Coyne, Shea McLoughlin, Kieran Lynch; Darren Mallon, Brian Mulroe, Brian Galligan; Kevin Galligan, Paul Murray; Colm Travers, Gary Rogers, Ciaran Rogers; Cian Rennicks, Jason Bennett, Derek O'Brien. Subs - Alan Ball, Gary Gorman, James Brennan, John Bennett, David Ball, Declan Galligan, Kevin Rogers, Ciaran Timmons. It was the first year for Ken Rennicks to be involved as an adult selector with St Ultan's after helping out with St Cuthbert's underage teams for a few years. The outstanding Meath forward of the '70s feels that football is on the way back in the area. "There are a number of very good young footballers there, a lot of hard work has been done but there is more to be done," he said Liam Brady who has been involved with so many teams over the years is also very hopeful for the future. "For a last number of years we have been looking up at neighbours Cortown and Dunderry and it is great that we will be standing shoulder to shoulder with them next year. With so many good young players on the winning junior team and a few more on the way up, I'd be full of hope that we can do very well in the intermediate grade," he said. Brady remarked that 2009 will be the centenary of Bohermeen's first SFC title triumph and they went on to win six in successive years and also in 1917. He feels it would be fitting to see St Ultan's climb up another rung to coincide with the hundredth anniversary. The captain of that famous Bohermeen team was John Newman and the local park named in honour of him hosted a senior football match between Meath and Cavan on Easter Monday last. The challenge game was held to mark the official opening of impressive facilities which have been developed at the Allenstown venue over the last few years. Liam Brady described the completion of the development as a dream come true and the facilities include a two-tier clubhouse with a viewing balcony on top, a splendid playing pitch, a new entrance and scoreboard. The venue has hosted a number of SFC games over the last three summers. St Ultan's are in the happy position of having two pitches for training and matches. Most of the adult training takes place at Coogan Park in Martry with Newman Park used a lot for underage activities. Back in the '70s there were hopes that the SFC title might return to the parish. Now perhaps St Ultan's will take some inspiration from the remarkable rise of neighbours Wolfe Tones and get up to the elite group. It's not an impossible dream! Tweet

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