They say second place is never remembered. An exception is definitely made for the St Pats team of 2006. So much can be taken from St. Patrick's Classical school quest for glory. They reminded us of the Meath teams of old by showing a fighting spirit, keen eye for goal and a tenacious way of defending. Although many of the young students involved in this will be disappointed with the final outcome they can look back and be proud of a remarkable and absorbing journey. By Marcus Brenann With three All-Ireland victories under his belt manager Colm O'Rourke has already achieved a huge amount in his time as the school's football manager. Despite this year's final loss, he will still be proud of this group of players as they showed an enormous will to win, passion and drive - something that is lacking in many inter-county teams right now. Rarely does a team built on so much character lose in a final but this was the unfortunate scenario that occurred on 1st of May 2006. Good times lie ahead for many of these players as they showed top class ability throughout the year and like many of their predecessors we are sure to see a few from this team wearing the green and gold of Meath in the years ahead. St Pats started off their campaign with a one-point victory over Carlow Schools. Leading by five at the break it looked like the Meath School was on its way to an easy victory but a dogged Carlow outfit was hard to shake off and St Pats needed a late point from Shane O'Rourke to scrape past by the minimum of margins. O'Rourke took the scoring plaudits with 1-6 on the day while the defence was kept together with an excellent performance from Shane Carr. It was plain sailing for St. Pats in the second round as they comprehensively beat Marist of Athlone on a score of 3-14 to 0-1. Goals in the first half from Sean Keating, Darren Mallon and Brian Sheridan left Pats leading by 3-9 to no score at the break. This gave manager Colm O'Rourke the chance to rest some players and have a look at his squad in the second half. Brian Sheridan finished top scorer on the day with 1-3 but was followed closely by a group of players. Sean Keating 1-2, Darren Mallon 1-1 and Shane O'Rourke 0-3 Round 3 was in complete contrast with the previous round as St. Pats scraped through with one point to spare against their Mullingar opponents Colaiste Mhuire. Once again they were involved in a tight finish but the Navan side was starting to show their character in these tight matches. The rearguard of Pats stood firm near the end to ensure their place in the semi-final. Brian Sheridan's brace of points in the final quarter epitomized the talent of this team. Kevin Reilly chipped in with three crucial points on the day. Cusack Park was the next stop for O'Rourke's men. An inspired Mark McCabe proved too hot to handle for Athlone Community College as he led the way with 1-3. A bright opening saw the Meath lads leading by 1-4 to 0-1 after 16 minutes. Athlone worked their way back into the game but a strong finish and some expertly taken scores from Gary Gorman and Shane O'Rourke meant that the Navan School was in its sixth provincial final in seven years. The final scoreline was 1-12 to 1-9. Good Counsel from Wexford stood between St. Pats and their seventh Leinster title. A display full of energy, superb attacking play and good footballing skills ensured that the team in amber and black had lifted their fifth provincial title since 1997. It looked like the Pats boys were set to go into the break a goal behind after Good Counsel found the net in the 29th minute. But like so many of their previous games they reacted in fine style with Sean Keating pouncing on a breaking ball and firing to the net just on the stroke of half time. Colm O'Rourke's words of encouragement at half time found the right response from his troops as St. Pats moved up a gear. They went out in the second half with a spring in their step and within two minutes of the restart they had another goal courtesy of Ross Geraghty after he reacted quickest to a knock down from Mark McCabe. From then on Good Counsel had no reply to the superb football played by their counterparts. Sean Conaty and Shane Carr performed exceptionally for the Pat's rearguard while the busy Ross Geraghty covered every blade of grass in Newbridge on the day. Brian Sheridan finished with five points - three of which came from open play - but while all these individual performances were top-notch the Pats boys showed a superb sense of work rate for each other and played as a team throughout. Proud father Colm O'Rourke looked on as son Shane lifted the Leinster trophy. St. Mary's from Galway now stood in the way of Pats and their appearance in the All-Ireland final. They arrived in Longford with a big reputation having won the Connacht championship three times in a row. This meant nothing to the Navan boys as they steamed into a lead in the first half with the aid of the breeze. First half scores from Stephen Moran and Brian Sheridan ensured St. Pats were leading by nine points at the half way mark. This lead wasn't relinquished throughout the 60 minutes. Some excellent performances from David Donegan and Sean Conaty meant that St. Pats would proceed to the final. A sense of purpose and determination was evident on the day. All players worked hard for each other as backs supported players going forward and the likes of Garry Gorman and Colin Clarke worked tigerishly throughout. The final score finished 2-15 to 0-11 with Shane O'Rourke finishing top scorer on the day with six points. St. Pats just fell short of All-Ireland success as Abbey CBS Newry captured the Hogan Cup after a breathtaking match that had all the thrills of a roller coaster ride. It took 20 minutes of extra time to separate the two. St. Pats started off the brightest and took an early lead. Inside forwards Sean Keating and Brian Sheridan were wreaking havoc as they kicked score after score. At the end of the half they lead by a scoreline of 0-9 to 1-2. The second half transpired into a classic as both teams raised their game. Like a boxing match both teams traded blow for blow until Mark McCabe was moved into full forward and rose highest to flick a long ball to the net on 51 minutes. Some excellent scores from Brian Sheridan and Stephen Moran kept them in front as Abbey started to hit back. Up until then Pats goalkeeper Paddy O'Rourke hadn't much to do but the Skryne man showed his talent as he pulled off some top class saves, one of them being a fine double block that undoubtedly kept Pats in the lead. Unfortunately O'Rourke could do nothing about Kevin Dyas' goal in the dying moments of the match that sent the tie into extra time. Keating coolly netted Pats second goal at the start of extra time that seemed to put his side in the driving seat. However, Newry worked their way back into the match with some excellent scores as many of the Pats players went down with cramp due to their superb work rate throughout the match. The defence was superb coming up to the end of extra time but unfortunately for these lads they just couldn't hold on. They might not have taken the ultimate prize but they will be remembered as a team built on spirit and skill. They brought the town of Navan and surrounding areas on a journey that didn't seem possible at the start of the year. Although they will feel disheartened about the final result these players can hold their head high as many have great futures ahead of them. The St. Patrick's team that played in the All-Ireland colleges final was: P O'Rourke; S Conaty, D Maguire, K Lynch; D Donegan, S Carr, M McKeever; S O'Rourke 0-3, C Clarke; R Geraghty, M McCabe 1-0, G Gorman 0-1; D Mallon, S Keating 1-4, B Sheridan 0-3. Subs: R McCabe, K Reilly, S Mourne, F O'Reilly, J Flynn Tweet

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