As the club continued to struggle with falling playing numbers, Bellewstown GFC endured another difficult year in both the Junior B Football championship and the Division 5 FL, but the Gaels of the club continue to work at the coalface. Before the club was formed in 1966 players from the area played with St Vincent's and enjoyed some success notable success. St Vincent's won the Keegan Cup in 1955, barely six years after the club was formed beating Kells Harps by 1-12 to 2-3 in the final at Pairc Tailteann on Sunday, October 23. In the curtain-raiser that day Duleek beat Slane in the Intermediate Football Final. St Vincent's reached another SFC in 1963, when they lost heavily (4-6 to 1-2) to Navan O'Mahonys on the last Sunday of August at a wet Pairc Tailteann. The high point of Bellewstown's recent 41 year history came in October 1986 when they defeated Simonstown Gaels by 0-5 to 0-4 in the JFC decider at Kells. Pairc Tailteann was out of commission at the time for development and the north county venue hosted major football occasions until the Navan venue was reopened in the summer of 1988. The Bellewstown team that lifted the Matthew Ginnity Cup that autumn day was - Michael Boyle; Noel Howard, Gerry Moore, P. J. Cudden; Robert Power, Hugh Calvey, Pat McHugh; Martin Flynn (0-1), Ray Nulty; Richard Dunne, David Whearty (0-1), Peter Collins (captain) (0-1); Pat Joyce (0-2), Martin McEntaggart, Stephen Mills. Subs - Jim Brannigan for Mills, David Power for McHugh. Bellewstown trailed by two points in the early stages before skipper Collins opened their account from a free in the 14th minute. Pat Joyce levelled matters from a free shortly after. Midfielder Flynn had the east county side in front in the 19th minute. He was the most decorated Bellewstown player at the time as he was part of the Meath panel that won the O'Byrne Cup in 1983, the first trophy won by the county under Sean Boylan and the team that beat Longford in the final was captained by Mick Downes, who won seven Meath SFC titles with Navan O'Mahonys as a player and guided the club to two SFC finals appearance, this year and last. The poor playing conditions had a lot to do with the scarcity of scores in the 1986 JFC decider and the sides were deadlocked at 0-3 each at the break. David Whearty and Pat Joyce pointed for Bellewstown in the third quarter and though they didn't add to their tally before the end they limited Simonstown to a single second-half score, a pointed free from Anthony 'Les' McAuley in the 48th minute. Overall it was the display of Ray Nulty at midfield that proved decisive for Bellewstown while corner-back P. J. Cudden also impressed. Gerry McHugh, Hugh Calvey and Pat McHugh were also prominent for the winners One of corner-backs for Simonstown that day was Phillip Ward, father of Wolfe Tones star Cian, while at midfield was Jim Lane, later club chairman, whose son Keith lined in goals for O'Mahonys in the 2002 IFC final and 2007 SFC final. Earlier in October 1986, Ward was on the O'Mahonys team that retained the county senior hurling title with victory over Trim. The following year Bellewstown won the Division 4 FL, but nothing since then. Since those heady days for small east county club the contrast in the fortunes between themselves and Simonstown is stark. The north Navan club won the Junior A title in 1990 and claimed intermediate honours in 1995, though a first senior title still awaits them. They have also gained Division 1 FL honours in 2005 and the Division 2 FL title this year. In contrast Bellewstown struggle in the Junior B ranks where they managed just one win, over Seneschalstown's second string in this year's championship. Bellewstown have been beset by defections in recent years and that is a killer for any club when you see players that you worked tirelessly to help develop move on. A player like Mark Collins appears to be the exception. Collins was on the county minor football panel this year and is eligible for the grade next year. The Bellewstown teenager was introduced as a substitute in Meath's Leinster MFC opener against Dublin at Parnell Park back in April. However there was little he could do to prevent the Royal County lads losing by 2-11 to 1-7. There was a second chance for Paddy Carr's charges but Carlow proved too good for them at Dr Cullen Park as Meath lost their grip on the provincial crown won the previous summer for the first time since 1993. Bellewstown have been operating in the Junior B ranks since being demoted from the Junior A ranks at the end of 2002, the same year that the club was relegated to Division 5 of the All County Leagues. Unfortunately, since being demoted to the lowest division in the league, Bellewstown haven't managed to make much of an impression. Only Clonard finished lower than them in 2003 after a campaign that produced just one win. Things were a little better in 2004 and 2005 when some discernable improvement was made, but Bellewstown still didn't manage to make the top of half of the table. Last year, only now defunct Killallon finished below them. That didn't augur well for this league campaign and so it proved. A walk-over from St Paul's was only one of two wins earned by George Clarke's charges and the Clonee side were the only team to finish lower than them in the table. The championship draw pitted Bellewstown in Group B of the Junior B Football Championship alongside, Walterstown, Blackhall Gaels and Seneschalstown's second string side as well as Moynalty, who lost their Junior A status at the end of 2004. A 1-14 to 0-9 loss to Blackhall Gaels was Bellewstown's lot in the opening round. But there was a controversial outcome to their second round game against Moynalty at Simonstown. The official scoreline was Moynalty 0-10, Bellewstown 1-6. However, the Bellewstown contingent were adamant that the referee made a mistake in totalling the score, awarding a point to their opponents instead of to them. There was a much more pleasing outcome in the third round for Bellewstown, a 1-15 to 0-10 win over Seneschalstown's second string side. However, it proved to be their only win of the campaign. Football may be a low ebb in Bellewstown at the minute but those involved in the club will continue to carry the torch for GAA in the area. Tweet

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