St. Brigid's aiming to move up the grades
November 30, 2007
Situated in the north west corner of the county, St Brigid's from Ballinacree is one of Meath's smallest GAA clubs but they held their own in their first year back in the junior A grade in 2007, getting to the semi-finals where they lost to eventual winners Clann na nGael.
The St Brigid's club which had Killeagh attached to its title for a number of years was founded in 1962 when Seamus Maguire was the first chairman and over five decades supporters have enjoyed some notable successes.
After threatening to win the JFC in the '80s (a semi-final defeat to eventual outright victors Bellewstown in '86 was the closest they got in those years), they took the title in 1994 with Niall Hennessy the captain of the team which defeated Baconstown in the final.
St Brigid's found the going difficult in the intermediate ranks and were relegated in 1999 when losing a play-off to Moynalty. They took another drop three years later when losing a survival tie to Dunshaughlin's second string.
But the Ballinacree club rebuilt in the junior B grade and after losing the 2005 final to Boardsmill, they went one better the following year with a final victory over Clonard. Meath forward of the '70s, Gerry Farrelly, who was manager of the 1994 winning team was again manager for the 2006 triumph.
Farrelly was hopeful that they could do well on their return to the higher grade and this year he was a selector along with Micheal Browne and Eamon Tuite with Dublin-native David Russell, who lives in the area, the new coach.
This year they had a number of the players who were involved in the Matthew Ginnity Cup success in 1994 when Baconstown were beaten in the final still lining out for the club's first team 13 years down the road. Long-serving stalwarts like Declan Masterson, Eugene Gilsenan, Brendan and Micheal Briody and Tomas Blake continued to wear the blue jerseys.
At the other end of the age scale, younger St Brigid's footballers Rory Geraghty and Killian Kiernan were on the St Oliver's, Oldcastle team which won the All-Ireland vocational schools senior football B title.
The Ballinacree side got off to the best possible start on their return to the JFC when proving too strong for Bective who were defeated by 3-10 to 0-8 at Kells with seven players getting among the scorers for the winners.
It was 0-7 to 0-1 at the break and St Brigid's were well on the way to the win at that stage. Fergal Hennessy, who is also the club secretary, has been impressing in the scoring stakes for a few years and he contributed 1-3 with veteran Tomas Blake putting over four points. At the other end goalkeeper Declan Masterson kept out a penalty kick.
There was a second round setback with a 1-9 to 1-11 defeat to Summerhill in Athboy. After the sides were level at 1-3 to 0-6 at the break, a goal from Willie Milner midway through the second half was a big blow to the side from the north west of the county.
Brendan Gibson was the losers' top performer and Jerome Hussey, Hugh Fanning and Killian Kiernan, who scored the goal, also did well for them.
There was a long break until the third round tussle with Dunsany at Dunganny where St Brigid's got back on the winning trail with a minimum margin (1-9 to 2-5) victory as a converted free by Fergal Hennessy in injury time at the end gave them the spoils.
The men from Ballinacree appeared to be in a bit of bother when trailing by five points (0-1 to 1-3) after 15 minutes but they came more into the game in the second quarter to turn things around and lead by 1-4 to 1-3 at the break.
Killian Kiernan put over three points in the first half before a goal from Brian Briody after 24 minutes and Fergal Hennessy edged them into the lead on the half hour mark.
Although Hennessy and Kiernan increased the advantage on the restart, Dunsany then hit hard with 1-2. Brigid's were forced to get the spades out and dig deep and three points from Hennessy enabled them to snatch the spoils.
St Brigid's overcame a slow start at Bohermeen's John Newman Park to outscore Vincents by 3-11 to 1-9 to move closer to a quarter-final place. They were in arrears by 1-2 to 0-6 at the break with their first goal coming from a Fergal Hennessy penalty late in the opening period.
Hennessy went on to finish the game with a contribution of 2-4 and Tomas Blake came off the bench to also find the net. That win left them closer to the last eight and a 1-10 to 0-11 success over Moynalvey at left them finishing their group on top with eight points out of a possible ten.
Fergal Hennessy again found the net, this time from a 45 metre free which deceived the opposing defence just before the break. The top scorer also put over four points and centre forward A. J. Gilsenan finished up with 0-4.
In a thrilling quarter-final tussle at it took an additional 20 minutes to separate St Brigid's and Drumbaragh. It was 1-12 each at the end of regulation time and the Ballinacree side held a 1-17 to 1-16 lead when the last shrill of the whistle went.
The St Brigid's goal arrived after 14 minutes when Brian Briody's well-taken shot gave his side a 1-3 to 0-3 advantage. It was 1-6 to 0-8 at the first break and after the three points lead was restored in the second half a penalty goal from the Drums sent the tie to extra-time.
In the first of the two additional periods Drumbaragh built up a 1-16 to 1-13 lead but St Brigid's showed their character by sending over four points to clinch their place in the last four. Conor Farrelly, Michael and Brian Briody, Killian Kiernan, Peter Skelly and Fergal Hennessy, who scored nine points were the winners' top performers.
Hennessy continued his fine form in the semi-final against Clann na nGael at Kilskyre when scoring 1-4 but the rest of his colleagues only managed two points and the men from Ballinacree bowed out on a 0-12 to 1-6 scoreline.
St Brigid's began brightly with points from Hennessy and Peter Skelly in the opening couple of minutes but they trailed by 0-3 to 0-5 at the interval. Hennessy helped himself to 1-2 in the third quarter with the goal coming from a penalty to leave his side two points to the good.
After Clann na nGael regained the lead Skelly sent a long-range shot between the uprights to level matters. However, three points from the Athboy side meant the end of the road for St Brigid's despite fine efforts from Hugh Fanning, Philip Tuite, A. J. Gilsenan, Skelly and Hennessy.
St Brigid's were operating in Division 4 of the All County A League and missed out on a final place and promotion as neighbours Moylagh and Moynalvey went up. The Ballinacree side gained 13 points from 10 outings.
They started off with a minimum margin defeat to eventual JFC winners Clann na nGael before losing by three points to Curraha. Those early defeats left them with an uphill battle although they recovered to win six games and draw one.
The league victories were recorded at the expense of Kilmainham, St Vincent's, Dunsany, Moylagh, Drumree and Bective. They suffered another one point defeat, to Kilbride, and shared the spoils with Drumbaragh.
Looking back on the year, St Brigid's PRO and goalkeeper Declan Masterson, who was the netminder for the opening round before being sidelined with a back injury, said: "We did better than expected but we could have done even better, it was a good achievement to get to semi-finals of the JFC and although only losing by three points to eventual winners Clann na nGael, we underperformed in that game.
"Some of the players may have been overawed by the occasion and it was probably too late when they realised they were in a game which could be won. While we have some good young players on the team, some of the older lads did very well this year.
"Micheal Briody had a very good year and Martin Briody, a cousin of Micheal, came on and got some vital scores. Fergal Hennessy is still good for a few scores in every game and he played a big part in the good championship run.
"Of course, we have some good young players as well. Killian Kiernan and Rory Geraghty were on Oldcastle's All-Ireland vocational schools winning team and we have a few other promising underage lads who give us a bit of hope for the future," added Masterson.
The PRO looked back ruefully at the Division 3 A League bid which saw St Brigid's finish in third place and just missing out on promotion. He said Brian Briody was not back from Australia and Peter Skelly was abroad on army duty and missed games in the early rounds.
Masterson praised the contributions of managers Gerry Farrelly and David Russell. "Gerry brought a lot of enthusiasm when he was in charge, he has given great service to the club over the years. It was good to have him as a selector this year when Davy brought a lot of enthusiasm too as well as some new ideas.
"He is staying with us for next year and that is good news. I would be very hopeful that we can have another good year in 2008 and maybe go another step or two further in the JFC," he concluded.
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