There were plenty of red and black flags around Carlanstown and Kilbeg in the autumn of 2005 when the St. Michael's men won the Junior Football Championship and there was a fair amount of colour this year too as the club's ladies scored a thoroughly merited victory in their JFC. St. Michael's were a major force in the ladies' game in the past and on the evidence of their runaway final victory over a gallant Wolfe Tones team at Simonstown in early September, they could well be set to steadily climb back up to the top once more. This was a tremendous success because it was their first year back competing in ladies' football. They were coached by Mullagh man Peter Murtagh, who clearly had them in tip top shape, and the selectors were Gerry Kealy and Christy Regan who also played a big role in the triumph. Two figures stand out from the final statistics - a fantastic winning tally of 3-21 and a phenomenal personal contribution of 1-13 from Gillian Bennett, the former county star who had won a Senior Championship medal with Seneschalstown last year. Gillian, who had played with St. Michael's previously, has amassed some wonderful scoring tallies down the years and this was another to go with the collection. Wolfe Tones have to be given great credit for the way they battled until the very end, despite the gravity of the situation they found themselves in against a strong and very well-prepared St. Michael's team which had 21 points to spare at the final whistle (3-21 to 2-3). While Bennett stood out with that amazing scoring salvo, this was very much a team effort from a very fit St. Michael's side, though they were in for an early setback. Bennett and Aisling Regan had given them a good start with early points, but Wolfe Tones were soon in front as a collision in the winners' defence allowed Aisling Whelan in for a goal. However, with Bennett proving to be an awesome influence St. Michael's soon took a firm grip on the final. The brilliant centre half-forward slotted over three points in quick succession and the Carlanstown/Kilbeg combination were well on their way to the title when she set up Fiona Nevin for a superb goal in the 12th minute. That left them ahead by 1-5 to 1-0 and by the time the whistle sounded for the interval the advantage had increased to 2-11 to 1-2 after Bennett had continued to tag on the points and also scored a cracking goal after being put through by Elaine Lynch. It didn't get any better for Wolfe Tones on the restart when Megan O'Brien scored St. Michael's third goal, but the losers battled away and got some reward when county goalkeeper Irene Munnelly, who lined out at midfield, scored a magnificent long-range goal. But with Bennett continuing to hit the target with regularity as the game drew to a close it was simply a matter of how much St. Michael's would win by. When referee Tom Lorton sounded the final whistle there were scenes of jubilation and then captain Aisling Regan received the cup from Ladies' County Board chairman David Dempsey. Party time had arrived and rightly so after the great effort that went into winning the title. The St. Michael's team in the final was - D. Lynch; M. Rogers, R. Gilsenan, S. McCormack; L. Lynch, M. Clinton, M. Smith; L. Keenan (0-3), E. Lynch; M. O'Brien (1-0), G. Bennett (1-13), F. Nevin (1-1); L. Lynch (0-1), H. Finnegan (0-1), A. Regan (0-1). Subs - M. Carr (0-1) for Finnegan, S. Mooney for L. Lynch, C. Stafford for Nevin, T. O'Brien for Rogers, A. Gargan for Smith. MEN FAIL TO SPARKLE St. Michael's still haven't managed to taste knockout football since they returned to the Intermediate Championship, though they must have entertained realistic hopes this year when they went into their last group match against St. Ultan's occupying third place in their section and with everything to play for. However, the Carlanstown/Kilbeg combination performed poorly in that particular game as St. Ultan's beat them decisively to jump from bottom of the five-team section up to third and maintain their interest in the competition. It hasn't exactly happened for St. Michael's in the intermediate grade since they won the Junior Championship in 2005, though of most importance has been the fact that they have consolidated their position in the middle grade which is vital with the future in mind. Last year they finished sixth in their group when the divisions were run off on the marathon eight-team format after they had won twice and lost five times for a points total of four. Of course, they did manage to get their hands on some silverware in the shape of the A League Div. 4 trophy after a final victory over St. Mary's and that gave them the opportunity to play their league football against better quality opposition in 2007. It was good to see that they more than held their own in the higher section, finishing well up the order. Again, consolidation was important there. Kells-based Garda John Mulvany was their coach this year and the selectors were Gerry Hennessy, Jimmy Farrelly and John Moran. They were drawn in Group C of the Intermediate Championship, a section that looked quite demanding, as it included the previous year's impressive Junior Championship winners St. Ultan's, the 2006 SFC relegated side Cortown, Carnaross and Donaghmore/Ashbourne. From a look at that line-up it was clear that St. Michael's would have their work cut out to make it through to the business end of the title race, which was their primary goal. They didn't manage it, which was a disappointment, though it has to be appreciated that they were badly hit by injuries to key players like Peter Clinton, who had a spell on the county senior panel during Eamonn Barry's year at the helm, John Farrell and Derek Flood. Having to plan without players of that quality puts serious demands on your resources. First up when the championship action commenced in mid-April were Carnaross at Rathkenny and St. Michael's got off to a satisfactory start when a good second half performance enabled them to emerge with a share of the spoils as it ended on 1-10 each. Daithi Regan's goal enabled St. Michael's to stay in touch in the first half, but they still trailed by 1-3 to 1-7 at the break and clearly had it all to do. However, they upped the tempo in the second period when they were the dominant team and did well to hold a strong Carnaross attack to just three additional points. Ciaran Lynch was in superb form as St. Michael's set about trying to salvage something from the game and they gradually worked their way into the deficit, before Regan slotted over a late point to secure a draw. Cortown's decade in the top flight had come to an end the previous autumn when Kilmainhamwood defeated them in the relegation play-off and they provided the second round opposition at Kells shortly after they had made the desired start to life back in the intermediate grade with a win over parish rivals St. Ultan's. Lynch was again very much to the fore as St. Michael's gave their qualification push a major boost with a minimum margin (2-8 to 1-10) win. John Barry O'Reilly and Lynch scored the vital goals and the winners led by 1-3 to 0-4 at the break. Unfortunately, that was as good as it got for St. Michael's who failed to build on a progressive start to the championship and they were decisively beaten by Donaghmore/Ashbourne (1-8 to 2-12) when the sides clashed in the third round of group matches at Walterstown. Despite that setback they were still in the running for a qualification position as they prepared for that crunch final round assignment against St. Ultan's at Kells on the second Saturday of September. By that stage Carnaross topped the division on five points, having completed their group programme, Donaghmore/Ashbourne had four, St. Michael's had three and Cortown and St. Ultan's both had two, so it was certainly all to play for. However, St. Michael's never quite managed to get moving with sufficient fluency against St. Ultan's, struggled for scores and were beaten by 0-4 to 1-6 after trailing by 0-2 to 1-3 at the interval. A paltry tally of only two points in each half was never going to be enough to prolong their interest in the championship, while a positive side of their performance was the good showing of the defence. When all was said and done in Group C, Donaghmore/Ashbourne finished on top of the pile with six points from their four outings and qualified for the last eight along with runners-up Carnaross who had five. St. Ultan's had moved up to the preliminary quarter-final position on four points, ahead of St. Michael's on three and Cortown on two. A campaign that had started promisingly when they secured three points out of four in their opening two matches fizzled out rather tamely for St. Michael's and they can only hope that 2008 brings something better. A clean bill of health on the injury front would help. Carlanstown NS take Boys 2007 Division 4 spoils Carlanstown proved too strong for Baconstown in this Boys Division 4 Cumann na mBunscol decider as they ran out 5-14 to 2-4 winners on a wet November's day in Pairc Tailteann. Joshua Devine opened the scoring with a point for Baconstown. But subsequently the Baconstown defence found the Carlanstown trio of Peter O'Connell, Oran Meehan and Ronan Lynch too difficult to handle, with Lynch scoring 2-3, Meehan 1-1 and Raymond Reilly also found the net for a good goal. Mark Slevin, Joshua Devine and Paul Kennedy pointed for Baconstown before the break to leave Carlanstown in front 4-4 to 0-4. Baconstown did not relent in the second period but they simply had no answer to the Carlanstown trio who had 1-5 from Ronan Lynch, 0-1 from Oran Meehan and 0-3 from Peter O'Connell. Joshua Devine and Oisín Dixon came back with two consolation goals for Baconstown but substitute Michael had the last say with a point for Carlanstown, leaving them deserving winners. Best for Carlanstown; Lee Morris, Peter O'Connell, Oran Meehan, Ronan Lynch, and Jordan Moran. While Baconstown had good displays from Mark O'Sullivan, Paul Kernnedy, Joshua Devine and Ben Caldwell. Carlanstown - P. Maguire, L. Morris, O. McKevitt, C. Drew, J. Moran, R. O'Brien, P. O'Connell (Capt 0-3), Michelle Reilly; Luke Moran, Oran Meehan (1-2), Raymond Reilly (1-0); Robert Sheridan, Ronal Lynch (3-8). Subs - M. Fitzsimons (0-1) for L. Moran, C. Greene for L. Morris, M. Downey for R. Reilly. Tweet

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