As St. Ultan's review their first campaign back in the intermediate ranks they can certainly take encouragement for the years ahead as they aim to make that giant step up to play with the big boys in the Senior Football Championship. By Paul Clarke. They didn't collect any silverware in 2007, but they recovered from a bad start to reach the knockout stages of the Intermediate Championship and were consistent enough in the A League Division 3 to reach the final where they lost to new intermediate kingpins Donaghmore/Ashbourne and gained promotion in the process. All in all, not a bad year by any means. St. Ultan's, who were then coached by Sean Kelly, were fully deserving winners of the Junior Championship last year and it was always likely that it would take a while for them to settle in at the higher level. Kelly didn't stay on in the hot seat and was replaced by former Bective and Nobber player Davy Cahill. Among his selectors was Ken Rennicks, a wonderful footballer who won an All-Star award in 1975 after helping Meath to their memorable National League success. He was joined by cousin Vincent Rennicks. When the championship draws were made earlier in the year one pairing above all others stood out - a first round clash between Bohermeen parish rivals St. Ultan's and Cortown in group C. Also in that section were St. Michael's, Carnaross and champions to be Donaghmore/Ashbourne. And it was that intriguing clash of St. Ultan's and Cortown that got the championship action under way on a Saturday evening in Athboy last April where Cortown, who had been relegated from the senior ranks the previous autumn, turned in a strong second half performance to win by 1-7 to 0-8. But for much of the opening period St. Ultan's looked like a team that was taking to intermediate football like a duck to water. They played with tremendous fluency and pace and with Paul Murray and Kevin Galligan enjoying the better of the midfield exchanges only one outcome looked likely. They pushed into a five-point lead and held Cortown scoreless in the opening 29 minutes, but they also kicked a succession of wides which proved costly in the end. Their parish neighbours gradually warmed to the task and improved as the period progressed, but St. Ultan's still enjoyed a reasonably healthy 0-6 to 0-1 lead at the interval, by which stage Cian Rennicks had gone close to goaling. However, Cortown were a transformed team in the second half and by the time St. Ultan's had Tommy Coyne harshly sent off 11 minutes into the period the deficit had been reduced to two points. When the impressive Gordon Codd netted at the end of the third quarter the sides were level and they were still tied at 0-8 to 1-5 later in the half. Cortown sensed victory in the air and what better way to start life back in the intermediate ranks that with a win over the neighbours. With Glen Loughran a towering influence around midfield in the second half they looked capable of making a successful recovery and they notched the final two points to shade the verdict. Few could have predicted how troubled their championship campaign would become after that, while St. Ultans would bounce back in style. St. Ultan's had to wait approximately 10 weeks for their second championship outing and another narrow defeat followed against Donaghmore/Ashbourne at Walterstown which put a real dent in their prospects of making it through to the knockout stages. A fisted goal from Paul Murray helped them to lead by 1-2 to 0-4 at the end of a tight first half and the sides were level at the three-quarter stage. However, the crucial score of the second period was Donaghmore/Ashbourne's 49th minute goal which helped them to push four points clear. St. Ultan's had switched Alan Ball from goals to the attack and his brace of points helped them to cut the gap to the minimum. However, even though five minutes of injury time was played they just couldn't get an equaliser and were behind by 1-6 to 1-7 when the final whistle sounded. The third round meeting with Carnaross looked like a very tricky assignment against the group leaders and it also represented a must win game for St. Ultan's if they wanted to stay in the hunt for knockout football. And how they responded to the challenge as they recovered from a very shaky start to win by 3-12 to 2-8 at Kilmainhamwood. A third successive defeat looked to be on the cards when Carnaross pushed into a 1-6 to 0-2 advantage midway through the first half, but St. Ultan's knew the seriousness of the situation and hit back commendably to trail by the minimum at the break (0-8 to 1-6). They made a blistering start to the second period when Gary Gorman and Cian Rennicks both scored goals and when Paul Murray notched their third goal there was no doubt about the outcome. There was still time for goalkeeper Neil Burke to deprive Carnaross of a second goal when he saved a late penalty. That victory revived their chances of emerging from the group and as they headed for Kells to meet St. Michael's in the last round of divisional matches all involved had one thing on their minds - another win. And they got it in a very low scoring match when they won by 1-6 to 0-4 to secure a place in the preliminary quarter-final against St. Colmcille's. A first half goal from Cian Rennicks helped them to a 1-3 to 0-2 interval lead and they defended very well in the second period to again limit St. Michael's to a couple of points and comfortably book their passage. A Gary Gorman goal after eight minutes set the right tone against St. Colmcille's at Pairc Tailteann and with Cian Rennicks and Jason Bennett also raising green flags in the first half St. Ultan's raced into a commanding 3-5 to 0-2 lead at the break. They could afford the luxury of 12 wides over the hour and were still 11 points (3-8 to 0-6) clear at the end. However, that was as good as it got in the championship as a Brian Farrell-inspired Nobber eliminated St. Ultan's at the quarter-final stage, also at Pairc Tailteann. Yet, it had looked good when they moved into a wind-assisted 0-9 to 0-4 lead during the first half, before things started to go wrong. It might have been a bigger lead, but Cian Rennicks had a goal chance well saved. An error gifted a goal to Farrell close to the break and that helped Nobber to recover and lead by 1-7 to 0-9 at the change of ends. The Nobber lead extended to 1-13 to 0-11 early in the final quarter as Farrell continued to add to his overall tally of 1-8, but St. Ultan's cut the gap to a goal. However, Nobber got the last two points in injury time to win by 1-15 to 0-13 and St. Ultan's were out. PROMOTION BUT FINAL DEFEAT Their consistency in the A League earned St. Ultan's promotion and a place in the Division 3 final against Donaghmore/Ashbourne who were surely still on a high following their victory over Castletown in the IFC final. The league decider took place under lights at Skryne in late October and there was disappointment for St. Ultan's as they lost by 0-8 to 1-7. Donaghmore/Ashbourne didn't reach the heights of their championship final form, but they still did enough to complete the double. Shay McLoughlin didn't start because he was late arriving due to work commitments, but he was introduced during the second half. St. Ultan's had trailed by 0-5 to 1-3 at the interval, by which stage Donaghmore/Ashbourne's John Broderick had scored the only goal of the match after 11 minutes. A feature of the first half was a superbly worked point by Paul Murray which helped St. Ultan's to be the minimum behind at the change of ends, while Gary Gorman and Cian Rennicks, with two each, completed their scoring in that period. The teams were level twice in the third quarter, but the fact that St. Ultan's managed only three second half scores was significant to the outcome as Donaghmore/Ashbourne finished strongest thanks to their championship fitness to be two points clear at the end. Gorman was the losers' top scorer with four points. The St. Ultan's team in the league final was - N. Burke; T. Coyne, D. Galligan, B. Mulroe; G. Rennicks, D. O'Brien, B. Galligan; P. Murray (0-1), K. Galligan; D. McLoughlin, D. Mallon, K. Rogers (0-1); C. Rennicks (0-2), J. Bennett, G. Gorman (0-4). Subs - A. Ball for Murray, S. McLoughlin for Brady. MORE FINAL DISAPPOINTMENT There was also final disappointment for the club's second string as they lost to a strong Ratoath team in the Junior C Championship decider which took place at Seneschalstown, but advancing to that stage of the competition certainly represented a fine achievement. After negotiating the group stages St. Ultan's scored a runaway 3-13 to 0-8 victory over Blackhall Gaels in the quarter-final and then defeated Oldcastle by 2-9 to 1-8 at the semi-final stage to set up the meeting with Ratoath in the decider. Goals have a habit of winning games and the fact that Ratoath scored three and St. Ultan's didn't get any sums it all up. However, the outcome was in the balance until the very late stages when Ratoath found the net twice to secure the title. The reality was that St. Ultan's missed too many chances. Alan Rogers played very well at midfield, but they lacked the potency in attack to deliver a winning performance. Ratoath opened up a 1-1 to 0-0 lead in the opening two minutes, but Ultan's drew level at 0-5 to 1-2 thanks to points from Daryl McLoughlin, Paddy McLoughlin, Alan Rogers, Kevin Rogers and Ger Brennan. Ratoath were marginally in front at the interval (1-3 to 0-5) and a key moment followed seven minutes into the second period when they missed a very good goal chance for St. Ultan's after former Dublin goalkeeper Davy Byrne had kicked out poorly. Paddy McLoughlin was then wide from a close range free and with St. Ultan's enduring a 20-minute barren spell without a score they were in obvious danger. However, they were still only the minimum adrift (0-8 to 1-6) by the 58th minute, but it was then that things began to really turn against them as Ratoath struck with those two late goals to secure a 3-6 to 0-9 victory. The St. Ultan's team in the Junior C final was - C. Brady; B. Brady, K. Finnegan, M. Gorman; B. Clarke, C. Timmons, S. Mulroe; A. Rogers (0-1), J. Brennan; D. McLoughlin (0-1), K. Rogers (0-2), P. McLoughlin (0-1); S. Martin (0-1), C. Murray, G. Brennan (0-1). Subs - C. Martin for Clarke, N. Galligan for C. Martin, S. Quirke (0-2) for P. McLoughlin, C. Smith for S. Martin. Tweet

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