Under 14s steal the show
April 30, 2010In a year when Coralstown/Kinnegad performed impressively at all levels, their under 14 team stole the show by winning the Feile na nOg and championship crowns.
It could very easily have turned out to be the Meath-border club's most successful year ever as they contested no fewer than four championship finals at underage level and also reached the semi-finals of the senior and junior championships.
While the under 14s got the better of Mullingar Shamrocks in their championship decider and the under 12s went through the year unbeaten, the under 16s, minors and under 21s all experienced disappointment in their respective finals. The under 16s lost to St. Malachy's/Ballinagore; the minor were beaten by Maryland/Tang, while the under 21s succumbed to Bunbrosna in their 13-a-side decider.
Under the guidance of Meath legend Colm Coyle, Coralstown/Kinnegad's flagship senior team showed a big improvement on recent years when they reached the last-four of the Flanagan Cup, only to lose to St. Loman's. And the juniors also went to the county semi-final where they were beaten by champions-elect Caulry.
"With a bit of luck, we could have won four or five championships between all the grades, but I'm more than happy with what we achieved at under 14 level," says Alan Woods, who managed the under 14s along with Mark Toner and John Fitzsimons.
"We won the Feile and the under 14 'premier' championship, both of which were for firsts for the club. The only regret I would have is that we didn't win an All-Ireland Feile title, but it was a great year overall.
"Mark and I have been coaching these lads since they were under 8, and with the way the structures are in Westmeath, it was the first crack we got at winning silverware. We had shown a lot of promise at under 10 and under 12 level, and I'm delighted the lads delivered on that last year."
Since moving with his young family from Ballyfermot to Kinnegad a number of years ago, Alan has immersed himself in the local GAA scene and his two daughters Kayleigh and Lauren were members of the club's girls under 14 team that also tasted championship glory last year. His fellow mentors Mark Toner and John Fitzsimons had sons, Evan and Shane, on the all-conquering under 14 boys team.
The first title to come Coralstown/Kinnegad's way in 2009 was the Feile na nOg. The Meath-border club made history by winning the title for the first time by hammering Athlone on a 3-13 to 2-1 scoreline at Cusack Park in April.
In what was a completely one-sided affair, Coralstown/Kinnegad ran their opponents ragged and could even afford the luxury of kicking 19 wides. With team captain Aaron Glynn and Dylan Cooney on top at midfield, the winners never looked back after Shane Fitzsimons' 11th minute goal. Eoin Maxwell also netted in the opening half to give the red and whites a commanding 2-4 to 0-1 interval lead.
Whatever hopes Athlone had of making a comeback in the second half were dashed when Darren Giles scored Coralstown/Kinnegad's third goal straight from the throw-in. The winners tagged on six more unanswered points before Jack Quinn and Aidan Byrne got in for late consolation goals for the Shannonsiders.
By winning the Feile, Coralstown/Kinnegad had the honour of representing Westmeath in the All-Ireland competition in Kildare. They were odds-on to win Division 4 after blitzing host clubs Kilcullen and Celbridge as well as Sligo outfit Castleconnor in the round-robin series, but a shock semi-final defeat to De La Salle of Waterford left them down and out.
"We were bitterly disappointed not to win Division 4," Alan ruefully reflects.
"After scoring 97 points and conceding just 11 in our first three games, people were saying we were too strong for that division and should have been in Division 2. But we got a big surprise in the semi-final when De La Salle beat us in controversial circumstances.
"We missed a penalty and hit the post three times. Nine times out of 10, we would beat them, but unfortunately we didn't do it when it mattered."
Coralstown/Kinnegad put that disappointment behind them to claim the under 14 championship at Mullingar Shamrocks' expense in October. The red and whites reached the final on the back of a nine-match qualifying campaign and just as they did in the Feile na nOg semi-final, they beat their Mullingar rivals by 4-5 to 3-4 at Cusack Park to land their second piece of silverware.
On a wet and blustery afternoon, Coralstown/Kinnegad were dealt an early blow when Darren Keena's free for Mullingar Shamrocks sailed all the way over the head of 'keeper Chris Doyle and into the net. But despite this setback and the fact that they were playing against the elements, Coralstown/Kinnegad battled back to lead by 1-3 to 1-2 at the break with their goal coming from Aaron Glynn after 23 minutes.
The Kinnegad boys took the game by the scruff of the neck after the restart and extended their lead to 3-4 to 1-2 midway through the second half thanks to further goals from Dylan Cooney and Glynn. But Shamrocks refused to throw in the towel and after clawing back two points, they hit two goals to level proceedings with time almost up.
However, Kinnegad weren't about to settle for extra-time and after Jamie Greville restored their lead, a speculative shot from Shane Fitzsimons went all the way to the Mullingar net.
Despite 11 of the panel of 28 being eligible for the under 14 grade again this year, Woods and his fellow mentors have decided to move up to manage the under 16s.
"We're moving up with the bulk of the lads," he explains.
"We'd like to stay with these lads for another few years because they're still a work in progress. It would be expecting an awful lot of them to win an under 16 championship this year, but next year they should be good enough. We had seven of them on the county under 14 panel last year, so that gives you an idea of how good they are."
The appointment of former Meath player and manager Colm Coyle placed the spotlight firmly on Coralstown/Kinnegad in last year's senior championship. And while high-profile managers don't always guarantee success, Coyle can look back on his first year at the helm with a degree of satisfaction.
"We may not have won the championship, but we gave it a right go and reaching the semi-final was a big improvement on previous years. Colm got a great response from the lads and everyone in the club is delighted he's staying on for another year.
"He knows the capabilities of every player now and that should stand to him in the year ahead. Please God, we'll be in the shake-up again and with a bit of luck, we might win the championship," Alan adds.
St. Loman's and Athlone were the only teams to beat Coyle's charges in last year's championship. They opened their campaign with an impressive 2-12 to 1-8 victory over neighbours The Downs, but Athlone beat them by 1-12 to 0-10 in their next outing. However, three straight wins St. Loman's (4-9 to 3-11), Tyrrellspass (1-10 to 0-8) and St. Malachy's (3-9 to 0-10) saw them qualify directly for the semi-final where they renewed their rivalry with St. Loman's.
St. Loman's, who had the benefit of a quarter-final win over Mullingar Shamrocks, were well up for the contest and duly reversed the result of the sides' earlier meeting with a 1-13 to 1-9 win. St. Loman's led by 0-9 to 0-6 at half-time and after Eamonn Fleming netted a penalty to bring Kinnegad to within a point, Ciaran Kilmurray replied with a goal at the other end to send the Mullingar side through to the final for the first time in 41 years.
If Coralstown/Kinnegad can build on last year's progress, they won't be far away from ending a 14-year wait for Flanagan Cup honours in 2010.
The Coralstown/Kinnegad team that defeated Mullingar Shamrocks in the under 14 championship final was: Chris Doyle; Sean Sweeney, Evan Dowling, Tadhg Flynn; Enda Kenny, Dylan Cooney, Jamie Flood; Brian Cole, Owen Maxwell; Shane Fitzsimons, Aaron Glynn, Danny Woods; Darren Giles, Ryan Caffrey, Jamie Greville. Subs used: Ryan Fox and Philip Giles.
The senior team which faced St. Loman's in last year's senior championship semi-final was: Damien Molloy; Jason Lynch, Stephen Bracken, Ronan Doyle; Ronan Foley, Eamonn Fleming, Derek Griffin; Niall Kilmartin, Cian Flynn; Wayne Fox, David Kilmartin, Alan Giles; Fergal Dardis, Mark Gorman, Jason Cully. Subs used: Joe Kenny and Enda Leonard. Tweet
