Mary's recovery continues
April 30, 2010St. Mary's recovery from back-to-back relegations in 2006 and 2007 continued apace last year when they reached the quarter-finals of the intermediate football championship.
For a club that made the drop from senior to junior football in double-quick time, St. Mary's have bounced back impressively and now boasting one of the best underage structures in the county, it would be no surprise to anyone to see them reclaim their place in the top flight in the next year or two. After arresting their slide by winning the junior championship in 2008, the 'Bridge certainly didn't look out of place in last year's intermediate championship and manager Jim Whelehan was pleased with their progress.
"I thought we did reasonably well considering it was our first year back in the intermediate ranks," the Milltownpass man says.
"We built on the previous year by getting to the quarter-finals, and had Michael Gearghty and Joe Bradley not missed that game against Castletown-Finea through injury, we could have beaten them. We hope to keep the momentum going this year and reaching a semi-final or final would represent further progress.
"But we know it's going to be tough with Castletown-Finea, Ballymore, Rosemount, Tang and Ballinagore in our group. The intermediate championship is the hardest championship of all to win in my opinion because the teams are so evenly matched. Any one of them could win it," he adds.
The former Westmeath star takes particular encouragement from the amount of emerging talent in Rochfortbridge. Last year, the club's minors reached the Division 1 championship semi-final and they had nine starters on the Clann Bhraonain amalgamation team which claimed the minor 'premier' championship crown.
"We finished with four minors on our team in the championship quarter-final and those lads will be a year older and wiser this year. I attended most of St. Mary's minor games last year and was very impressed with what I saw. I hope to blood a few more of the younger lads this year and to strengthen the team further.
"There is serious work being done at underage level in the club which bodes well for the future. I don't like singling people out, but Eugene Coyle has put in a phenomenal amount of work with the youngsters over the last five or six years."
St. Mary's marked their return to the intermediate ranks last year with a 1-8 to 0-8 opening round win over Kilbeggan Shamrocks at Shandonagh. Picking up from where they left off in 2008, the 'Bridge never looked back after Eoin Gorman netted inside the first minute. They went on to lead by 1-4 to 0-3 at the break and remained in front throughout the second half thanks to scores from Ciaran Geraghty, Robbie Kenny, substitute Kenneth Gunning and Gorman.
Two years after their near-neighbours Milltownpass condemned them to junior football by beating them in a relegation playoff, the Rochfortbridge men exacted sweet revenge when a Robbie Kenny hat-trick of goals steered them to a 3-6 to 0-7 victory. The wing forward netted at the start of the each half before completing his hat-trick four minutes from the end.
Jim Whelehan's charges suffered their first defeat when a late Paul Conway goal saw them succumb to a 1-14 to 2-12 loss to Tang at Lakepoint Park. The sides were level on 1-6 apiece at half-time before St. Mary's opened up a three-point lead midway through the second half. Tang had reduced the margin to the minimum when Conway punched home a high delivery to put them two clear with time almost up. Alan Gavin replied with a point, but it came too late to save St. Mary's.
The 'Bridge got back to winning ways when they edged out Moate All-Whites by 4-6 to 1-13 at Castletown-Geoghegan. Despite dominating the early exchanges, Moate went into the break trailing by 0-9 to 4-1 after conceding goals to hat-trick hero Eoin Gorman and Damien Healy.
St. Mary's stretched out their lead to 4-6 to 0-10 in the second half, but were left hanging on for victory after the All-Whites scored an unanswered 1-3 in the closing stages.
Despite losing their final group match to Ballynacargy by 0-9 to 1-12, the green and whites qualified for the quarter-final by virtue of their third-place finish behind Ballynacargy and Tang. Their opponents were Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall, who were bidding to reach their second successive semi-final.
The 'Bridge got off to a great start with an early Alan Gavin goal helping them to a 1-2 to 0-3 lead after 13 minutes. But the north county side dominated the remainder of the first half to take a 1-9 to 1-4 lead into the interval.
When county minor Eoin Gorman reduced the leeway to just a goal midway through the second half, St. Mary's hopes began to grow, but a brace of Ryan Plunkett points quickly restored Castletown/Finea's five-point advantage and they held on for a 1-13 to 1-9 victory.
2009 was a successful year for St. Mary's at underage level with the minors and under 14s really excelling. Managed by Damien Gavin, Owen Nugent, Gerry Byrne and Ernest Alford, the minors reached the Division 1 championship semi-final which they lost narrowly to Maryland/Tang. St. Mary's had beaten Maryland/Tang in an earlier round, but the south county combination exacted revenge before going on to defeat Coralstown/Kinnegad in the final. Arguably St. Mary's best result of the campaign was their first round win over mighty Mullingar Shamrocks.
No fewer than 17 members of that minor squad had the consolation of winning minor 'premier' championship medals with Clann Bhraonain. After losing the previous two finals, it was a case of third time lucky for the St. Mary's, Tyrrellspass and Milltownpass amalgam who claimed a 1-8 to 0-8 over St. Patrick's courtesy of wing back Jamie Gounoud's 57th minute goal.
St. Mary's were represented by David Whitson, Wayne Gahan, Paul Carey, Cian Kinsella, Colin Gavin, Dwayne Leavy, Eoin Nugent, Paul Rabbitte and Eoin Gorman on the starting team, while Cathal Coyle, Eddie Alford, Ger Glennon, Lee Wallace, Dermot Judge, Jamie Rodgers, Jake Byrne and Conor Duignan were among the substitutes. Furthermore, the team was managed by Damien Gavin, and he was assisted by selectors Des Scally, Eamonn Whelan, Owen Nugent, Richie Gorman, Owen Loran and Ernest Alford.
Over the Halloween period, St. Mary's claimed the under 14 Division 3 championship title following a 2-6 to 0-4 victory over Moate All-Whites in the final at Kilbeggan. The victory was the culmination of an excellent campaign which had also yielded wins over Millmore Gaels, Rosemount and Kilbeggan/St/ Joseph's.
Under the tutelage of Tony Gallagher, Declan Darcy and Liam O'Flaherty, the 'Bridge youngsters never looked in any danger of losing the final. Goals from Luke Gallagher and Eoin O'Malley helped them to a 2-1 to 0-3 lead at the interval and they outscored Moate by 0-5 to 0-1 in the second half to run out comfortable winners.
Three years on from developing three new all-weather pitches, St. Mary's have continued to upgrade their facilities by laying a new sand-based running track and installing new floodlights at their second ground (Fr Delaney Park) on the old Dublin Road. Such are the playing numbers in the club at the moment that St. Mary's will field three adult teams this year.
"We'll have teams in Division 3, 5 and 6 of the league," explains Jim Whelehan who has replaced Paul Cocoman and Colm Gavin with Ian Bradley and Kenneth Gunning as his selectors for this year.
"The Division 6 team will effectively be our under 21 team, so the extra games should stand to them when the under 21 championship starts. As well as doing well in the championship, we are targeting promotion from Division 3 of the league. Castletown-Finea ran away with Division 3 last year and we're hoping to give a much better account of ourselves this year. We need to be playing against better quality opposition in Division 2 if we're to improve," he concludes.
The St. Mary's team which faced Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall in the IFC quarter-final was: Declan Hogan; Cian Kinsella, Thomas Giles, Colm Conroy; Aidan Fallon, Damien Healy, Jacko Healy; Thomas Geraghty, David Mitchell; Eoin Gorman, Damien Gavin, Larry Poynton; Robbie Kenny, Alan Gavin, Ciaran Geraghty. Subs used: David Cleary, Kenneth Berry, Paul Rabbitte, Paul Carey and Dwayne Leavy.
St. Mary's under 14 Division 3 championship winning team was: Cory Gavin; Ryan Delaney, Patrick Geraghty, Cormac O'Flaherty; Ryan Gavin, Adam Kavanagh, Brandon Darcy; Luke Gallagher, Glen O'Reilly; Jack Reid, Gary Morgan, Peter Lawlor; Lenny Gavin, Eoin O'Malley, Aaron Henry. Subs used: Saya Nxumalo, Sam Plant, Hugh Lyster and Rory O'Flaherty. Tweet
