While 2010 was another difficult year for Moate All-Whites' intermediate team, the club's capture of the minor Division 2 title bodes well for the future. Former player Brendan Madden, who managed the minors along with Jimmy Bradley and Nicky Linnane, was heartened by the success. 

In a year when the once-mighty Moate All-Whites failed to register a win in the intermediate championship and still managed to avoid relegation, it was left the club's talented minor team to give the Hogan Park outfit a much-needed boost.
A magnificent second half performance saw the young All-Whites snatch the minor Division 2 crown from St. Michael's grasp in a memorable final at Lakepoint Park last October. It was the highlight of a successful year for Moate underage teams with the under 14 and under 16 sides both reaching Division 1 semi-finals, only to lose to eventual winners St. Loman's and Athlone respectively.
"We neglected our underage for a few years and are now paying the price at adult level," Moate All-Whites minor board chairman Niall Cunningham laments.
"Our decline coincided with the closure of Carmelite College which churned out many a great Moate footballer. But we've got good underage structures in place now and are competing well in all the grades. Hopefully, all this work will lead to a revival at adult level in the coming years."
Much is expected of last year's minor team who claimed the under 16 Division 2 title in 2009 and the under 14 Division 3 title in 2007. And with most of the team eligible for the minor grade again this year, they have their sights set on winning the minor Division 1 crown.
"They're coming along nicely," says former Moate and Westmeath footballer Brendan Madden, who coaches the minors along with Carmelite College's 1980 Hogan Cup winning captain Jimmy Bradley and Kildare native Nicky Linnane - both of whom have sons on the team.
"They probably surpassed expectations last year in the sense that they had just moved up from under 16 and weren't expected to make an impact in minor until this year. Even though we set out to win Division 1, we were delighted to win Division 2. It has given us great belief going into 2011."
The All-Whites were drawn in a group that also included Rosemount, Mullingar Shamrocks and St. Michael's. They pipped Rosemount by a point in their first game, but a narrow defeat to Mullingar Shamrocks and a heavy loss to St. Michael's meant they would contest the knockout stages of the Division 2 championship.
"Because St. Michael's and ourselves were the third and fourth placed teams in the group, we went into Division 2 with Shamrocks and Rosemount going into Division 1," Brendan explains.
"It was probably a blessing in disguise because we had a more realistic chance of winning Division 2."
In the Division 2 quarter-final, Moate defeated The Downs by three points and then accounted for Killucan by seven points in the semi-final at Tyrrellspass. That victory paved the way for a final rematch with St. Michael's under the Lakepoint Park floodlights at the end of October.
St. Michael's, who are a combination of Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall and Ballycomoyle, looked set to repeat their earlier victory over the All-Whites when they dominated the first half to lead by 3-5 to 0-4. But against all the odds, Moate staged a brilliant second half recovery to win by 1-13 to 3-5.
John Corbally and Cian Bradley kick-started the comeback with a brace of points on the restart, but the All-Whites had to wait until the 43rd minute for their next score, which was another point from Corbally. The match-changing score came three minutes later when midfielder David Minnock kept his cool to slot home a penalty that left just four points between the sides.
With Minnock and Gareth Murray ruling the roost at midfield and Moate's momentum growing all the time, they added four more unanswered points from Damien Bracken, Jack Linnane, Robert Marsh and Cian Bradley to level proceedings with four minutes remaining.
Moate, who had to plan without the services of their World boxing champion Joe Ward last year, could now sense victory and they sealed a remarkable win thanks to late points from Gareth Murray and John Corbally.
"I've been involved in football for a long time and I've never seen a comeback like it," Kilbeggan-based garda Madden fondly remembers.
"We were down and out at half-time, but the lads refused to accept their fate and came storming back in the second half. The heart and belief they showed was unbelievable. Let's hope they can push on now and give Division 1 a good rattle this year."
By contrast, Moate's adult team endured another tough season, which once again saw them come perilously close to surrendering their intermediate status. In a winless championship campaign, they avoided a relegation playoff by virtue of draws with Bunbrosna and Kilbeggan Shamrocks.
Managed by Laois native Tommy Gorman, who will continue in the role this year, the All-Whites lost their first three games to local rivals Caulry (1-10 to 1-11), Ballynacargy (1-4 to 3-9) and Shandonagh (2-7 to 1-12). They trailed Shandonagh by 0-5 to 0-1 after 14 minutes and the Sky Blues had stretched out their lead to 1-10 to 0-4 by the 10th minute of the second half. Garvan Murray and Niall Mackey struck for goals in the closing stages, but they weren't enough to prevent a third successive loss.
A high-flying Bunbrosna team were expected to plunge Moate deeper into relegation trouble at Pairc Chiarain, but in a turn-up for the books, Tommy Gorman's side secured a vital 0-8 apiece draw. Indeed, they were desperately unlucky not to win with Bunbrosna needing late points from Fintan Finnan and Peter Tormey (who ironically teaches in Moate Community College) to salvage a draw.
With Eoghan Dalton and James Gillivan in fine scoring form, Moate led by three points early on, but Bun' fought back to trail by the minimum, 0-4 to 0-5, at half-time. Tormey restored parity for Bun' shortly after the restart, but the All-Whites regained the lead and looked set for victory until Tormey saved the day for the champions-elect.
Moate's final group game against neighbours Kilbeggan Shamrocks in Lakepoint Park was a do-or-die affair. Kilbeggan's failure to take any points from their previous games meant they needed to win, whereas a draw would be enough to preserve Moate's intermediate status. As it transpired, the All-Whites got the draw they needed but only after Kilbeggan had missed a number of chances in the closing stages.
With Alan Claffey to the fore, the All-Whites deservedly took a 0-5 to 0-3 lead into the break. Favoured by the wind in the second half, Kilbeggan battled back to level before Claffey edged Moate ahead again with their only score of the second half with eight minutes remaining.
David Marshall tied up the scoring at 0-6 apiece with two minutes left, but the winning point Kilbeggan so desperately craved failed to materialise as Moate held on to condemn them to a relegation playoff against Ballinagore.
"The quality doesn't seem to be there at intermediate level. We have it at underage level, but you won't see it at adult level for another few years," opines Madden, who lost three senior finals as a player with Moate but garnered Trench Cup honours with Garda College.
"It's a pity because Moate was always looked upon as a top senior club. The current team is lacking in experience and size. The team badly needs an on-field leader in the mould of Sean Heavin to get them going again."
The highlight of 2010 for many Moate All-Whites followers was the club's All-Ireland Scor na nOg success in the ballad group discipline. The group, which was made up of Adrian Rabbitte, Emer Fleming, Jennifer Hynes, Suzie Gillivan and Emma Stones, and was mentored by Louise Heavin - herself a former All-Ireland Scor champion - thrilled the home support when they became the first Westmeath act to win an All-Ireland Scor na nOg title in the ballad group in 29 years at Athlone's Count John McCormack Hall last February.
It was also a successful year for Moate in ladies football with the intermediate league and under 16 'A' titles returning to Hogan Park. 

Moate All-Whites' under 16 Division 2 championship winning team was: Jack Sheridan; Philip Coyne, Daniel Buckley, Jamie Madden; Daniel Fitzpatrick, Michael Cooney, Robert Gorman; David Minnock (captain), Gareth Murray; Robert Marsh, Jack Linnane, Cian Bradley; Barry Webb, Damien Bracken, John Corbally. Sub used: John Eagney. Tweet

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