St Paul's claimed two titles in 2006 and although many people would make a guess that they finally annexed the junior championship following defeat in the two previous finals, it was left to the young ladies of the club to lift the silverware. Ladies football is a sport that has thrived in recent years and one that has grown dramatically in numbers, mainly due to the television coverage that it now receives. The small village of Clonmellon has not missed out on the atmosphere created by ladies football and St Pauls to their credit now facilitate teams at under-12, 14, 16 and junior level. Club secretary Kevin Reddington and Ciaran Mooney are the men in charge of the ladies team and they have done sterling work looking after the various teams throughout the year. Kevin admitted that winning the underage girls titles was a huge boost to the club, especially as no success had come their way for many years. "I think it has been 40 years since there was a ladies title won in the area, so to achieve what the girls did was a massive boost for a small club like ours," he said. The first success of the year came when the under-12 girls' team captured the 'D' championship title at the expense of Milltown in a very exciting final. The competition consisted of 16 teams and following a series of matches, St Paul's and Milltown reached the final, which was played on Tuesday, September 5th in St Loman's. After a great game of football and brilliant individual and team performances St. Pauls emerged the victors on a score line of 3-3 to 2-2. And in so doing brought silverware back to Clonmellon for the first time in seven years. St. Pauls made a great start with a well taken goal in the opening five minutes by captain Clare Davis. This was followed up by points from Shannon Reddington and Jessica O'Farrell. At half time despite a great effort by St. Pauls the girls trailed by two points. The Clonmellon outfit went out after half time with determination and spirit. This was rewarded with a well taken goal by Jessica O'Farrell who was picked out with a great pass which left her with only the goalkeeper to beat. Shortly after Clare Davis took another well deserved point from a long range effort which sailed over the bar. With 10 minutes to go and St. Pauls only a point in front Melissa Cooke picked out Shannon Reddington who had her back to goal seven yards out. Shannon took her shot over her left shoulder and the ball looped in under the cross bar. The last 10 minutes were frantic end to end football, and buoyed by a large contingent of supporters from the North Westmeath area, St Pauls held on for a merited and well deserved victory. The successful under 12 team was: Orla Byrne, Saoirse Byrne, Robyn Meagher, Dearbhla Reilly, Deidre Shaw, Shauna Smith, Laura Mooney, Clare Davis (capt.), Sharon White, Shannon Reddington, Melissa Nolan, Jessica O'Farrell, Carina Comiskey, Megan Dolan, Melissa Cooke, Sinead Farrelly, Emer Davis, Emer Rice, Sophie Aliburn, Sonia Leavy. Two weeks later and St Paul's were back in a final as the under-14 girls were pitted against the might of The Downs in the 'D' championship final. Shandonagh was the venue for this match and once again St Paul's had a large following present to cheer on the girls as they went looking for their second title of the year. In a great display by the girls from St. Paul's against strong and physical opposition, the match turned out to be an enthralling encounter that produced some excellent scores and passages of play by both sides. Despite a low scoring first half St. Paul's were ahead at half time by a solitary point. In the second half the girls stepped it up a gear and at one stage were leading by six points. But The Downs came back with two goals to level the game and ultimately went ahead and held onto the lead till the final whistle to win by 3-7 to 3-5, which is a remarkable scoreline for this age group. The girls from St. Paul's battled till the end and all should be proud of their performances. Some individual performances were outstanding and if they can carry this attitude and effort over to next year, there is sure to be more success achieved in the future. The under-14 girls' panel was: Orla Byrne, Sarah O'Reilly, Louise O'Reilly, Eimear Daly, Gemma Davis, Una Leonard, Niamh Shaw, Louise O'Connor, Carina Wilson, Charlotte Dugdale, Caoimhe Murray, Grace Mulvaney, Clare Mooney, Clare Davis, Elizabeth Daly, Ginene O'Reilly, Sharon White, Aimee Leavy, Shannon Reddington, Adele Boland, Jordan Greer, Sinead Slater. Later in the year, the under-12s and 14s were treated to a day out in Croke Park when they travelled to the All-Ireland ladies football final, which was aided by many club members as the youngsters enjoyed their trip to GAA headquarters. Success was obtained in the under-16 'D' championship also, but this came by virtue of a walkover, although the girls put in a huge effort during training throughout the year and deserved their reward. "There was a great buzz around the place after we won two titles and all the girls involved deserve great credit. They put in a huge effort right from under-12 to junior." In only their second year in existence, the ladies junior team showed that they were making huge strides as they reached the final where they would face near neighbours and rivals Ballycomoyle, but despite a determined effort by the Pauls' ladies on the day, it was not to be their year. Once again hopes were high that the men's junior team could put the heartache of losing the last two junior finals behind them and make the step up to the intermediate grade. A new management team was put in place and hopes were high that extra effort could be made to achieve their goal of winning the junior title. The early signs for the year were good as numbers for training were high, but as the year dragged on, the age old problem of a lack of games reared its ugly head. Understandably, players interest levels dropped considerably and the management team were left trying to pick up the pieces, an unenviable task for anyone. However, on the field, the only blip in the championship came against Milltown in a group game, but the Clonmellon outfit still progressed to the semi-final where they would meet old rivals Caulry. The South Westmeath side dominated proceedings throughout even though they could not pull away at any stage, but the result was never in any doubt. As we enter the 2007 campaign, it is a case of new year, new dawn for the club. A lot of the club's younger players will be handed the opportunity to make a name for themselves in the junior team and it will be up to them to take the chance of claiming a regular place in the side. Without question the talent is in the club, but the players have to show a greater belief and determination right down from the top to the bottom. Tweet

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