Meath Forum

21St Anniversary: St. Pauls Bypass Junior Grade (Article In Hoganstand)

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So - I read this article with interest. Am I right, Did St Paul's amalgamate with St Peter's, Dunboyne or are they still operating? Clonee is a decent sized village and you would imagine it will grow given it's proximity to Dublin, the M50 etc. You would think that a team based in Clonee would have similar benefits, population, sponsors etc to the likes of Dunboyne and Ashbourne. Also, curious to the Moyles involvement and how they have ended up with Dunshaughlin!

ASaminthehand (Meath) - Posts: 422 - 18/12/2020 13:28:21    2323417

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Paul's are still operating on their own. I think they might have fielded their first team in one of the premier competitions this year.
They had a very talented bunch back then.

Greenfield (Meath) - Posts: 522 - 18/12/2020 14:31:42    2323441

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Replying To ASaminthehand:  "So - I read this article with interest. Am I right, Did St Paul's amalgamate with St Peter's, Dunboyne or are they still operating? Clonee is a decent sized village and you would imagine it will grow given it's proximity to Dublin, the M50 etc. You would think that a team based in Clonee would have similar benefits, population, sponsors etc to the likes of Dunboyne and Ashbourne. Also, curious to the Moyles involvement and how they have ended up with Dunshaughlin!"
I don't think St Paul's have joined with Dunboyne, they have no underage teams and only had one adult team which operate in the b/c team premier championship. The problem for them is that they are a Clonee team but are the far side of Dunboyne away from Clonee. Also Clonee had a big population expansion but most of it is in Little Pace which is in Dublin and where players play for Erin Go Bragh or maybe St Peregrines. There is definitely the scope for a club in Clonee if we had investment to go into the little pace Dublin schools and get them to play for a Clonee team. Otherwise St Paul's will either fold or wait until the area around the M3 parkway is developed and try to get players from there

LeitrimRoyal99 (Meath) - Posts: 1458 - 18/12/2020 14:44:27    2323444

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Replying To ASaminthehand:  "So - I read this article with interest. Am I right, Did St Paul's amalgamate with St Peter's, Dunboyne or are they still operating? Clonee is a decent sized village and you would imagine it will grow given it's proximity to Dublin, the M50 etc. You would think that a team based in Clonee would have similar benefits, population, sponsors etc to the likes of Dunboyne and Ashbourne. Also, curious to the Moyles involvement and how they have ended up with Dunshaughlin!"
St. Paul's operated independently up until recently but can't understand their problems given where they are located. Why did the Moyles' leave them as its not far from Dublin border in any case? Anthony Moyles has continued to work in media circles and even represented the CPA but surely time should be spent in resurrection of this club.

winatallcost (Meath) - Posts: 509 - 18/12/2020 14:46:15    2323446

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tried to reply to your post but it wasn't put up........not sure what the rules are around here nowadays.

Greenfield (Meath) - Posts: 522 - 18/12/2020 16:33:14    2323472

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Replying To Greenfield:  "tried to reply to your post but it wasn't put up........not sure what the rules are around here nowadays."
Strange!
Strange also that they would play in premier. Premier is supposed to be for non first teams. First teams were supposed to play senior, intermediate or junior
St. Paul's pitch was on the n3 and I presume it was cpo or sold when the whole road network was changed. Would have thought they'd have been compensated for that
I didn't realise part of clonee was in Dublin

ASaminthehand (Meath) - Posts: 422 - 19/12/2020 05:33:34    2323634

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Replying To ASaminthehand:  "Strange!
Strange also that they would play in premier. Premier is supposed to be for non first teams. First teams were supposed to play senior, intermediate or junior
St. Paul's pitch was on the n3 and I presume it was cpo or sold when the whole road network was changed. Would have thought they'd have been compensated for that
I didn't realise part of clonee was in Dublin"
St. Paul's requested to play in the Premier competitions since everyone knows they'd just end up getting repeatedly hammered in the Junior Championship.

Also, I think St. Paul's were given an alternative patch of land by the NRA in lieu of compensation for their pitch. There were plans for Kepak to build a pitch for them closer to Clonee but if I recall correctly it was dependent on Kepak getting planning permission for one of their own developments which was denied, and then the recession hit and all the plans came to nothing anyway.

CastleBravo (Meath) - Posts: 1644 - 19/12/2020 19:50:53    2324023

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Replying To ASaminthehand:  "Strange!
Strange also that they would play in premier. Premier is supposed to be for non first teams. First teams were supposed to play senior, intermediate or junior
St. Paul's pitch was on the n3 and I presume it was cpo or sold when the whole road network was changed. Would have thought they'd have been compensated for that
I didn't realise part of clonee was in Dublin"
Old clonee including the village and anything the dunboyne side is Meath. Theres a small little bump on the road on the way out of the village which is the border between Meath and Dublin. All the houses that were built in what is called Littlepace back in the 90s and early 00s have the address littlepace Clonee Dublin 15. Unfortunately St Pauls have never benefited and will never benefit from all the houses that were built in Littlepace. Mainly because they have their own GAA Club called Erin Go Breagh. Also St Peregrines about 5 minutes away and Westmanstowns GAA and Castleknock GAA 10 minutes away. The Meath part of clonee is basically a no mans land these days and just a pass through place. The village is pretty much made up of non Irish residents (no problem with this just stating a fact) with the majority of the village locals either passed away or moved on so there is no real interest in GAA there. And any young player that does have an interest in playing if he is staying in Meath he'll stick with Dunboyne or go to kilbride. Even the old Clonee Utd soccer team which back in the 90s was made up of all the GAA lads from Pauls and Dunboyne including our current Meath manager is now based up in the Dublin 15 part of Clonee and is pretty much a blanchardstown team. St Paul's are being kept alive by some absolutely brilliant Club Stalwarts who have been involved all their lives. Some lads are still playing that played in 99. Unfortunately i think they are fighting a losing battle sadly I think the Club will cease to exist in the no so distant future. I hope i am wrong.

Blackspot09 (Meath) - Posts: 870 - 21/12/2020 10:40:08    2325004

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st pauls was never helped by the county board just like what the county board are doing now by not helping the small rural clubs who are struggling

MCSwagg (Meath) - Posts: 18 - 17/01/2021 18:32:09    2327837

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They were a resurection of the flathouse club which were banned. Not getting prizes for discipline. So it was hard for them to attract young players away from neighbouring clubs.

Ashrules (Dublin) - Posts: 518 - 18/01/2021 00:52:16    2327867

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Replying To MCSwagg:  "st pauls was never helped by the county board just like what the county board are doing now by not helping the small rural clubs who are struggling"
What do you reckon the co. board should have done for St. Pauls?

CastleBravo (Meath) - Posts: 1644 - 18/01/2021 11:48:57    2327901

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Replying To MCSwagg:  "st pauls was never helped by the county board just like what the county board are doing now by not helping the small rural clubs who are struggling"
It's in the county boards hands now to help the small rural clubs,clonard had a motion in to get the junior championship seeded something like the hurling format and it was send back to the cccc to decide

royal1967 (Meath) - Posts: 257 - 18/01/2021 16:06:51    2327960

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Replying To royal1967:  "It's in the county boards hands now to help the small rural clubs,clonard had a motion in to get the junior championship seeded something like the hurling format and it was send back to the cccc to decide"
Yes i read that and it looks very good would mean a better championship for all .Look at the success of it in the senior hurling . But i really doubt that it will be approved as the cb wont act quick enough and there will be another club like saint pauls .

MCSwagg (Meath) - Posts: 18 - 18/01/2021 18:28:36    2327976

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The co board hav been saying they know their is 3/4 small rural clubs in trouble with numbers and talent,they now need to stand up and save these clubs by making the changes to the junior championship

royal1967 (Meath) - Posts: 257 - 19/01/2021 13:41:38    2328068

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Replying To royal1967:  "It's in the county boards hands now to help the small rural clubs,clonard had a motion in to get the junior championship seeded something like the hurling format and it was send back to the cccc to decide"
How often can we rejig the competitions because some teams just aren't good enough? First we expanded senior and intermediate which lowered the level of junior. Then the 2nd teams were moved into their own group so that first teams could avoid playing them. Then this wasn't enough so 2nd teams just got kicked out entirely.

And now apparently we need junior rearranged so that the poorest teams can avoid having to play the better ones till later in the competition?

What happens when we do that, and the weakest teams are still losing?

CastleBravo (Meath) - Posts: 1644 - 19/01/2021 13:51:11    2328072

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Replying To CastleBravo:  "How often can we rejig the competitions because some teams just aren't good enough? First we expanded senior and intermediate which lowered the level of junior. Then the 2nd teams were moved into their own group so that first teams could avoid playing them. Then this wasn't enough so 2nd teams just got kicked out entirely.

And now apparently we need junior rearranged so that the poorest teams can avoid having to play the better ones till later in the competition?

What happens when we do that, and the weakest teams are still losing?"
well said castlebravo. I would like to go back to the old Junior A/B/C format and find your level. The second teams in their own group was a great idea. If a second team like Dunboyne won well that was the clear exception to the rule and they were the best team

seasiderblues (Meath) - Posts: 343 - 19/01/2021 13:58:41    2328073

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there is no doubt that both of yous are from a big club and all your thinking about is your team . But until yous face the worry about maybe not having fifteen lads for a game you wont undestand .how do you motivate or get lads out to face a hammering or would you have these teams cease because there going through a tough period or try your best to help them .Can you explain why this is a sucess in the senior hurling

MCSwagg (Meath) - Posts: 18 - 19/01/2021 19:25:12    2328128

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By what measure is it a success in senior hurling? Yes you don't have Kiltale and Kildalkey hammering Dunderry or Navan any more, but that's only because we just stopped them from playing each other, not because we've narrowed the gap between them.

The strong teams are still winning championships and the weak teams are still struggling to win games at the bottom. No format on earth can get away from this fact, but we're told every time a new change is demanded that just one more tweak will allow the weak to suddenly compete with the strong.

CastleBravo (Meath) - Posts: 1644 - 22/01/2021 10:19:08    2328448

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Replying To CastleBravo:  "By what measure is it a success in senior hurling? Yes you don't have Kiltale and Kildalkey hammering Dunderry or Navan any more, but that's only because we just stopped them from playing each other, not because we've narrowed the gap between them.

The strong teams are still winning championships and the weak teams are still struggling to win games at the bottom. No format on earth can get away from this fact, but we're told every time a new change is demanded that just one more tweak will allow the weak to suddenly compete with the strong."
ok how do you get teams to improve let them play against teams they have a chance against . THINGS dont happen over night and to get lads out training and trying to improve is alot easier when you know that the championship is graded and you have a chance to win and im sure its better for the strong teams aswell as what use is them beating a team by a cricket score to them

MCSwagg (Meath) - Posts: 18 - 25/01/2021 20:35:50    2328929

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Replying To MCSwagg:  "ok how do you get teams to improve let them play against teams they have a chance against . THINGS dont happen over night and to get lads out training and trying to improve is alot easier when you know that the championship is graded and you have a chance to win and im sure its better for the strong teams aswell as what use is them beating a team by a cricket score to them"
I understand that but tp be devil's advocate we did have junior B and junior c awith the "weaker" junior clubs in Junior B and St Pauls in Junior C and that wasn't good enough either. Junior B had a whole group of stand alone teams (not second teams) on their own and so there were chances for the junior clubs to win games but that was met by opposition too. I am not saying there is an easy solution here but it looks to me like the county board tried to listen to the clubs with the new structures and tried to help the smaller clubs whilst impacting the "bigger" ones. For example I am sure Donaghmore Ashbourne and Dunboyne 2nd teams would rather be intermediate still and so i would have to ask is the new format the best solution for those players to develop? I don't think it is. There are also very good examples of weaker junior clubs rising through the ranks - St Vincents being one and Curragha also had their struggles,, Longwood indeed even going back longer than those. Kilbride are also on the rise now too, We should look to them and what they did and see can we help other clubs rise again. The clubs you refer to (i guess Clonard and Drumconrath etc) are great ones, everyone wants to see them develop but it is more than just grouping them into a separate championship/group i think,

seasiderblues (Meath) - Posts: 343 - 26/01/2021 09:48:04    2328973

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