They say good teams win championships, great teams retain them. It is also true to say that once you get to the top, the hardest thing is to stay there. Navan O'Mahonys reached the Delaney Cup summit last year and this term they scaled those dizzy heights again. Brendan Boylan charts the glorious journey. When Meath Minor Board Vice-Chairman Eugene Comaskey handed the Delaney Cup to Stephen MacGabhann on July 30th 2000 many pundits, including this writer, viewed it as the dawning of a new era for Meath's most famous club, this bunch were the future of the club and with so many of the panel underage for another year, that future looked certain to be a bright one. It was a victory that always looked likely for a team back boned by players like Ian Matthews, Darren O'Toole, Philip Treacy and Simon O'Connor, all of whom were instrumental in bringing the Hogan Cup to Meath for the first time with St Patrick's CS and indeed the players mentioned all played starring roles in the 3-09 to 1-06 conquest of St Colmcille's. It was a victory borne out of skill, determination and classy football but it was also driven by emotion following the sad passing of the great Oliver Matthews. It was their way of paying tribute to the great man who had been a mentor and friend to them for so long. The class of '01 were left with the ominous task of emulating their predecessors and prove that last term's triumph was no flash in the pan. With Matthews, O'Toole, Treacy and O'Connor available for selection once again and experienced if lesser known performers like Paul Quinn, Gerard Brennan, Stephen Murray and Alan Gillick in their ranks, it would be a wise man that would bet against them. One other advantage they had going for them was that all but a handful of their team were in their last year as minors while most other club's U18s would be made up of a fair sprinkling of U17s. On final day, they only had two, David Murtagh who's class was recognised by his selection for the Irish U17s who travelled to Australia in April while the other, Barry Regan, an U16 looks like the most prodigious talent seen in the Meath underage football since one T Giles was a minor. If one was to scan back through the records of underage competitions throughout the nineties, it is easy to see why this particular Brews Hill bunch were overwhelming favourites to hold onto the minor silverware. They had started out as boys and turned to men together, in the process annexing every juvenile title from U12 all the way to capturing the minor title and writing themselves into the history books as probably the best underage bunch ever seen in the Royal County. They were men and they played like men, when the Hogan Cup returned to Moatlands, twelve of the hoops lads were part of the history making squad who had played on the biggest stage of all, Croke Park when they took a leaf out of Sean Boylan's book and staged one of the great comebacks which Meath football is now famed for. Incidentally, Regan was the only Junior Cert student on the panel and he scored a vital equalising goal in the Croke Park showpiece. After achieving so much success, confidence was never going to be a problem with this bunch. In truth, they turned the Minor Championship into a procession, in the opening round they faced a Simonstown outfit with a number of talented players like Ronan Kenny, Aarron Shanahan, Jonathon Friel, Darren Curran and Ray Shiels all of whom garnered Hogan Cup souvenirs, but they proved no match for Cathal O'Bric's side who recorded a comprehensive 3-11 to 1-09 win. In Round 2 Trim ran them to five before one sided victories were achieved against Yellow Furze and Wolfe Tones. The fourth round brought a trip to Dunboyne, whom they had overcome in the previous November's U17 final and were always likely to be their main challengers for honours. Both teams were some what depleted, county colleagues Philip Treacy and Gary O'Toole missed out through injury while David Murtagh and Dunboyne's Thomas O'Connor were representing Ireland in Australia. The eventual champions opened brightly and led 0-06 to 0-01 at the interval and withstood a late rally from the home side and Brian Smith's goal left them ahead by 1-09 to 0-08 at the long whistle but it was widely expected that these two would meet again at a later stage. The blue and white hoops then took the scalp of Summerhill and a walkover from St Colmcille's cleared the way for a semi-final in which Wolfe Tones presented themselves as the opposition. It was on that damp night in Simonstown that the strength of the O'Mahonys panel was seen as its best, without key players Darren O'Toole and Simon O'Connor they powered their way past the Kilberry club to set up the final showdown everybody wanted, O'Mahonys vs Dunboyne. Those who travelled to Pairc Tailteann on July 27th did so in anticipation of a close encounter but the favourites were in no mood for hanging around and blew their opponents out of the water with the most breathtaking display of football seen in a final at any level. They played a style of football which is unique to them, it is easy to see why they have been so successful, there is a remarkable understanding with each other and they play combination football which would leave most adult clubs in the county envious to say the least. As with the Easter Monday tie in Dunboyne, Brian Smith proved a real handful for the Black & Ambers defence and when he netted after seventeen seconds, even at that early stage one wondered could the underdogs lift the heads. They weren't given the chance as Simon O'Connor, Darren O'Toole, Philip Treacy, Stephen Murray, Paul Quinn, Barry Regan and my "Man of the Match" Tommy McElroy raised white flags to give their side a 1-12 to 0-02 cushion at the interval and at that stage the game was as good as over. More of the same followed at the change of ends, one couldn't but feel sorry for their opponents who were left to play a supporting role in what was an O'Mahonys exhibition. They completed what in truth was a rout when McElroy and sub Henry Finnegan crashed goals past a helpless Pat Ashe in the Dunboyne goal. When referee Gerry McGivney blew the final whistle and Minor Board Chairman Jim Cooney handed the Delaney Cup to Paul Quinn the clean sweep was complete, U12, U13, U14, U15, U16, U17 and now minor as these young sportsmen wrote their place in the history books as probably the best under age team produced by the famed club or indeed any club in the county. In his acceptance speech Quinn was fulsome in his praise of people like the O'Briens, Paddy and Mary, Cathal O'Bric, Peter O'Toole and Eamon Dunphy. Let us not forget either, the late, great Oliver Matthews. This team is their legacy and have no doubt, if their young players develop into the fine adult players the are capable of being, it shouldn't be too long before Navan O'Mahonys can start talking about winning Keegan Cups again. The panel on final day was: M Brennan; C Dunphy, I Matthews, D Moran; P Quinn (0-1), D Murtagh, G Brennan; T McElroy (1-2), P Treacy (0-2); S Murray (0-6), D O'Toole (0-1), B Regan (0-1); A Gillick (0-3), B Smith (1-1), S O'Connor (0-3), D Loughran, G O'Dowd, D Ratty, G Macken, C Browne, M Ward, K Duane, S O'Brien, C Reilly, C O'Brien. From Erneside to Boyneside Fermanagh old boy Brendan O' Reilly no longer eats, drinks and sleeps Gaelic football in the way he used to while starring with the Ernesiders back in the seventies and eighties. His passion for the game may have been diluted somewhat by the passage of time but his insight into what the game is all about certainly hasn't. Even though he has barely made the half-century mark, where Gaelic football is concerned, former Fermanagh senior footballer Brendan O' Reilly quite obviously slots into the old school of thought which suggests that not everything about the modern game is best. Although still very much a fan of the nation's popular field game, Brendan sports the knack of being able to see the wood from the trees when it comes to an analysis of present-day Gaelic football style and standards. Scraping away the veneer of hyperbole which has enveloped the big ball game in recent times is not something which Brendan has a monopoly over but he does paint a more realistic picture of the state of the game right now. "People understandably talk about how the game of Gaelic football has changed, changed beyond recognition over the last 20 years or so but I personally don't think that it has changed for the better. "There's altogether too much emphasis on fitness nowadays. Coaches are obsessed with getting their players as fit as track athletes. Players are being encouraged to become faster, fitter and more mobile in overall terms. Yet these same players aren't necessarily becoming better Gaelic footballers as a result of all the training they do. "I believe a lot of the coaching and training being done nowadays is to the detriment of the basic skills of the game. Too many players are lacking in the skills that are most readily identified with all that's best in Gaelic football. "Training for players at all levels nowadays normally takes the form of 80 per cent fitness-orientated exercises and 20 per cent ball work. In my view, the percentages should be reversed. "I don't think anyone could honestly say that footballers playing today are so much more skilful than those who played the game at the highest level 20 years and more ago. Were players not just as able to put the ball over the bar in the seventies as they are now?" What he perceives to be the overuse of the handpass is something which is a particular bete noire for the former Teemore clubman. He admits that it was prevalent during his time at the top but its use has mushroomed way out of proportion in the interim, he argues. It's obvious that despite Brendan's reservations about the way Gaelic football has evolved over the years, he remains a keen follower of the sport. But considering that he was born and reared in stalwart football territory in Teemore (on the northern side of the Cavan/Fermanagh border), the intensity of his interest in the native game after all these years is hardly surprising. Brendan was also spoiled somewhat in his playing days which helped nurture his innate interest in football. Teemore were tops on umpteen occasions in Fermanagh during Brendan's time with them, so much so that he was fortunate enough to win five senior county championship medals (1969, '71, '74, 75, '83). Before the second last of Brendan's blue riband medals was won, he was already working (in Tara Mines) and living in Navan. Although ensconced in the Meath town by 1972, he didn't actually bid adieu to his native club until 1986. While with his adopted Navan O'Mahonys club, post-'86, Brendan really hit the jackpot as he helped O'Mahonys complete a four-in-a-row of Meath SFC wins from '87-90. So how did playing and winning with Teemore compare to joining his O'Mahonys team-mates in the winner's enclosure? "I enjoyed playing for both clubs. It's always good to be part of a winning team, whether it's in Fermanagh or in Meath. "I'd have to say though that winning my last senior championship medal with Teemore in 1983 was possibly the highlight for me on the club front. I think the older you get the sweeter the wins. I was seventeen when I won my first senior championship medal with Teemore in 1969 and I think that whole experience just went right over my head. "The O'Mahonys championship win in 1987 was also special as it was my first with the club. I got a new lease of life playing in Meath and I thoroughly enjoyed my time playing with O'Mahonys." An environmental engineer with Tara Mines, Brendan has been with the company for 29 years now. His time with O'Mahonys has been shorter but he has nonetheless made his presence felt, both off and on the field of play, over the years. For the last number of years, Brendan has helped promote football among the juveniles attached to O'Mahonys. His sons James and Alan are currently keen underage players at the famed Navan club. A former county starlet at minor and under 21 ranks, Brendan proceeded to play for thirteen years for Fermanagh seniors as a tearaway corner-forward for the most part. In 1983, Fermanagh, O' Reilly et al, appeared to be on the cusp of making history by securing their first ever Ulster SFC title but a Jimmy Smyth-powered Armagh side played party-poopers in Clones on finals day. "It was a case of us knocking on the door but not quite managing to make the breakthrough in the championship. It was a similar story for us in the national league although we did manage to gain promotion to division one but we never got the chance to play in the top flight because Croke Park decided to alter the structure of the league the following year. "We had a fairly good side back then though and we also reached the quarter-finals of the league on two separate occasions by going through our section unbeaten. "Things went well too at under 21 level in 1971. We came through out of Ulster and beat a very good Offaly team in the All-Ireland semi-final but lost after that in the final to Cork," explains the former pacy corner forward who played his last senior game for Fermanagh in 1985. It wasn't all doom and gloom and narrow misses though for Brendan in the county colours for in 1977, the Teemore stalwart - in the company of other notables such as Peter McGinnity, Peter Greene, Phil Courtney and John Donnelly - helped his native county win the McKenna Cup for the first time in 35 years. Now that he has had in the region of 30 years to appraise club football in Meath, Brendan is well positioned to compare the standard of the game in both his adopted county and his native county. "I think Fermanagh football has gone back a bit since the county reached the Ulster final in 1997. There's quite a gap now in standard between the two counties although I wouldn't say there's necessarily the same gap between the top clubs in either counties. "Club football isn't as strong in Meath as it used to be. The standard is very even at senior level with perhaps just Skyrne that bit ahead of, say, a group of six teams." Every cloud... Senior football in Meath lost one of its most vaunted members this year with the relegation of Navan O'Mahony's, but the club can look forward to 2002 with something approaching optimism after ending the year on a high with victory in the All County League Division 2 in mid-November. Those who felt the ignominy of Navan O'Mahony's appearance in a relegation play-off at the end of 2000 was a one-off, a blip in the greater design of Meath's most famous club, were proved wrong when the trap-door opened this year. The club will have a battle on its hands to reclaim its place at the top table of football in the county but, with such a famous tradition, it would be folly to write off their chances of doing so at the first attempt. The initial signs make for pleasant reading for O'Mahony's' broad band of hardened followers, as the club quickly recovered from the blow of championship relegation to cement promotion to Division 1 of the All-County 'A' League, topping off the year with a hard-fought victory over Donaghmore/Ashbourne in the Division 2 final in November. It was a performance that should not be considered lightly, although it will undoubtedly be in danger of suffering that fate. Donaghmore/Ashbourne have languished in the bottom half of the intermediate grade recently, and as such many would expect them to prove canon-fodder to any self-respecting senior side, as O'Mahony's would purport to be. But the men from the Dublin border have been renowned as a side that reserve their best for league action, with excellent home form the principal factor in their push to the top division. The league formed the centre-point of their season since it became clear that they would not go close to outright success in the intermediate championship. While Donaghmore/Ashbourne were focusing all their energies into a league campaign, O'Mahony's were struggling to salvage their senior status, with a series of disheartening displays plunging them into the mire of a relegation play-off. That game, against Summerhill, yielded the lowest return of any senior side this year. Indeed, the 0-6 to 1-2 scoreline in Summerhill's favour drew many who would normally revel in the difficulties of such a big club to question whether such a pitiful return was a symptom of a greater ill, detrimentally effecting the sport within the town of Navan and which could only have a negative influence on the county as a whole. In effect, the realisation that crisis in Navan could conceivably result in crisis in Meath struck home forcefully. It was a relief, then, to O'Mahony's followers in particular, to witness the resolve that dragged the club to the top of the Division 2 rostrum, exhibiting the type of resilience and battle-hardiness that will inevitably be necessary if they are to escape from the intermediate mire next summer. All the more encouraging from an O'Mahony's point of view was the fact that they were compelled to do it with 14 men for most of the game, the influential Niall McKeigue having been dismissed before half-time. The Navan side's chief characteristic is youth, with none of their starting forwards in the league final over the age of 21. The McKeigues, Niall and younger brother Shane, are now key players, while Stephen Bray and Thomas Loughran, both county under 21s in the past year, also fall into that category. O'Mahony's carved themselves a first half lead through Philip Treacy's early goal, and they battled admirably to defend it when Donaghmore/Ashbourne put them under pressure at various stages of the second half to hold on for the victory. That they did it in the depths of early winter, barely a month after one of the worst performances in the club's history had resulted in relegation, must be a source of pride and, dare we say it, optimism for those involved in the club. The New Year will bring new challenges for everyone at the club, but if this year's league final denouement is anything to go by, they will not fail on commitment. And, with as many as ten championship games to look forward to next year, they will need every ounce of that to regain their place in senior football. Tweet

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