A new name was added to the All-Ireland Garda inter-divisional football roll of honour recently when Longford/Westmeath defeated Dublin Metropolitan Region West to claim their first title. Delighted with their success was Frank Fallon of Rathboy Developments, who were one of the team's sponsors. The Longford/Westmeath Garda division claimed their first All-Ireland football title following a thrilling extra-time victory over their Dublin Metropolitan Region West counterparts at Sarsfields GAA club in Newbridge on December 6 last. Team captain and former Roscommon sharpshooter Derek Duggan notched up 0-8 (0-6 from frees) as the midlanders emerged as 1-14 to 0-14 winners of a hard-fought All-Ireland inter-divisional final. Afterwards, Duggan expressed his gratitude to the sponsors who had supported the Longford/Westmeath team so generously throughout the campaign, and among them was locally-based company Rathboy Developments Ltd. "It was a great win and we were delighted to be associated with the team," enthuses Frank Fallon, who doubles up as a garda and as a director of Rathboy Developments. "The garda championship is very competitive and all of the teams have players with inter-county experience, so it was a great achievement for Longford/Westmeath to win it outright. They played some excellent football and showed a lot of character to beat a strong Dublin West team in the final after extra-time." The Longford/Westmeath team comprised gardai based in the division and was managed by Rochfortbridge man and garda sergeant Tom Judge and his co-selectors Martin McGowan and Brian Willoughby. In qualifying for the All-Ireland final, the midlanders defeated Wexford and Louth/Meath to capture only their second Leinster title. In the All-Ireland semi-final, they enjoyed a fine win over the Sligo/Mayo/Leitrim division. There was a twist to the final before the ball was even thrown in by replacement referee and former Meath football manager Eamonn Barry. Longford/Westmeath were originally scheduled to play their Limerick counterparts, but they were unable to fulfil the fixture for a second week running, allowing Dublin Metropolitan Region West (DMR West), who had lost the semi-final replay to Limerick by a point after extra-time, to challenge for the honours. Both teams fielded players with inter-county experience. On the Longford/Westmeath side, there was Enda Daly (Roscommon), Fergal Reynolds (Leitrim), Ray Greenan (Leitrim), Padraig Jones (Longford), Aidan Lyons (Westmeath), Ronan Loftus (Mayo), Brian Monaghan (Offaly), the Duggan brothers, Derek and Ken, who both played with Roscommon, and Galway and Ireland defender Kieran Fitzgerald, who saw action as a substitute. Ironically, the DMR West team featured two Westmeath men in 1995 Westmeath All-Ireland minor medalist Colm Coyne lined out at wing back and Graham Dillon, who captained the county under 21 side last year and was also on the senior panel. Indeed, their Lake County contingent would have been even greater had the captain from the 1995 Tom Markham Cup winning side, Damien Gavin, not been work-tied. The midlanders were quickly into their stride and led by 0-4 to 0-1 at the end of the first quarter thanks to three points from Derek Duggan and another from Ronan Loftus. However, DMR West had narrowed the gap to 0-6 to 0-4 at the interval with Willie Skelly and Michael Tarpy leading the comeback. Longford/Westmeath looked to be coasting when Duggan knocked down a high centre into the path of Loftus who scrambled to the net midway through the second half. But the Dublin side then staged a great recovery to take the lead for the first time with a Padraig Shanley point five minutes from the end. But two minutes later, Duggan pointed a free to send the game to extra-time. With Kieran Fitzgerald making a big impression following his introduction as a half-time substitute, Longford/Westmeath took control of the game in the first period of extra-time. Derek Duggan, Fitzgerald, Derek McDonnell and Brian Monaghan were all on the mark as the midlanders surged into a four-point lead. Duggan made it a five-point game when he fisted over early in the second period, but the Dubliners hit back with two pointed frees from Skelly. Crucially, Adrian O'Reilly got the next score for Longford/Westmeath after being set up by Mark Carty and Derek Duggan. A late point from Brian Fahey left a goal between the sides again and Longford/Westmeath found themselves hanging on for the win with a great catch by Carty inside his own square being the final piece of action. The All-Ireland trophy was presented to the winning captain Derek Duggan by Chief Superintendent Willie Ryan shortly after the final whistle had sounded. Along with his business partner Phelim Heduvan, Frank Fallon set up Rathboy Developments three years ago. Based in Longford, Rathboy Developments is a property development company which currently has two small housing schemes ongoing in Drumlish and Kenagh. There are 12 homes in the Drumlish development which is called Slieve Rua, and five in Kenagh. Phelim owns another construction firm called Pentium Construction, which he operates from his home village of Ballynacargy. This company is currently carrying out developments in Mullingar and Ballinasloe. Both Frank and Phelim hail from strong GAA backgrounds. A native of Ballyleague on the Roscommon-Longford border, Frank played football with the local St. Faithleach's club before having spells with St. Mary's, Rochfortbridge and Mostrim (Edgeworthstown). Phelim played with Ballynacargy and indeed the Heduvan name is synonymous with the GAA in the north Westmeath village. Frank was delighted to see St. Faithleach's reach last year's Roscommon SFC final for the first time since the 1980s. A 1-6 to 1-5 victory over Roscommon Gaels earned them a meeting with holders St. Brigid's at Hyde Park. St. Faithleach's battled hard throughout and trailed by the minimum with two minutes remaining before Frankie Dolan pointed from a sideline kick to give St. Brigid's a 1-7 to 1-5 win. The Kiltoom side subsequently won the Connacht championship and gave a very good account of themselves in the All-Ireland semi-final against Crossmaglen, which they lost by 0-11 to 1-11. It's 42 years since St. Faithleach's last won a senior football championship, but with players of the calibre of Gary and Ray Cox, Tom Ryan, Derek Thompson, Enda Kenny and last year's Roscommon All-Ireland minor winning star Stephen Ormsby, they will be quietly confident of ending that drought this year. "St. Faithleach's have made huge progress recently and reaching last year's county final was a great achievement for them. Losing the final was obviously a big disappointment, but hopefully they'll be able to bounce back this year," Fallon concludes. The victorious Longford/Westmeath team was: Enda Daly (Granard); Ray Greenan (Longford), Donal Carroll (Mullingar), Fergal Reynolds (Longford); Padraig Jones (Mullingar), Aidan Lyons (Athlone), Conor Egan (Longford); Derek McDonnell (Athlone), Mark Carty (Mullingar); Adrian O'Reilly (Mullingar), Brian Monaghan (Mullingar), Ronan Loftus (Mullingar); Ken Duggan (Athlone), Derek Duggan (Mullingar), Roghan Headen (Mullingar). Subs used: Kieran Fitzgerald (Athlone), Joe Kenny (Mullingar), Danny Maguire (Mullingar) and Alan Hogan (Mullingar). Tweet

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