Maryland's rise continues
April 30, 2010Any notions that Maryland would rest on their laurels after a hugely successful 2008 were well and truly dispelled when they surpassed expectations by reaching the quarter-finals of last year's senior championship.
That was the highlight of a year that also saw the Fr Brady Park club achieve promotion from Division 2 of the All-County League and win the Ratoath All-Ireland Intermediate Sevens title. And it wasn't a bad year either for the Maryland/Tang underage combination who retained their minor club championship Division 1 title and were also crowned under 14 Division champions.
"It was a very good year overall," enthuses long-serving forward David Martin, who captained Maryland in their first season back in the senior ranks in nearly 30 years.
"Our target at the start of the year was to retain our senior status and to get into Division 1 of the league. Both of these goals were achieved and we had the added bonus of qualifying for the knockout stages of the championship.
"We also won the All-Ireland Intermediate Sevens in Ratoath which was a big thing for us. It was great to see us building on the progress we made in 2008 and hopefully we'll continue to go from strength to strength in the year ahead."
A member of Westmeath's 1995 All-Ireland minor winning team, Martin claims Maryland haven't looked back since their triumph in RTE's inaugural 'Celebrity Bainisteoir' competition in May 2008. Managed by TV presenter Marty Whelan, the Drumraney boys captured the public's imagination with a brilliant victory over Mayfield of Cork in the final at Parnell Park.
"The whole thing has snowballed since we won 'Celebrity Bainisteoir'," Martin says.
"It was a great experience from the point of view that it instilled belief in us. And because all of our games were played away from home, it helped bond us and bring us closer together.
"We have become accustomed to success in the last couple of years and hopefully there will be more to come in the years ahead."
Maryland bucked the recent trend of newly-promoted clubs struggling in the senior ranks when they not only consolidated their top-flight status, but also reached the quarter-final where they gave a fine account of themselves against Tyrrellspass. They made a perfect start to the championship when beating Bunbrosna by 0-11 to 0-6 at Moate. With Kieran Martin, David Martin and Callum McCormack in fine scoring form, the 2008 intermediate champions led by 0-7 to 0-1 at half-time. Bunbrosna reduced the arrears to three points early in the second half, but McCormack steadied the ship before further points from Kieran and David Martin made for a triumphant return to the senior ranks.
Maryland gave champions-elect Garrycastle a run for their money in their second outing at Tubberclair before eventually succumbing to a 1-5 to 2-9 defeat. An upset looked to be on the cards when David Martin's 17th minute goal had Maryland 1-4 to 0-4 in front at the break. But Garrycastle's greater physical strength and depth of talent saw them take control in the second half with goals from Gary Dolan and Mark McCallon proving decisive.
Producing arguably their best performance of the campaign, Maryland beat Killucan by 1-16 to 1-9 at Cusack Park to secure their second win. The Drumraney Blues raced into an early 0-6 to 0-0 lead, only for Killucan to rally strongly in the second quarter and take a 1-5 to 0-7 lead into the interval. But Finbarr Egan's charges dominated the second half with forwards Callum McCormack and John Reilly to the fore.
Maryland's hopes of reaching the knockout stages suffered a setback when they lost to reigning champions Castledaly by 0-11 to 1-11 at Moate. There had been little or nothing to separate the south county rivals until Niall O'Neill pounced for the only goal after 18 minutes. Castledaly went on to lead by 1-7 to 0-4 at the break, and despite a much-improved second half display by Maryland, they couldn't get any closer than three points with Callum McCormack's last-minute fisted effort just missing the goal.
Despite conceding a late equalising point to Mullingar Shamrocks' Brian Melody in their final group game at Cusack Park, the result was good enough to send Maryland through to the quarter-finals. Hot favourites Shamrocks led by 1-5 to 0-4 at the half-way stage and Brian O'Sullivan extended their lead on the restart before Maryland roared back into contention with points from Callum McCormack and John Reilly, and a fisted goal from full back Eoin Farrell.
Further points from Kieran Martin and Ronan Moran had Maryland on the cusp of a famous win, but they let Shamrocks off the hook, who fought back to secure a fortunate 1-9 each draw.
Maryland were now in bonus territory and they played with wonderful abandon in the opening half of their quarter-final clash with Tyrrellspass at Lakepoint Park to lead by 0-6 to 0-3 at the break. But within four minutes of the resumption, three quick-fire Denis Glennon points had brought Tyrrellspass level and the 2006 and 2007 champions went on to seal a 1-13 to 0-10 win thanks to a late goal from Martin Flanagan.
Maryland will take their place in Division 1 of the All-County League this year after winning Division 2 for the first time in 2009. They clinched promotion by beating Shandonagh in their final game after going through the campaign unbeaten.
"The Shandonagh game was a winner-takes-all affair and thankfully we came out on the right side of the result to gain promotion to Division 1," Martin remembers.
"That's where we want to be, competing against the best teams on a more regular basis than we had been."
Maryland's victory in the All-Ireland Intermediate Sevens competition in Ratoath, Co. Meath on September 19 helped them to get over the disappointment of exiting the senior championship. The 5-3 to 3-6 victory over Derry side Greenlough in the final ensured further national recognition for the Drumraney club.
"It was a great competition to win and we are looking forward to going back to Ratoath later this year and defending our title. We were invited to play in the competition on the back of winning Celebrity Bainisteoir in 2008 and reached the quarter-final on that occasion. But we went a couple of steps better last year," the sales representative with the Athlone Advertiser explains.
The club received further boosts in October and November when Maryland/Tang claimed both the minor football club championship Division 1 and under 14 Division 2 crowns. The minors beat Coralstown/Kinnegad by 3-7 to 1-6 in a final which was illuminated by a brilliant display by full forward Callum McCormack, who finished with a personal tally of 2-3.
The Westmeath under 21 star found the net after just two minutes to help the combination side to a 1-5 to 0-4 interval lead. McCormack fired home a second goal eight minutes after the restart and a third major from Willie Flanagan put the result beyond doubt.
In the under 14 final at Rosemount, Maryland/Tang withstood a late rally from neighbours Caulry to win by 5-11 to 3-7. The winners looked home and dry when they led by 2-10 to 1-4 12 minutes into the second half, but Caulry stormed back to reduce the deficit to just two points. However, Maryland/Tang hit back with a hat-trick of goals from Conor Smyth, Bryan O'Donoghue and Philip Ganly to claim the spoils.
In the past year, Maryland have carried out a number of improvements to Fr Brady Park, including the construction of new dressing-rooms. Their determination to remain on an upward trajectory is underlined by the recent addition of Offaly great Vinny Claffey to their senior management team.
"We want to keep the momentum going and Vinny will bring fresh impetus to the set-up. He is in there now with Finbarr Egan, Noel Browne and Pat Dunlea, and as well as being a selector, he's helping out with the training and also working closely with the forwards," David says.
"We will be taking each game as it comes and trying to retain our senior championship and Division 1 league status. We've lost the element of surprise at this stage, but with talented youngsters like Callum McCormack, Ronan and Trevor Farrell, and Darren Malynn already making their mark, the future certainly looks bright."
The Maryland team which faced Tyrrellspass in the SFC quarter-final was: John Murray; Philip Rainey, Eoin Farrell, Conor Farrell; Christy Grimes, John Cunningham, Darren Malynn; David Reynolds, Damien Reynolds; Callum McCormack, Kieran Martin, Ronan Moran; John Reilly, David Martin, James Reynolds. Subs used: Ronan Farrell, Liam Reilly, Trevor Farrell and Declan Nugent.
The Maryland/Tang team that captured the minor football club championship Division 1 title was: Martin Donoghue; Trevor Farrell, Chris Connor, Aaron Elliott; Sean Coughlan, Darren Malynn, John Rock; Willie Flanagan, Christy Grimes; Martin Rock, Enda Kincaid, Trevor English; James Ganley, Callum McCormack, Owen Coughlan. Subs used: Chris McCann, Liam Moran, Paul O'Neill, John Connor and Christy Hermbusche.
Maryland/Tang's under 14 Division 2 winning line-up was: Mark Malynn; Conor Brady, Conor Marlan, Billy Elliott; Bryan O'Donoghue, Kenny Egan, Conor Lowry; Philip Ganley, Fergal Farrell; Ian Coughlan, Niall Neary, Lee Coughlan; Keith Malynn, Gary Connaughton, Paul Donoghue. Sub used: Conor Smith. Tweet
