South Westmeath has always been known as the football area in the county with Garrycastle and Athlone dominating the SFC for the last few years. Their sister club Southern Gaels have struggled to promote hurling in the area, although that may be about to all change as loyal club servant Kevin Jordan explains to 'Maroon and White'. Only four years ago, the hurling club in Athlone could barely field an underage side at any level as they had only 30 members affiliated to their juvenile club. As close neighbours Fr Dalton's of Ballymore were in the same predicament it was decided to join forces at underage to give the youngsters a chance of playing the game. Kevin Jordan has had a lifelong association with the club as a player and official and along with fellow clubmen John Foley, Eamon Farrell and Martin Carey as well as Ballymore clubmen Donal Glynn and Mick Kincaid, they have put in place a structure that seen the popularity of the game rise dramatically down South. "Only four years ago, we had 30 underage members," said Kevin. "Apart from the football soccer and rugby have overtaken hurling in the area and it was very hard to get young people interested in the game. "Now following a little bit of success we have 130 members in the juvenile grade, which we are very pleased with, although we know there is still much work to be done." In 2002, three years of hard work paid off as the amalgamation side of Southern Gaels/Fr Dalton's won their first title, the Under-14 'B' championship, while this year they followed that win with success in the Under-14 'A' championship. This year's victory came at the expense of Raharney, Castlepollard and Brownstown in the quarter-final, semi-final and final respectively thus making it quite a remarkable year for the club. Having beaten Raharney and Castlepollard in the earlier rounds, the amalgamation side were slight favourites against their North Westmeath opponents. The final was played as part of a double header as St Oliver Plunkett's played Clonkill in the premier decider in the excellent surroundings of the Pairc Mhaolbhui - the Downs GAA grounds. Brownstown got off to the better start in the match and raced in to a two point lead but the Southerners soon settled into their stride with Eoin Jordan opening their account after ten minutes. Neil Rattigan dropped a 65' for SG/FD into the Brownstown goalmouth and following a scramble the ball broke to Anthony Martin who fired home from close range. The goal lifted the amalgamation side and they increased their lead when Rattigan, Joe Kenny and Conor Foley added points and although Brownstown replied with a point of their own, SG/FD went in leading by 1-04 to 0-3 at half time. Both sides exchanged wides early in the second half before sharpshooter Anthony Martin grabbed his side's second goal of the afternoon, again from close range. The Blues pulled a point back when Sam Norton scored but it was to be their last score until the final few minutes as Southern Gaels/Fr Dalton's took control of the game. Points from Kenny (2), the impressive Rattigan (2) and Pete Murray put the game beyond any doubt as the south Westmeath side clinched the title despite a spirited fight from Brownstown. Joint captains Alan Slevin and Noel Mulligan received the Under-14 'A' shield from Minor Board Chairman Ger Kenny following the match. "It was great to win the 'A' championship after our success in the 'B' the previous year. The grounds at the Downs were exceptional on the day and this helped the standard of hurling, which was very high," said Kevin. "After winning these two titles, it got lads really interested and then we had the problem of trying to keep them playing the game. "But the new sports centre in Athlone has proven to be a great benefit to us and with an astro turf pitch there where we can play ground hurling during the winter. We ran a five-team tournament over the winter and it was a great success and this year we will be fielding a side at every level apart from minor," pointed out Kevin. As another incentive for the youngsters to come out and play the game, the committee have contacted a number of inter-county hurlers from the surrounding areas to come and train the underage teams for one session. Already Tipperary's John Carroll and Galway's Kevin Broderick have coached their underage teams while many more stars of the game are being lined up for similar roles. In the intermediate championship Southern Gaels once again made it to the semi-final stage but went down badly despite a second half come back against eventual champions Delvin. It was a case of the same old story for the Gaels as the dual players in the club gave the majority of their commitment to their football clubs. "Football is without doubt the main priority for most of the lads down here," stressed Kevin. "Training may be good for a few weeks if either Garrycastle or Athlone were not doing much but it's very hard for lads to give full commitment to both codes especially in today's game." The club's adult team did have the chance of success though when they made it to the Intermediate Cup final where they met Turin in the decider. The venue for the match was decided by the toss of a coin with Southern Gaels having home advantage but it was to prove no help as Turin came away victorious. Both clubs have been starved of success in recent years and it was obvious that neither wanted to lose as a well contested match was played, but Turin's ability to take their goalscoring chances was to prove the difference between the sides as they ran out winners on a scoreline of 2-11 to 0-10. Despite having won numerous underage titles, Southern Gaels have found it difficult to retain the mainstream of players right up to adult level and therefore have suffered in their efforts to make a breakthrough to the senior ranks with the age old problem of players committing to football. "But with such a successful underage structure in place at the moment the club is thriving with the hope that many of these kids will stay hurling right up to adult level and who knows, a first senior hurling championship title may not be too long away at all," added Kevin. The South Westmeath side will now look forward to this year's championships with relish as there is a new belief and confidence in the area that hurling will be the top sport amongst young people in the area. With men like Kevin Jordan dedicating their time and knowledge to the coaching side of things, it is a case of onwards and upwards for Southern Gaels. For the record the Southern Gael/Fr Daltons Under-14 'A' championship winning team was: Ciaran Duncan, Alan Slevin, Andrew Slevin, Daryl Wilson, Noel Mulligan, Neil Rattigan (0-3), John Gilligan, Eoin Jordan (0-1), Joe Kenny, (0-4), Martin Hynes, Pete Murray (0-1), Conor McNeill, John O'Toole, Anthony Martin (2-0), Conor Foley. Subs used: Kenneth Kincaid, Robert Mahon, Ciaran Martin, Conor Guinan, and Stephen Conlon. Tweet

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