While the intermediate hurling championship once again eluded them, the year was by no means a failure for Southern Gaels who not only completed a hat-trick of junior 'B' title wins, but also tasted underage success for the first time since 1994. The Athlone-based club maintained their vice-like grip on the junior 'B' championship when they recorded a 0-13 to 1-6 victory over Delvin in the final at Shandonagh on October 6 last. A month earlier, the recently formed Southern Gaels/Fr Dalton's underage amalgamation captured their first ever championship title with a 3-6 to 2-5 victory over Cullion in the under 14 'B' decider. A second title was almost secured in late October, but Southern Gaels/Fr Dalton's were forced to give second best to Clonkill in a keenly contested under 12 'A' final. While regarding the retention of the junior 'B' title as a fine achievement, half forward Paddy Divilly believes the success of the underage teams was of greater significance. "To win the junior 'B' championship for the third year running was a great achievement and a great source of satisfaction for me personally, but from a club point of view, the under 14 success was more important," he says. "I was actually a member of the last Southern Gaels team to win an underage title in 1994 when we beat Turin in the minor 'B' final. Eight years was a long time to be waiting, but the main thing is that we have started winning again. "The amalgamation with Fr Dalton's seems to be working well and it can only benefit both clubs. From the Southern Gaels end, people like Eamonn Farrell, Kevin Jordan and John Foley have been doing trojan work with the youngsters and it's nice to seeing it paying off. The fact that we're also fielding teams at under 8, under 9, under 10 and under 11 level is a reflection of the amount of work that's being put in," he adds. The under 14 'B' triumph represented an historic breakthrough for Southern Gaels/Fr Dalton's. The final, which was played at Cusack Park on September 7, was for the most part dominated by the south county outfit, but opponents Cullion staged a late revival to leave just four points between the sides in the end. Southern Gaels/Fr Dalton's fell behind early on to a Thomas Gillen goal from a penalty, but an unanswered 1-2 from Conor Foley had the amalgamation side in front at the end of the first quarter. They surged further in front when a David McCormack point was followed by a Darragh Lennon goal from 60 metres out. Peter Murray and Lennon tagged on two more minors to leave Southern Gaels/Fr Dalton's perched nicely on a 2-5 to 1-1 lead at the interval. The game looked to be over as a contest just after the restart when Patrick McLoughlin scored a third goal for Southern Gaels/Fr Dalton's. But Cullion refused to throw in the towel with Jamie Shaw's goal bringing them back into contention. Cullion eventually reduced the deficit to three points, but a late free from Darragh Lennon ended their brave fightback. The under 12 'A' final didn't have such a happy ending for Southern Gaels/ Fr Dalton's. Despite staging a late comeback, they succumbed to Clonkill by 2-4 to 3-3. At the end of a low-scoring first half, Clonkill led by 1-1 to 0-1 with Ciaran Martin accounting for the losers' solitary score. On the restart, Michael Heffernan and Gary Moran grabbed goals to stretch the Loughegar side's lead to 10 points. But Southern Gaels/Fr Dalton's dominated the final quarter with goals from Daniel Qualter and Brian Finerty setting up a grandstand finish. However, Clonkill held on for a narrow victory. Under the management of Frank Young and his co-selectors Artie Pyke, Paddy McCormack and Martin Carey, Southern Gaels qualified for the junior 'B' final after topping a group which comprised teams of intermediate status. The outcome was in doubt until the men from the banks of the Shannon fired over four unanswered points in the closing stages to secure a deserved victory. The Gaels applied much of the pressure in the opening half with points from Graeme Corcoran, Ciaran Gantley, Colman Gantley, John Benton and David Johnston putting them in the driving seat. However, a goal from Brian Farrelly on the stroke of half-time gave Delvin an unlikely 1-4 to 0-6 lead at the break. The reigning champions quickly regained the lead on the restart, with Daire McCoy and David Johnson both finding the target. Delvin stayed in touch, though, and with less than 10 minutes remaining, the sides were on level terms. A draw now looked to be on the cards, but Southern Gaels were not about to settle for that. An Aidan St John point, which followed a marvellous run by Paddy Divilly, provided the spark for the Gaels' late surge. In the final three minutes, Corcoran, Benton and Divilly also fired over to copperfasten the win. "It wasn't a great game, but overall, I think we deserved to win," Divilly recalls. "We have had some great battles with Delvin in recent years and there has never been that much between us. But we had the stronger finish on this occasion and it was great to pull off the three-in-a-row." The junior 'B' success atoned somewhat for the disappointment of failing to land the intermediate championship, a prize that has eluded Southern Gaels since 1986. The Gaels qualified for the knock-out stages on the back of wins over St. Brigid's, Lough Lene Gaels and Delvin and a draw with Turin. However, one of the two sides they lost to in the preliminary round phase - Crookedwood - proved their masters once again in the semi-final at Loughegar on September 21. The first half was evenly contested with Crookedwood holding a slender 0-5 to 0-4 lead at the break. Following the resumption, John Orme shot a brace of points to extend Crookedwood's lead, but midfielder Tony O'Keeffe then took centre stage by pointing three frees to restore parity for the Athlone men. However, the 'Wood had regained a two-point advantage before Tony Bardon swooped for the only goal to give them a 1-10 to 0-8 victory. "We were very disappointed to lose that game - I don't think the scoreline did us any justice at all. What also added to the disappointment was it was the second year running that Crookedwood knocked us out of the championship," Divilly says. Despite faltering in last year's semi-final, Divilly is convinced that Southern Gaels can win this year's championship. "I think we've been getting closer and closer over the past few years and I've no doubt that we are capable of winning the championship this year. But we'll have to be firing on all cylinders from the very first match because there is little or nothing to separate any of the intermediate clubs." The Southern Gaels team which captured the junior 'B' championship was: Brendan Kehoe; Nicky Seery, Noel Lyons, Declan Finn; Eoghan Cronin, Daire McCoy, Eoin Duffy; John Benton (captain), David Geraghty; Paddy Divilly, David Johnson, Colman Gantley; Declan Hickey, Graeme Corcoran, Ciaran Gantley. Subs used: Aidan St John and Michael Larkin. The Southern Gaels/Fr Dalton's team which was triumphant in the under 14 'B' championship was: Ciaran Duncan; Andrew Slevin, Martin Lawless, Eoin Jordan; Noel Mulligan, David McCormack, Martin Hynes; Peter Murray, Neil Rattigan; Patrick McLoughlin, Darragh Lennon, Anthony McKnight; Anthony Martin, Conor Foley, Alan Slevin. Sub used: Joe Kenny. Tweet

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