St. Brigid's enjoyed one of their best ever years at underage level, something which has provided club chairman Paul Deegan with plenty of hope for the future. A club on its knees a few years ago, St. Brigid's revival continued apace last season when the Dalystown club captured no fewer than three underage titles. The months of October and November proved to be hugely successful as they first claimed the under 12 'B' championship title and followed it up with similar successes in the under 16 and under 21 grades. These triumphs more than atoned for what was a bitterly disappointing year for the intermediate side. In six championship outings, St. Brigid's managed just one win which represented a very poor return for a team that had operated in the senior ranks in 2001. "What we achieved at underage level more than made up for the disappointment we experienced in the intermediate championship," notes club chairman Paul Deegan. "A bad year suddenly turned into a great one in the space of a few weeks. Winning 'B' titles mightn't mean much to some clubs, but they meant an awful lot to us. We have put a lot of work into our underage set-up and it's nice to see it paying off," he adds. St. Brigid's success last year is all the more remarkable when it's considered that the club almost went out of existence at the close of 1998. Results and player turnouts had been so poor that it seemed the Saffrons had no future. But, following an emergency general meeting, players and officials voted unanimously in favour of keeping the club afloat. It was a decision they could have no regrets about. In 2000, the Dalystown outfit defied all the odds by gaining promotion to the senior ranks following a sensational victory over St. Oliver Plunkett's in the intermediate decider. They may have only survived one season in the top flight, but last year's achievements suggest that it won't be long before they are competing against the big fish again. "It's amazing the way things have turned around for us over the past few years," remarks Deegan, who accepted the chairman's position when nobody else wanted it. "We were very close to disbanding but, thankfully, we did something about it and haven't looked back since. We're not a very big club, but the fellas involved are very proud and would hate to see it go out of existence. Winning the intermediate championship in 2000 helped to turn the corner for us and now that we're winning underage titles again, I'd like to think that we are in a reasonably healthy state." Under the management of Nollaig McEntaggert, Marius Gavin and Michael Flanagan, St. Brigid's captured the under 12 'B' championship with a 6-2 to 4-0 victory over Delvin at Robinstown on October 6. Delvin looked set to take the title when they led by four points with five minutes remaining, but the the Dalystown side staged a remarkable recovery to claim the spoils. Christopher Coyne gave St. Brigid's a dream start by notching 1-2 in the early stages. But Delvin hit back with two goals to lead by the minimum at half-time. Coyne added a second goal on the restart, but Delvin had putting themselves in pole position with time running out. In an astonishing finale, however, man of the match Coyne bagged three more goals and a further major from Keith Morgan put the seal on a memorable win. The weekend of November 23-24 bore witness to two more St. Brigid's underage successes. The under 21 'B' championship was annexed on the Saturday when St. Brigid's cruised to a 1-13 to 1-1 victory over Cullion at Springfield. The following day, the under 16 'B' title was added following an equally emphatic 1-10 to 0-1 triumph over Crookedwood at Cullion. Coincidentally, both teams were managed by Sean Gallagher with Jimmy Gallagher acting as his assistant. The under 21 decider was slow to heat up and it wasn't until the 16th minute that the first score arrived. With Dermot Faulkner in fine scoring form and Damien Loran excelling at midfield, St. Brigid's went on to dominate the remainder of the half. A Jonathan Sheridan goal helped the Saffrons to a 1-4 to 0-1 lead at the break. Further points from Faulkner, Michael Geraghty and Thomas Geraghty had extended St. Brigid's advantage to 10 points, 1-8 to 0-1, before Sam Foran pulled back a goal for Cullion to give them a glimmer of hope. St. Brigid's finished powerfully, however, with late scores from Faulkner (three) and Thomas Geraghty putting the result beyond all doubt. The under 16 decider was just as one-sided with the impressive Dalystown side making light work of Crookedwood's challenge. The writing was on the wall for the 'Wood at half-time when they trailed by 1-5 to 0-0. And it didn't get any better for them in the second half. St. Brigid's had powered into a 0-5 to 0-0 lead before Andy Devien scored the first half's only goal. With John Peppard, Gavin Hoey and Kevin Reid in unyielding form at the back, the Saffrons continued to hold the whip hand following the change of ends and they made sure of victory with some fine scores from Drew Morgan, Martin Malone and Devine. In contrast to the underage teams, success never looked likely for the St. Brigid's intermediate team in 2002. In fact, it was more of a damage limitation exercise. The tone for the year was set when St. Brigid's lost their opening championship match to Southern Gaels. Further defeats to Turin, Crookedwood, Ringtown and Lough Lene Gaels left them badly demoralised. But a whitewash was avoided when they shocked Delvin on a 0-12 to 1-7 scoreline - a result which effectively put paid to the Valley men's semi-final hopes. Deegan, who captained St. Brigid's to a under 21 'premier' title in 1979, is far from downbeat, despite last year's poor showing. "I think we were always going to be up against it last year, especially after our experiences at senior level the previous year. It might sound very negative, but I don't think we were prepared for senior hurling when we went up. We won the intermediate championship far quicker than we had expected. "Our cause was not helped last year when our centre back Mick Carley went to Australia for six months. But he has since returned to us and this, coupled with the emergence of players like Damien Loran, Philip Sheridan and Michael Geraghty, has given us grounds for optimism. "Our aim for the coming year is to reach the championship semi-final. For that to happen, though, we must win our first couple of games. We are the sort of club that could win a championship if we got on a run. But, being realistic, I think it could be another two-to-three years before we have a team capable of giving a good account of itself at senior level," he concluded. The St. Brigid's under 12 championship winning team was: Stephen Quinn; Ronan Flanagan, Damien Moran, Billy Maher; Kevin Loughrey, Darragh Coyne, Sean Deegan; Francis Nally, Aidan Fallon; Kevin Morgan, Cathal Coyne, Daniel Crombie; Conor Slevin, Christopher Coyne, Jason Feery. Sub used: Brendan Keegan. The victorious under 21 team was: David Glennon; Damien Gallagher, Adrian Gallagher; Seamus Faulkner, Philip Sheridan, Denis Glennon; Damien Loran, Michael Geraghty; Thomas Geraghty, Paul Brady, Larry Poynton; Jonathan Sheridan, Dermot Faulkner. Subs used: Robbie Kenny, Gordon Gonoud and Adrian Eighan. The under 16 team that defeated Crookedwood was: David Wright; Shane Gleeson, John Peppard; Trevor Gonoud, Gavin Hoey, Kevin Reid; Aaron Gavin, Michael Malone; Damien Keegan, Drew Morgan, Robert Reid; David Glennon, Andy Devine. Subs used: James Troy, Kieran Geraghty and Derek Gallagher. Tweet

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