St. Fintan's/Multyfarnham may have endured another difficult year at junior level, but there are signs that results are about to improve. Underage secretary and junior team selector Michael Feerick is convinced that there are better times ahead. Lean times these may be for St. Fintan's/Multyfarnham, but the county's youngest club cannot be accused of sitting back and allowing the trend of recent years to continue. Junior championship finalists as recently as 1997, the Streete/Multy outfit hit rock bottom in 2001 when they were forced to concede walkovers in four of their eight championship matches. While last season's championship campaign again failed to yield any victories, they were at least able to field in all of their games. "Things could only improve after 2001 and, in fairness, we were better organised last year," says underage secretary and junior team selector Michael Feerick. "But any year you fail to win a championship match has to be a disappointment and we realise that we still have a long way to go before we get back to the level we were at in 1997." The tone for the year was set on April 13 when St. Fintan's/Multyfarnham lost to St. Joseph's by 0-3 to 3-18. Two weeks later, they produced their most spirited performance of the campaign when they drew with Loughnavalley on a 1-12 to 2-9 scoreline. Thereafter, it was one disappointment after another for the Longford-border side as they suffered defeats to Ballycomoyle (0-3 to 1-12), St. Loman's (0-4 to 2-11), St. Paul's (2-3 to 2-20), Milltown (0-8 to 3-8) and Caulry (0-3 to 2-12). In an effort to revive their fortunes at adult level, the club is currently embarking on a major underage development programme. The emphasis is being placed on the youth in the hope that St. Fintan's/Multyfarnham will become a force to be reckoned with in the junior championship. "We have recognised the fact that there hasn't been enough young players coming through into the adult team and we are now trying to remedy that problem. There has to be a constant flow of young players, otherwise the club will continue to struggle," explains Feerick. St. Fintan's/Multy have stepped up their underage drive considerably in the past couple of years. In the Multyfarnham area, Feerick, Sean Kelly, Ollie Kidd, Tony O'Neill, Martin O'Connor and Mervyn O'Connor have taken on the responsibility of coaching the youngsters. Willie Campbell, Jimmy Brady, Sheila Callinan and Trish Brady are undertaking a similar task in Streete. "Here in Multyfarnham, we have about 50 youngsters between the ages of eight and 12 training with us. With the opening of our new dressingrooms, we now have the facilities to cater for the young players. "We have also benefited from the great work being carried out by John O'Reilly in St. Cremin's National School. "The Streete end wouldn't have the same number of players between those ages, but I know that the coaches involved are also doing excellent work." In the under 14 and under 16 grades, St. Fintan's/Multyfarnham joined forces with Bunbrosna last year. Without winning a trophy, both teams were quite successful with the under 16 side, in particular, enjoying an excellent league campaign. The mentors involved with these teams from St. Fintan's/Multyfarnham were John Moran, Denis Kelly, Sean Kelly and Michael Feerick. St. Fintan's/Multy went it alone at minor level, and while they gave a good account of themselves, they will also be amalgamating with Bunbrosna for the coming year. Staying with underage matters, St. Fintan's/Multy were represented on the county under 14 panel by Stephen Moran last year. Prior to then, Leeroy Casserly had been the last underage player from the club to wear the Westmeath colours. Over the past number of years, ladies football has taken a firm root in the Streete, Multy and Bunbrosna areas with the advent of the Clann Gaels club. Last September, Clann celebrated a major breakthrough when they captured the under 12 premier championship at Garrycastle's expense. Garrycastle led by 0-2 to 0-1 at the interval, but second half points from Anne-Marie Dolan, Charlene Newman and Sinead Duffy ensured Clann Gaels of a 0-5 to 0-3 victory. Clann had many outstanding performers, including Tracy Tighe, Sinead Tormey, Madeline Mullen, Duffy, Newman and Dolan. January 28 last marked the 10th anniversary of the formation of St. Fintan's/Multyfarnham and, despite the lack of success in interim, Feerick believes the amalgamation of the two clubs has been a success. "There were teething problems at the start, but I think we have overcome those difficulties at this stage. Both St. Fintan's and Multyfarnham were fighting for their survival 10 years ago and really, we had no option but to amalgamate," he says. Feerick has been delighted with the club's start to 2003 - at the time of writing, they had beaten both Ballinagore and Ballycomoyle and drawn with Loughnavalley in Division 7 of the All-County League. He feels the addition of five or six of last year's minor team has had a positive impact on the junior side and is looking forward to the championship with a certain degree of confidence. "While it might be a bit soon for us to start talking about winning a junior championship, I'm convinced that we can take a step in that direction this year. "The emergence of the younger lads has strengthened the squad and our player/manager Brendan Coughlan has been getting great turnouts for training. The start we've had to this year reminds me a lot of '97 when we got on a roll which carried us all the way to the junior final. "We're taking each game as it comes and hopefully we'll be able to string a few wins together in the championship. While a good run in the championship would be great for morale, we'd gladly settle for promotion from Division 7 to start off with," he concludes. Tweet

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