In a year when the Ballynacargy senior side failed to set the championship alight, it was left to the club's under 16 team to bring home the bacon. Club secretary and under 16 manager Damien Maher recalls an eventful year. Quarter-finalists in the 2000 senior football championship, Ballynacargy failed to make the same impression in the season just past. In five championship outings, Bal' managed just one win and a draw which proved enough to keep them safe from a relegation play-off. But it could have been so different had the blue and golds not lost a game they should have won against Athlone. "We were still in contention for the quarter-finals until we lost that game," notes club secretary Damien Maher. "At the end of normal time, we were a point ahead but Joe Fallon scored two points for Athlone in the time added on by the referee to give Athlone the win. It was a heartbreaking defeat and ended our hopes of progressing," he adds. That disappointment was quickly forgotten about in light of the club's triumph in the under 16 'B' championship. A thrilling 1-8 to 1-7 victory over St. Mary's in the final at Shandonagh in early November provided Ballynacargy with a rare taste of underage success and much hope for the future. For Damien Maher, the success was especially satisfying. He, along with Tommy O'Reilly, Noel Drew and Padraig Price, oversaw what was the club's first under 16 championship win in 10 years. "We were over the moon after the final," he recalls. "It's not every year that Ballynacargy wins a championship at underage level so in that regard, it meant an awful lot. This same group of players were also successful at under 14 level in 1999 so its encouraging to see that they haven't lost their winning habit." The under 16s played two games in reaching the final. They beat Millmore Gaels in the quarter-final by seven points before overcoming a strong Kilbeggan Shamrocks/St. Joseph's outfit in the semi-final. The semi-final win was achieved very much against the odds as Bal' were without the services of both Nigel Mills and Stephen Penrose. The final was played at Shandonagh and what a contest it proved to be. Ballynacargy made all the early running and, thanks to a goal from Cathal McKeon, led by 1-2 to 0-0 after 14 minutes. But St. Mary's responded impressively with a goal from Ciaran Geraghty bringing them back into contention. The Rochfortbridge lads tagged on three points to take the lead but Ballynacargy finished the half strongly with points from team captain Dwayne Maher (two) and Griffin Kearney giving them a 1-5 to 1-3 lead at the break. St. Mary's had restored parity by the 10th minute of the second half but Bal' regained a two-point advantage after 17 minutes. Stephen Penrose and Cathal McKeon both had chances to end the game as a contest but St. Mary's goalkeeper John Peppard denied them with a couple of outstanding saves. When a brace of points from Robbie Kenny brought St. Mary's level with three minutes remaining, a replay looked to be on the cards. But Ballynacargy weren't finished and a superb point from county player Richard Price in injury-time earned them a dramatic win. It was only the second time in Ballynacargy's history that they had won a championship at under 16 level, the first coming at the expense of Kilbeggan Shamrocks in 1991. "I think this win was more significant as the championship which we won in 1991 was only 13-a-side. In saying that, if we can get the same number of players through to the adult team as we did back then, we'll be more than happy. Ger Heduvan, Mark Wallace and Shane Maher are just some of those who graduated successfully from that under 16 team to senior level," Damien explains. The Westmeath Topic's GAA correspondent, Maher is fulsome in his praise of the character and commitment the players showed throughout the campaign. He reserves special praise for Concepta Murtagh who worked tirelessly behind the scenes. Ballynacargy made a far from satisfactory start in the senior championship. They sought a postponement of their opening game against Garrycastle on May 12 owing to the death of clubman Dan Keena the previous day. However, their request was turned down by the county board and Ballynacargy duly crashed to a 1-5 to 4-16 defeat. The blue and golds chalked up their only win of the campaign against St. Mary's on June 24 at Castletown-Geoghegan. St. Mary's were rampant in the first half and took a 1-9 to 1-2 lead into the interval. But Ballynacargy staged a memorable revival in the second half which culminated in a match-winning point from Ger Heduvan. The final score was Ballynacargy 2-10, St. Mary's 1-12. Bal' kept their quarter-final hopes alive following a 0-12 to 0-12 draw with Castledaly on July 11 at Kilbeggan. Castledaly dominated the first half and were 0-8 to 0-2 in front at the break. But with Jason Wallace, Anthony Maher and Liam Reilly all superb, Ballynacargy roared back into contention in the second half and had edged into a 0-12 to 0-10 lead with only minutes remaining. There was still time, however, for Castledaly to salvage a share of the spoils. Against Athlone, Ballynacargy had a crucial victory snatched from their grasp. They led by 0-3 to 0-2 at the interval and, despite falling behind in the third quarter, battled back to regain the lead. As the game moved into injury-time, it looked as though Ballynacargy would hold on but two late points from Joe Fallon gave the Shannonsiders a 0-9 to 0-8 victory. That defeat ended Ballynacargy's hopes of advancing to the quarter-finals and with relegation not a threat, a lack of interest was evident in their final outing against St. Loman's which resulted in a resounding 3-11 to 0-8 win for the Mullingar side. This season, Frank Mescall has regained the managerial reins from Frank Lynam. Mescall was in charge of the Ballyncargy team which won back-to-back junior and intermediate championships in 1995 and '96 and he also guided Mullingar Shamrocks to a senior championship success two seasons ago. "Frank Mescall and Ballynacargy go back a long way and his track record with the club is second to none. We were a little bit disappointed with the way things panned out last year but hopefully a place in the knock-out stages will be secured this season," Damien says. "While our main aim is to make our mark in the championship, we'll also be doing our utmost to get promotion to Division 1. We've been stuck in Division 2 since 1995 and it's about time that we got out of it." For the record, the Ballynacargy team which captured the under 16 'B' football championship was: Barry Leavy; Bernard Nally, Alan Keena, Declan Penrose; William Murtagh, Andrew Heduvan, Mark Beglan; Richard Price (0-2), Dwayne Maher (0-4); Darragh Keena, Griffin Kearney (0-1), Vincent Eivers; James Maher (0-1), Cathal McKeon (1-0), Stephen Penrose. Sub used: Nigel Mills. Tweet

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