Bunbrosna's capture of the minor football league Division 2 title was among the highlights of another progressive year for the Longford-border club. Despite having to pull out all the stops to preserve their senior status, 2008 was a relatively successful year for Bunbrosna who captured the All-County League Division 2 and minor football league Division 2 crowns. The blue and whites also captured the under 21 13-a-side final at the beginning of this year and are looking to the future with much optimism. "We've a good underage set-up and that bodes well for the future," enthuses underage secretary Joe Scally. "Our minor team enjoyed a successful year and many of those lads also played on the under 21 team that won the 13-a-side final and reached the semi-final of the 15-a-side championship. Ten of the minor team are eligible for the grade again this year, while all of the under 21 team are underage again. "The likes of Kevin Mitchell and Ken Conroy have already graduated from the minor team to the senior team, and another three or four played for the juniors last year," he adds. Much was expected of the Cormac McCormack/Tommy Murphy managed minor team after they claimed the Division 3 league title in 2007, and they certainly didn't disappoint. They topped a group that included Tubberclair, St. Michael's Blues, Kilbeggan/St. Joseph's, Killucan, Rosemount, St. Mary's and Shandonagh to set up a meeting with the latter in the Division 2 final at Kinnegad just before Christmas. The early exchanges were close but from the moment man of the match Barry O'Meara outpaced the Shandonagh defence and finished the ball to the bottom corner of the net for the first goal in the 19th minute, the result was never in any doubt. Tommy Barry's opening score after just 20 seconds was quickly cancelled out by Ken Conroy's equaliser for Bun'. The sides were level on 0-3 apiece before Bun' opened up a two-point gap thanks to efforts from Fintan Connaughton and Kevin Mitchell. O'Meara's goal increased their advantage to 1-5 to 0-3, and further minors from O'Meara (two) and Liam Walsh helped them to a 1-8 to 0-4 interval lead. Ken Conroy pushed Bunbrosna further ahead before O'Meara set up Robbie Bourke for their second goal. Shandonagh were still trying to regain their composure when Fintan Connaughton's free was knocked down by Bourke into the path of Padraig Maher, whose shot beat goalkeeper Sean Barry for a third time. Damien Moran pulled back a goal for Shandonagh with 10 minutes remaining, but Bun' capped off a dominant display with late points from Ciaran Yourell, Bourke and O'Meara. "It was a great way to end the year, and made up for our championship loss to Tang/Maryland, who went on to win the Division 1 league title," says Scally, whose son Ronan was corner back on the minor team. The Bunbrosna senior team can also look back on the year with a degree of satisfaction, having secured promotion to Division 1 of the All-County League and retained their senior status after being drawn in the proverbial 'Group of Death' in the championship. Despite some encouraging performances, including a famous victory over Athlone, they finished bottom of the group but recovered to beat Ballinagore in a relegation play-off after a replay. Bernard Smith's charges opened their championship campaign with a 2-9 to 3-10 defeat to Garrycastle at St. Loman's. After an evenly contested first half, Garrycastle re-emerged for the second half in determined mood and the introduction of rising star Aidan Browne at midfield had a major impact. Within five minutes, Dessie Dolan had converted two frees, Paul Dillon had also pointed and Alan Daly had pounced for a goal. Bunbrosna responded with a goal from former county minor Kieran Brennan to close the gap to two points, but after Dolan had converted two further frees, Justin McAteer put the game beyond the underdogs' reach with his second goal of the game. Bun' bounced back with a 1-7 to 0-6 victory over Athlone, with county player Peter Tormey accounting for 0-6 of their tally. They opened up an early two-point lead before Athlone regained parity at 0-3 each by the 24th minute. Crucially, Bun' were never headed and after Tormey edged them into a 0-7 to 0-6 lead with nine minutes remaining, young substitute Ken Conroy scored the only goal in the 58th minute to seal the win. That was to prove the highlight of Bun's campaign as they lost their remaining group matches to Mullingar Shamrocks, Tyrrellspass and Castledaly. Against Shamrocks, the blue and whites gave as good as they got in the first half, but the concession of two goals - scored by Cian O'Leary and Fiachra Spellman at the start of the second half - left them with a mountain to climb and they eventually succumbed to a 0-7 to 2-6 defeat. Bunbrosna were left to rue a tally of 12 wides following their 2-8 to 0-17 loss to reigning champions Tyrrellspass. Eight of those wides came in the first half, at the end of which they only led 1-3 to 0-5 despite having dominated. Tyrrellspass made them pay after half-time when they surged into a 0-12 to 1-4 lead, but Bernard Smith's men refused to wilt and after Kevin Mitchell scored their second goal, Peter Tormey brought them level with five minutes remaining. However, Tyrrellspass finished with three unanswered points from David Murphy, Martin Flanagan and Kevin Connell to take the spoils. Bunbrosna's involvement in a relegation battle was confirmed after they lost their final group match to Castledaly by 0-10 to 0-17. The champions-elect were just two points to the good, 0-8 to 0-6, at half-time, but they had stretched their lead to 0-14 to 0-8 before Bun' were awarded a penalty. Unfortunately for them, Fintan Finnan could only manage a point and so ended their hopes of staging a late rally. The Longford-border club went into their relegation play-off against Ballinagore as favourites to avoid the drop, but only prevailed after a replay. A James Durkan goal helped Ballinagore to a 1-4 to 0-6 interval lead, but with Peter Tormey in fine scoring form, Bun' opened up a five-point lead with eight minutes to go. However, Ballinagore refused to submit to their slicker opponents and despite Enda Murphy saving Michael Ennis' penalty in the final minute of normal time, they forced extra-time with a last-gasp goal from Durkan. The sides could not be separated in the additional period, finishing level on 0-17 to 2-11. Bunbrosna finally underlined their superiority by winning the replay 3-10 to 1-6 under lights at St. Loman's, and thus sending Ballinagore back down to the intermediate ranks after just one season. Played in appalling conditions, there was never any doubt about who was going to win the replay, with Conor Newman's goal giving the favourites a five-point cushion, 1-4 to 0-2, at the break. A pointed free by Thomas McDaniel just 45 seconds after the restart suggested Ballinagore would not lie down easily, but Bun's quickly stamped their authority with a quick-fire 1-1 from Kevin Mitchell. A third goal from Noel Kiernan put the issue beyond doubt, and all that Ballinagore could muster in reply was a late goal from Michael Ennis as Bun' ran out convincing 3-10 to 1-6 winners. "Playing in the 'Group of Death' last year will have toughened them up a fair bit and with a more favourable draw this year, they could make it through to the knockout stages," the Bun' underage secretary concludes. The Bunbrosna minor team that captured the Division 2 league title was: Mark Wilson; Michael Connell, David Newman, Ronan Scally; Ciaran Murphy, Conor Lyons, Ciaran Yourell; Fintan Connaughton, Kevin Mitchell; Padraig Maher, Ken Conroy, Corey Doherty; Liam Walsh, Robbie Bourke, Barry O'Meara. Subs used: Alan Beglan, Shane McGovern, Emmett Brennan and Alan Killian. Bun crowned under 21 champions Bunbrosna made the perfect start to this year when they captured the 2008 under 21 13-a-side football championship. The players' hard work and dedication over the winter months paid off handsomely when they accounted for Milltownpass by 1-13 to 1-6 in the final. Seven-point winners over Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall in the semi-final, Bunbrosna laid the foundations for their victory in the first half when they built up a 0-8 to 0-0 lead. Milltownpass came storming back after half-time to draw level, but some shrewd positional changes steadied Bun' and they went on to record a comprehensive win. Bunbrosna's under 21 championship winning team was: Paudie Maher; Ronan Scally, Darren Geerah; David Newman, Simon Moorehead, Sean Walsh; Andrew Whitney, Conor Lyons; Ken Conroy, Kevin Mitchell, Jamie Shaw; Fintan Connaughton, Barry O'Meara. Subs used: Liam Mitchell, Alan Maguire and Michael Connell. Tweet

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