Shield success eludes 'Valley
April 30, 2010appearance in the inaugural Junior Football Shield final.
Loughnavalley came within a whisker of winning their first piece of silverware since 2001 when they were narrowly beaten by Ballycomoyle in the inaugural Junior Football Shield final at the beginning of this year.
After a disappointing championship campaign which saw them finish joint bottom of their section along with St. Joseph's, Loughnavalley's appearance in the much-delayed Shield final gives them hope ahead of the new campaign. Loughnavalley certainly couldn't begrudge fellow minnows Ballycomoyle of their victory as they had to go all the way back to 1991 - when they shocked Ballinagore in the junior championship decider - for their last taste of success.
"It would have been great to win the Junior Shield, particularly as this year is the 60th anniversary of the club's last junior championship success," says last year's captain Stephen McManus.
"Loughnavalley hasn't won anything since the Junior Cup in 2001, so we are starved of success at this stage. The new Junior Shield represented our best chance of winning silverware last season, but it wasn't to be and we just have to regroup now for the coming campaign. It was a good experience for the players to play in a final and hopefully that will stand to them this year."
Under the management of former Raharney hurler Fergus Shaw, who lives in the area, Loughnavalley endured a tough championship campaign which saw them garner just three points from a possible 14. They drew their opening game with Ballycomoyle (1-9 apiece) at Lakepoint Park before suffering three straight defeats to Milltown (1-6 to 0-11), champions-elect Caulry (0-6 to 3-12) and Mullingar Shamrocks (0-4 to 4-11).
Despite morale being at a low ebb, Loughnavalley lifted their game to record their only win at the expense of St. Joseph's in Rosemount. After getting off to a sluggish start, Loughnavalley settled down to play some good football and two Brian Tyrrell frees had the sides level on 0-2 each after 12 minutes. But the winners were rocked back on their heels when a poor clearance from defence gifted St. Joseph's full forward Ronan McDonnell a goal.
With Sean Ruane gaining a foothold at midfield, however, Loughnavalley finished the half with an unanswered 1-3 to take a 1-5 to 1-2 lead into the interval. Brian Tyrrell, Derek Glennon and Derek Newman had points before Colm Ruane flicked a long ball into the path of Alan Giblin, who made no mistake from close range.
Aidan Lennon reduced the deficit for St. Joseph's on the restart before Loughnavalley were awarded a penalty in the 38th minute for a foul on John McDonnell. From the spot-kick, Darren Rigney sent St. Joseph's goalkeeper Andrew Meares the wrong way to put the green and golds firmly in the driving seat.
The Streamstown/Horseleap outfit rallied again to leave just a goal between the sides, but Loughnavalley were not to be denied and they sealed a 2-8 to 1-6 win with late points from Darren and Kenneth Rigney.
Sadly for Fergus Shaw's charges, that victory proved to be the highlight of their championship campaign as further defeats to St. Loman's (0-11 to 1-13) and St. Paul's (2-5 to 1-11) followed. But they still had the Shield competition to look forward to and after avenging their championship defeat to Milltown, they qualified for the final against Ballycomoyle.
After several postponements due to the adverse weather, the final eventually went ahead at The Downs on January 23. As with their championship opener, this was another closely contested affair between the sides. After Loughnavalley had missed an early goal chance, Ballymocoyle opened up a 0-3 to 0-0 lead after 10 minutes thanks to efforts from Kevin Gavigan, county hurler Daniel Carty and Alan Fitzsimons. Darren Rigney responded with Loughnavalley's opening score from a free before the winners went 0-5 to 0-1 clear with further points from Fitzsimons and Billy Ryan. Fitzsimons scored his third point late in the half, but three Brian Tyrrell frees and another point from Darren Rigney left just two in it, 0-5 to 0-7, at the break.
Tyrrell slotted over another free early in the second half to reduce the deficit to the minimum, only for Derek Cheevers to reply for Ballycomoyle. But Loughnavalley remained in the ascendancy and drew level for the first time on the three-quarter hour mark thanks to points from Tyrrell and Colm Ruane.
At 0-8 each, the game was finely poised, but Ballycomoyle then hit the 'Valley for 1-1 to take a four-point advantage going into the last 10 minutes. Their goal, which was scored by Ronan Fagan following a goalmouth scramble, left Loughnavalley with it all to do, but they refused to throw in the towel and brought the margin down to the minimum again through points from Tyrrell (two) and Kenneth Rigney.
But despite five minutes of injury-time being allotted, they couldn't find an equaliser as Ballycomoyle held on for a 1-9 to 0-11 victory.
McManus, who transferred to the 'Valley five years ago from Mullingar Shamrocks (who he hadn't played football for since his under 12 days), is looking forward to the new campaign and the prospect of the green and golds building on last season's Shield final appearance. The St. Oliver Plunkett's hurler believes the appointment of Westmeath's 1995 All-Ireland minor winning centre back Kenny McKinley as manager is a very positive development for the club.
"Kenny's appointment can only be a good thing. He's a young, enthusiastic manager who was over the Westmeath ladies team for a couple of years and captained St. Loman's in last year's county final. His appointment is also a reflection of the club's ambitions. We have a lot of improving to do, but I'm convinced we are good enough to reach the knockout stages of the championship. Everything is geared towards the first round against Multy," he explains.
Currently applying the finishing touches to their new dressing-rooms, Loughnavalley have one of the most active ladies football clubs in the county but there was further heartbreak for them last year when they lost the junior championship final for the third year on the trot. They could have few complaints, though, after suffering a heavy 0-2 to 5-11 defeat to Ballycomoyle.
No one could have predicted such a one-sided final after Fiona Ruane gave Loughnavalley an early lead. But they only managed one further score as Ballycomoyle took over to lead by 1-6 to 0-2 at the break, with their goal coming from Ruth Daniels.
It continued to be one-way traffic in the second half with player of the match Celeste Dermody leading the young Loughnavalley defence a merry dance by scoring 3-6. Daniels also found the net for a second time to secure an emphatic victory for the north county outfit.
Loughnavalley gained some consolation for their junior final collapse, however, when goals from Shauna Murtagh, Tammy Commons, Jill Draper and Leanne Campbell helped them to a 4-4 to 4-1 victory over St. Paul's in the under 16 'D' final.
Loughnavalley lined out as follows in the Junior Shield final: Gerry Clarke; Philip McCabe, Bobby Elliffe, Fergus Kelly; Derek Newman, Noel Dalton, Stephen McManus (captain); Sean Ruane, Colm Ruane; John Masterson, Kenneth Rigney, Brian Tyrrell; Darren Rigney, Derek Glennon, Alan Giblin. Subs used: Johnny Hegarty and Paul Donoghue.
The Loughnavalley ladies team which lost the junior championship final to Ballycomoyle was: Alice Kerrigan; Amy Garvin, Laura Elliffe, Ciara Rigney; Shauna Keenan, Carol Keenan, Maggie Kilroy; Fiona Ruane, Nickie Cunningham; Avril Corbett, Sarah Kincaid, Gillian Corbett; Angela Moran, Anna-Marie Foran, Orla Glennon. Subs: Michelle Cuskelly, Sandy Colton, Shauna Murtagh, Niamh Carey, Amy Connell, Tammy Commons, Aoife McNeill, Kerrie Commons, Sarah Gunning and Aoife Newman. Tweet
