Under 16s offer hope
April 30, 2010point in Moate's recent history.
Ten years into the new millennium and Moate All-Whites find themselves unable to make any real headway in the intermediate championship. Since losing their top-flight status after a 43-year stretch in 2004, one of Westmeath's most successful football clubs has become a mediocre intermediate outfit, and last year they almost suffered the same fate as Rosemount and St. Mary's did in recent years by dropping back to junior.
Fortunately, they beat Milltownpass by 0-11 to 0-8 in their final group match to stay in the intermediate championship for another year. But the close shave was a reminder of how far Moate have fallen since Ger Heavin inspired them to their last Flanagan Cup success in 1997.
Recognising the need to build from the bottom up, Moate have placed a strong emphasis on their underage section in recent years and this is already paying dividends with the under 16 Division 2 championship coming to the town late last year. The under 14s also reached the Division 3 championship decider, only to lose to St. Mary's by 0-4 to 2-6.
"We were guilty of neglecting our underage system for a number of years and that is now coming home to roost at adult level," under 16 team mentor Nicky Linnane acknowledges.
"The closure of the Carmelite College was a big setback to the GAA in Moate because they were producing a lot of the players for us. But we've got good underage structures in place now and we're building towards the future.
"All the work we are doing at underage level is geared towards developing a successful adult team further down the line. It's understandable for supporters to be frustrated at our decline in fortunes at adult level, but we're working hard to address the problem and hopefully the work we're doing with the young players will pay off in the long-term. But there's no quick-fix solution, unfortunately."
A native of Suncroft (the home club of veteran Kildare footballer Anthony Rainbow), Nicky has been living in Moate for the past 18 years and has immersed himself in the club's underage scene. Along with Carmelite College's 1980 Hogan Cup winning captain Jimmy Bradley and Brendan Madden, he managed last year's talented under 16 team whose success provided the club with a much-needed boost.
"Jimmy and I have been with this group of players since they were under 6. Paul Horan was with us at the start but Brendan Madden took over from him a few years ago. Jimmy's son Cian captained last year's team and my own lad Jack played at midfield," Nicky explains.
"We've had quite a bit of success over the years, winning the Community Games at under 10 level and the Division 3 championship at under 14. But last year's success was our biggest achievement to date."
The All-Whites started out in Division 3 last year, but after it became apparent that they were too strong for that level, they duly moved up to Division 2. They recorded wins over The Downs (3-10 to 1-9) and Garrycastle (4-12 to 2-12) in the group phase before defeating Garrycastle for a second time (3-10 to 1-7) in the semi-final. In the final, which was played under the Lakepoint Park floodlights, they recovered from the concession of an early goal to edge out St. Michael's (a combination of Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall and Ballycomoyle) by 2-11 to 3-6.
St. Michael's got off to the best possible start when Paddy Cheevers fired home a second-minute goal. Moate replied with the game's opening point from midfielder Joe Ward and they had restored parity by the 11th minute thanks to further scores from John Corbally and Jack Linnane.
St. Michael's regained the lead through John Coyle before the All-Whites were rocked back on their heels for a second time when Conor Barry first-timed to the roof of the net to give the north county combination a 2-1 to 0-3 cushion. But Moate responded in kind with a Corbally goal and further scores from the goal-scorer, Ward, and Cian Bradley helped them to a slender 1-7 to 2-3 interval lead.
Moate enjoyed their best spell after the restart when they scored an unanswered 1-2, with Cian Bradley accounting for 1-1 of that tally. When Robert Marsh kicked two points in-a-row to push Moate seven clear with five minutes remaining, they looked home and hosed, but St. Michael's refused to throw in the towel and an injury-time goal from Thomas Doyle left the All-Whites hanging on for victory.
By contrast, Moate's intermediate team endured a torrid year which saw them lose all but one of their championship fixtures. They opened their campaign with a 2-6 to 1-13 defeat to Ballynacargy, despite the tonic of a second-minute goal from county panellist Alan Claffey and the first half dismissal of Bal' dangerman Dwayne Maher.
The full forward had racked up an impressive 1-4 before he was given his marching orders in the 21st minute. But despite their numerical advantage, the All-Whites trailed by 1-3 to 1-8 at the interval and had fallen 1-4 to 1-13 in arrears before a late rally which yielded 1-2 put a more respectable look on the scoreboard.
A goal from Tang substitute Chris Connor five minutes from time condemned Moate to their second defeat at Mount Temple. Moate, who trailed by 0-4 to 0-6 at the break, looked like taking something from the game until Connor's late strike handed Tang a 1-10 to 0-10 victory.
Relegation suddenly became an issue for Moate when they suffered a third straight defeat to Kilbeggan. With Eoghan Dalton, Mark Ennis and Nigel Adamson in fine scoring form, the All-Whites had built up a 0-8 to 0-3 lead by half-time, but they only managed one point in the second half as Kilbeggan fought back to secure a 1-7 to 0-9 win.
The situation became critical for Moate after they lost their fourth game to St. Mary's, Rochfortbridge by 4-6 to 1-13. Despite dominating possession for long periods, Moate were made to pay for the concession of four goals, all of which came in an amazing first half at a very wet Castletown-Geoghegan.
The result left the All-Whites needing to beat Milltownpass in their final group game to retain their intermediate status. The game was up for grabs with the sides tied on 0-8 apiece with 10 minutes remaining, but three unanswered points from Mark Ennis, Alan Claffey and Anthony Malone, allied to an outstanding save from goalkeeper David Mackey and an unbelievable miss from Andy Devine, saw Milltownpass make the drop instead.
"Hopefully, we won't find ourselves in the same position again this year. John Murray and Kit Gillivan have taken over the management and they will be expecting to do a lot better," says Nicky, who will manage the minor team along with Jimmy Bradley and Brendan Madden.
"Even though seven of last year's under 16 team are eligible for the grade again, we've decided to move up with the rest of the lads. I'm not sure if we'll be contenders this year, but we would certainly hope to be in the shake-up for minor honours next year when the lads are that bit older."
The Moate All-Whites which defeated St. Michael's in the under 16 Division 2 championship final was: Tommy Ryan; Emmet Ryan, Daniel Buckley, Jamie Madden; Robert Gorman, Michael Cooney, Dylan Fitzpatrick; Jack Linnane (0-2, 0-1 from a free), Joe Ward (0-1); Robert Marsh (0-2), Cian Bradley (1-3), Jack Eagney, Darren Claffey, Barry Webb (0-1), John Corbally (1-2). Subs: David Cramp (for Madden, half-time), Daniel Claffey (for Marsh, 55mins). Tweet
