Joe's turn the corner
April 30, 2011St. Joseph's are refusing to be disheartened, despite enduring another difficult season which saw them finish joint-bottom of Section A of the junior championship for the second year in-a-row.
In fact, their outlook is refreshingly upbeat with the over-riding feeling among members being that the worst is over. There is no doubt that emigration has had a devastating effect on St. Joseph's (their plight was highlighted in a Sunday World newspaper article last October) who were junior champions as recently as 2004 and subsequently spent two years in the intermediate ranks.
But they are a resolute lot in Streamstown and are looking forward to the day when they will be competing for championship honours once again.
"We were losing players through emigration earlier than other clubs," St. Joseph's chairman Stephen Keegan explains.
"We were a competitive junior outfit up until 2008, but then players started to go abroad and we began to feel the effects. The club has gone through a tough time, but even though our results were disappointing last year, the signs were nonetheless encouraging. We were able to put out two teams and the numbers we had at training were the best in years.
"Fellas who had drifted away from football over the last few years came back, which was great to see. If we can keep getting big numbers out for training, I'm sure things will turn for us and we'll start winning games again."
Under the management of Raharney native Nicky Weir, St. Joseph's recorded just one victory in last year's junior championship, while they had to settle for a mid-table finish in Division 4 of the All-County League following their relegation from Division 3 the previous year.
In the championship, the tone for the year was set when they suffered a 0-7 to 1-7 first round defeat to eventual finalists Milltown in Moate. Declan Nannery opened the scoring for St. Joseph's, but all that they could muster in the remainder of the first half were two points from Nannery and Ronan McDonnell as Milltown took a 1-4 to 0-3 lead into the break with Alan Geraghty scoring the only goal in the 19th minute.
The green and golds tried hard to get themselves back into contention after the restart, but the goal they so desperately sought failed to materialise and Milltown took the honours.
The low-point of St. Joseph's season was arguably their 2-12 to 3-12 defeat to perennial strugglers Delvin at Shandonagh. They had hoped to bounce back with a strong showing against old rivals Loughnavalley at Cusack Park, but crashed to another defeat. Goals from Declan Nannery and David McKnight had the Joe's in front by 2-1 to 0-3 after 23 minutes, but Loughnavalley came back to level before Declan Nannery's point in stoppage time gave Nicky Weir's men the slenderest of leads, 2-2 to 1-4, at half-time.
Loughnavalley goaled early in the second half to take the lead, only for St. Joseph's to level again through points from Padraic Moran and Don Scally. But they failed to score again as Loughnavalley took control to run out 3-8 to 2-4 winners.
St. Joseph's poor run of form continued when they were defeated by Ballycomoyle on a 2-8 to 0-8 scoreline at The Downs. In what was their first championship loss to their north county opponents in over a decade, St. Joseph's had opportunities to take the spoils up until the final minute when a Ballycomoyle penalty settled the issue. The sides were level on 0-5 to 1-2 at the break and they remained deadlocked until the start of the fourth quarter when Ballycomoyle kicked three unanswered points. St. Joseph's dug in and closed the gap to the minimum, but Ballycomoyle finished the stronger.
A fifth successive defeat to St. Paul's left the Streamstown men facing the prospect of a championship whitewash. Trailing by 0-2 to 0-7 at half-time, St. Joseph's restarted with a goal from a Declan Nannery penalty and the introduction of former county minor star Andrew McCormack after a long absence through injury gave them a further lift. But the concession of a goal in the 49th minute left them with too much to do, and not even a late fisted goal from Aidan Lennon could save them from a 2-7 to 1-14 defeat.
St. Joseph's luck finally changed when they got the better of St. Fintan's/Multyfarnham by 1-12 to 0-14 at Shandonagh to register their first championship win of the season. They looked to be facing another defeat when trailing by 0-4 to 0-8 at half-time, but a much-improved second half performance saw them end their losing sequence.
St. Joseph's were level within four minutes of the resumption thanks to a goal from Niall Moran and a Ronan McDonnell point, but Multy responded to go three points clear once again. But after Don Scally restored parity in the 48th minute, the Joe's pushed on and scored the next three points though Neil Keegan, Scally and Richie Meares. Multy closed the gap to the minimum in injury-time, but Nicky Weir's charges held on for a much-needed win.
Sadly for St. Joseph's, their season ended on a disappointing note when they were well beaten by champions-elect Milltownpass in Shandonagh. The 3-14 to 1-6 scoreline didn't do justice to the losers who should have scored at least two more goals. Milltownpass led by 2-6 to 0-3 at the break and they put the result beyond doubt when adding three quick points after the restart. St. Joseph's perseverance was finally rewarded when former county goalkeeper Aidan Lennon rifled home a goal midway through the second half, but it proved to be no more than a consolation score as Milltownpass embellished their lead with an unanswered 1-4 in the closing eight minutes.
"Some of our results didn't reflect how well the lads played. You couldn't accuse them of lacking effort," says Stephen, who is now in his third year as chairman.
"Nicky Weir is staying on as manager, as are his selectors Billy Kelly and Declan Fitzgerald. He has also added Fergus McCormack to his management team for the coming year. They'll be trying to build up a bit of momentum by putting a few wins on the board early in the season. A good start to the league would get the confidence going before we head into the championship."
He continues: "It's a great boost to have Andrew McCormack back fit again. Andrew did his cruciate in 2009, but he returned during last year's championship and will be a big addition to the squad."
Because of declining numbers in both clubs, St. Joseph's amalgamated with Kilbeggan Shamrocks at underage level a number of years ago and Stephen believes both will benefit from this arrangement in the coming years.
"It will probably be another few years before we reap the benefits because the big numbers are from under 16 downwards. We are very strong in under 10, under 12 and under 14, with the highlight of the year being the under 10 team's winning of the North Westmeath League.
"There is tremendous work being put in by Donal Fox (underage chairman), Eugene Nannery (underage secretary) and all the mentors involved with the various teams," he concludes.
St. Joseph's lined out as follows in their JFC victory over St. Fintan's/Multyfarnham: Andrew Meares; Brian Fitzgerald, Darren McCormack, Pat McCormack; Daire Lynam, Neil Keegan, Michael Larrigy; Sean Lynam, Padraic Seery; Damien McCormack, Aidan Lennon, Richie Meares; Niall Moran, Ronan McDonnell, Enda Lynam. Subs used: Don Scally, Andrew McCormack and Kevin Buckley. Tweet
