The Westmeath junior football championship is considered the toughest grade to get out of as many teams are on an equal par. Ballycomoyle have been plying their trade at this level for the best part of 15 years and although they have produced some excellent results over the years, they have always fallen short of their ultimate goal. However, club stalwart John Smyth believes that it will not be too long before the North Westmeath side win the junior title once again as he believes they have the players to make the step up. Ask any junior player in Westmeath and they will tell you that Ballycomoyle are one of the toughest opponents to play against and on their day, they are as good as any team in the grade. Nonetheless, for one reason or another they have always seemed to fall short during the knockout stages and last year was no different for the blue and whites. "It was very disappointing to lose to Mullingar Shamrocks in the quarterfinal. We didn't play well on the day and didn't take our chances on front of goal," said John. John has stood down as chairman of the club this year after an amazing seventeen years at the helm, but he admitted that he will still be involved in some capacity. "It was time to let some of the other members of the club to do the job. Ballycomoyle are very fortunate to have a huge amount of people willing to work for the club and hopefully they will bring in some new ideas. "I will still be involved in some capacity, probably with the underage as there are over 100 kids to be looked after in the various teams during the year." Ballycomoyle began their campaign with a tough match against Caulry, who were considered many people's favourites for the junior championship. The north Westmeath side produced one of their best performances in many years to earn a draw against the Mount Temple outfit and John admitted the win was there for the taking. "We should have won that game, we were well on top for long periods of the match, but just couldn't put them away, although we were pleased enough with the draw." A narrow defeat to old rivals St Pauls was followed up with a win over St Fintans/Multyfarnham. The Clonmellon outfit and Ballycomoyle have had many a great battle in recent years and there is never too much between the sides as was the case in this clash when only two points separated the teams Their next outing pitted them against another of the championship favourites, Milltown who had easily defeated all opposition until they met the blue and whites. "We played very well against Milltown and were unlucky to lose by four points. This match proved that we were a match for the best of the teams and it was just a matter of getting that through to the players," stressed John. Wins over Delvin and Loughnavalley ensured Ballycomoyle of a place in the knockout stages of the championship against a fancied Mullingar Shamrocks' side. "Training under Joey Williams had gone very well during the year and there is a great bunch of lads on the junior panel, so we were confident that we could beat Mullingar on the day, but that is not the way it went unfortunately." This year's junior championship sees the addition of Rosemount and St Joseph's in the grade and John admits that it will be a hard campaign to come through. "It is definitely going to be tough this year, especially with the two clubs coming down from intermediate. There will be many difficult games, but the lads we have are good enough to compete with any team and all we need is a bit of luck on our side." "The junior is very hard to get out of and I've no doubt that we would hold our own in the intermediate championship. If the players give the commitment like they did last year, then we have a chance. There was a great atmosphere in the club last year and hopefully that will continue into the next twelve months," he added. Ballycomoyle have concentrated on developing their underage structure in recent years and this has begun to pay dividends as the numbers playing gaelic football in the area has multiplied considerably. "There was in the region of 100-150 kids in the park every Friday night for training last year. That is an incredible number for a rural club like ours. People moving into the area has been a huge boost and we have a lot more kids coming from the likes of Collinstown now, while the parents are also getting involved. You need everybody helping out with so many teams." John revealed that an everlasting memory he will have is from last year when the kids were at their end of season training and the junior team was preparing for their clash with Mullingar Shamrocks in the junior football championship quarterfinal. "At the last training session for the kids, there was a bit of a party, while the junior side was also training at the same time. I never seen so many cars and people in the park in my life, it really was something special." The underage section of the club proved very successful as the under-14 side won the league title, while the under-12 girls won their respective championship. "There has been a huge emphasis placed on the underage teams in recent years and that is beginning to pay off. The club intends to win more silverware this year and continue to bring these youngsters through the ranks. "We are getting more of the players involved in looking after the underage teams and in various roles within the club and we feel this is important as it can create a stronger bond in the club," stressed the long serving clubman. Off the field, the club took part in Scor and reached the county final in the novelty act, where they lost out on a narrow margin much to their disappointment. "The Scor was very good and everyone involved deserves great credit for the effort they put in during the year. Unfortunately they lost out in the novelty act but it was by very little." Ballycomoyle are a club that has shown that with a little hard work and determination their goals can be met. They will continue to strive to win the junior title once again, something that hasn't been achieved since 1991 just six short years after the club had been re-affiliated. With so many young boys and girls now donning the blue and white jersey, more success is on the cards in the very near future. Tweet

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