Competing in the intermediate football championship for only the second year in their history, Moate All Whites were keen to improve on last year's showing. Their on-field activities coincided with a busy administrative year and the official opening of their fabulous new facilities at Hogan Park was a real highlight. Club PRO, Derek Claffey, reflected on another busy year when speaking to Damien Maher. Having just agonisingly failed to reach the knock-out stages of the intermediate football championship in 2005, Moate All Whites were fully intent on making amends, but two early losses in the championship proved a setback. However, they regrouped well to reach the semi-finals, where they encountered eventual champions, Bunbrosna, in uncompromising form and they crashed to a heavy defeat. "It was a good achievement to reach the semi-final with such a young team. We had eight minors involved, which augers well, but when you look at our neighbours, Tubber, they reached the Leinster intermediate final with four minors," remarked Derek Claffey. Failing to beat Bunbrosna meant the end of Shannonbridge man Eamon Mahon's involvement and Moate All Whites will be trained by former star, Mossy Collins, this year. His arrival is sure to spark a renewed drive. The intermediate football championship began badly for Moate, despite their subsequent charge to the penultimate stages. Operating out of Division 2, a first round clash against Bunbrosna saw the All Whites produce a largely disappointing performance and they were beaten by seven points in the end,1-11 to 0-7. The second round didn't bring any change in fortune. Moate tackled Shandonagh in Pairc Chiarán, Athlone, and went under by three points at the end of a tough, and often robust, encounter. The teams were evenly matched until the last 10 minutes, before Shandonagh pulled clear to win by 0-8 to 0-5. However, the third round clash with neighbours St. Joseph's was a real thriller, and a contender for game of the championship. Moate won in a nail-biting finish by just a solitary point (1-16 to 2-12), but had to survive a late scare as St. Joseph's came in search of victory. It was to prove a real springboard for the All Whites. Round four pitted Mahon's men against Ballinagore, who had impressed many with their run in the All-Ireland junior championship the previous year. Despite conceding two goals and looking shaky at times, Moate showed real mettle to emerge one-point winners again, 0-13 to 2-6, and amazingly, qualification was up for grabs in the final group game against Ballynacargy. Despite defending well for most of the game, Moate conceded a goal at a vital stage and were two points down entering the closing stages. However, Lar Gillivan pointed a free to leave just the minimum between the sides and, dramatically, in the fourth minute of added time, sent over the equaliser, again from a dead ball. The draw (0-11 to 1-8) meant Moate were through to the quarter finals. Milltownpass provided the opposition in the last eight and it proved another dramatic, and indeed controversial game. Milltownpass had two players sent off, but Moate made much better use of possession to emerge with an eight-point win (0-15 to 1-4). Victory landed Mahon's men a semi-final meeting, for the second time, with raging hot favourites, Bunbrosna. It was an opportunity for the All Whites to exact revenge for their first round loss and many expected a close game, but Bunbrosna simply proved too strong, winning by 1-16 to 0-6 in the end. Moate's championship campaign had ended for another year. "It was a good run, particularly after losing the first two rounds, but it all hinged on that great game against St. Joseph's, which was potentially a relegation match. They were eventually relegated, while we managed to continue our improvement, which shows the difference a victory can make," reflected Claffey. League football in 2006 didn't really entice Moate All Whites and they're not fans of the new format. They were one of several clubs to have a motion for the recent Planning Committee meeting supporting a change. "It makes no sense not to have either relegation or promotion in the league. Teams that are knocked out of the championship, for example, could be 'hockeyed' by ones that are still involved because they have nothing to train for," remarked Claffey. Nevertheless, they did manage to finish eighth in the intermediate league and qualify for the Intermediate Cup, but the competition hadn't started at the time of writing. At underage level, Moate All Whites were expecting big things from the St. Brigid's (Moate All Whites/Rosemount) minor amalgamation side, but circumstances went against them. In fact they won their first round clash with eventual winners St. Patrick's, but failed to field in the second round, which was fixed for the Sunday morning after an intermediate championship game. To complicate matters further, there was a wedding in the Rosemount parish on the Saturday. "That fixture was totally unreasonable because we had five minors involved. "It seems we paid a heavy price for the controversy which dogged the Minor Board this year and delayed competitions," opined Claffey. Off the field of play, it was a hectic year for the club, with the official opening of their new dressing rooms in June. Fr. Michael Cremin officially opened the state-of-the-art facility, which includes four dressing rooms, a meeting room, public toilets and a referees room. A club newsletter has also been launched and it was well received, with 500 copies distributed, and sections included for foreign nationals. A very successful Golf Classic and Christmas Draw was also held at the end of the year, while the club has submitted a five year plan to Croke Park, something that's now compulsory in order to secure Government funding. Aside from that, it was a successful year at underage level. Their under 12 side won the Division 4 final and mentors Tommy Gorman and Cyril Gillivan took great delight in that success. The under 14 footballers competed well in their championship, ran on a round-robin basis, but failed narrowly to make the semi-finals. Meanwhile, at under 16 level, it was a difficult year, but Moate competed well with a small squad of players. Elsewhere, the under 10 footballers had a great year. Under the guidance of Michael Heffernan, Liam Claffey and Neil Cunningham, they won the Caulry Tournament Shield Final, and also reached the Shield Final of the Castledaly Tournament. A successful street league was organised in Moate for players at under eight and under 10 levels, and the response was great, with over 80 kids involved. The tournament was ran over a four-five week period and there was a strong emphasis on participation, with three different finals played. Derek Claffey is fulsome in his praise for the work of the underage committee (Chairman: John Sheridan, Secretary: Pat Malone). Moate are committed to continuing their improvement at underage level and are organising a Young Social Innovator project, which will gauge why young people drop out of sport and how they can be encouraged back. "It's a joint venture between the club, Moate Community School, the HSE and Westmeath Sports Partnership. There are 12 students involved and it will be a good exercise," explained Claffey. Scór continues to thrive, with the Scór na nÓg Ballad Group reaching this year's Leinster final, following in the footsteps of last year's adult representatives. Overall, GAA is in a healthy state in this part of south Westmeath. The Moate All Whites team which reached the 2006 Intermediate football Championship semi-final was: David Mackey; Damien Phelan, Peter Tuohy, Eamon McDermott; Brendan Arigho, Alan Claffey, Paul McLoughlin; Lar Gillivan, Conor Costello; Stephen Byrne, Conor Hynes, Kit Gillivan; Mark Ennis, Eoin Dalton, Nigel Adamson. Subs: Anthony Malone for K Gillivan (23 mins), Declan Costello for Byrne (36), Dermot Browne for C Costello, Michael Heavin for Hynes (51), Paddy Lawlor for Ennis (56). Tweet

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