35 years later
November 27, 2011Since Tony Kearney took over as manager in 2009, St Fechins were talked about as potential junior football champions. Football followers around the county insisted that it was not a matter of if they won it but when they won it. As is usually the case, the public were proven right as the Termonfeckin men strung together a determined campaign to stylishly claim their first JFC since 1976.
All the ingredients were in place. The Mayo-born manager had already proven his credentials with an astonishing run of success with Wolfe Tones in Meath, with whom he won junior, intermediate and senior championships inside four incredible years. He took over a Fechins side that was in a similar position to the Wolfe Tones one he had inherited - young and full of potential, underachievers, with incredible facilities and the back-up of a hard-working, visionary committee. Immediate success was expected but Fechins faltered in the 2009 county final against St Mochtas and again in last year's quarter-final against Naomh Fionnbarra (who went on to win the title).
This year, the Fechins had the benefit of playing Division Two football (finishing mid-table) and they were installed as favourites to take the Bellew Cup before a ball was kicked. At Dunleer, on Sunday, September 25th, ace attacker Ronan Holcroft delivered another spectacular scoring display in the final and captain Harry McArdle had the honour of bringing the silverware back to Termonfeckin. It was the most significant day in the club's history since the Joe Ward Cup had been retained in 1984.
En route to the final, Fechins enjoyed group-stage wins over Sean McDermotts and Lannleire and a draw with St Kevins to finish top of Group Four. They easily accounted for John Mitchells and St Nicholas at the quarter-final and semi-final stage respectively and put Glen Emmets to the sword in a one-sided decider, where they quite simply were not prepared to let the opportunity pass. The men from Beaulieu conceded an average of just eight points per game in the 2011 JFC and scored 8-77 (an average of around 17). Do the maths!
Sean McDermotts provided the opposition in the group opener at The Grove on Sunday, July 17th and the Fechins opened their programme in purposeful manner with a landslide 3-13 to 0-5 success. What was convincing about this result was that McDermotts were also one of the fancied sides in the race for the Christy Bellew Cup. Ronan Holcroft set the tone with a fifth-minute goal, when he reacted quickest to finish a Jamie King fisted effort that had struck an upright, and the winners led by 2-7 to 0-1 at the interval. From there, it was all over.
In the series of round-robin games in the four-team group, Fechins got a wake-up call when a thoroughly-organised, Dongeal-style St Kevins deservedly held them to a 0-6 apiece draw at The Grove seven days later. This was a really gruelling contest and Tony Kearney's men didn't score until the tenth minute; a return of six point over the hour suggested they still had a bit of work to do. In hindsight, perhaps the game did them no harm - they had breezed through the group phase in 2010 only to be caught cold thereafter. This time, there would be no complacency.
Lannleire were in the opposite corner for what was effectively the group decider at the Gaelic Grounds on Sunday, August 8th. Without ever hitting top form, the Hoops still coasted to a routine 1-12 to 0-9 win. Dunleer were already through to the knockout stage, so they didn't perform with total championship urgency and Fechins took advantage, with centre forward Ronan Holcroft knocking over nine points, including the winners' first three scores before Jamie King took possession from Ryan Sheridan to blast the clinching goal at the end of the first quarter - 1-3 to 0-1.
Having negotiated the group stage, St Fechins stepped on the gas for their three knockout games, winning them by an aggregate score of 4-46 to 2-21 - more than double scores!
At the county grounds on Saturday August 20th, they were in ruthless mode as they crushed John Mitchels, 1-18 to 1-5, in a totally one-sided quarter-final. They got a bit of a scare when the Ballybailie outfit struck an early goal but there would be no repeat of 2010 and quickfire points from Ronan Holcroft (2), centre back Conor Haughney and midfielder John McGlew restored the natural order. As the teams departed for some Jaffa Cakes, it was 0-11 to 1-2. Colm O'Neill got the winners' goal late on.
A fortnight later, back at the county grounds, on Saturday, September 3rd, Fechins progressed to a second final in three years by virtue of a 1-12 to 0-7 victory over St Nicholas. The Nicks seemed intent on bringing a physical element to the game but this tactic managed only to spoil the match as a spectacle and St Fechins still had too much in reserve as they won with ease. Not for the first - or last - time in 2011, it was Ronan Holcroft who took the fight to the opposition with three sublime points inside the first four minutes. Those scores set the tone and the winners never looked back once they had established a cushion.
Going into the county final, there were nerves; of course there were; there always are. There was so much at stake. Everything could come unstuck in one hour and Tullyallen represented dangerous opposition. But Fechins - a year or two older and wiser - coped with the occasion superbly as they beat Glen Emmets by 2-16 to 1-9 in Drogheda, with 21-year-old corner forward Ronan Holcroft grabbing all the headlines as he struck an astonishing match-winning tally of 2-9, bringing his personal JFC haul to 3-49.
In the final, he scored 1-9 from play, with his second goal coming from the penalty spot. But this was far from a one-man team as all 20 lads who played in the decider - and the remainder of the championship-winning squad who trained and played hard all year - contributed enormously to the success. Fechins - who had wind advantage for the opening half hour - went straight for the jugular and produced an awesome first-half display to lead by an unassailable 1-10 to 0-1 at half time.
All six St Fechins forwards raised white flags while midfielder Bevan Duffy and full back David Collier - with an inspirational point on the counter-attack - also added to the winning tally. Fechins were a bigger, stronger and fitter side and the conditions on the day certainly suited them. But they would undoubtedly have won the 2011 JFC final regardless of the prevailing weather conditions and the question now is: how long before senior football is being played at Beaulieu again? When last they won the JFC, St Fechins captured the SFC within seven years.
St Fechins - 2011 Louth junior football champions: Mark Savage; Brendan Fanning, David Collier (0-1), Paul Dillon; Mark Hynes, Conor Haughney, Harry McArdle; John McGlew, Bevan Duffy (0-1); Jamie King (0-1), Colm O'Neill (0-1), Ryan Sheridan (0-1); Brian Devlin (0-1), Niall Devlin (0-1), Ronan Holcroft (2-9). Subs: Fergal McNally for Dillon (10); Eoghan Duffy for Hynes (40); James Deveraux for McNally (53); Leo Cunningham for Sheridan (55); Derek Younger for King (59). Tweet
