Westerns have contested three junior football championship finals inside a decade and have finished runners-up on all three occasions. It was a similar story in 2006 as the Reaghstown men succumbed to St Kevins on county final day, much to the obvious dismay of team captain and attacking talisman Terence Sweeney. However, despite the disappointment of that defeat, Terence is confident that the Green & Golds will be more than able to hold their own in next season's beefed-up JFC. Two-thousand-and-six signalled the death throes of the ridiculous seven-team junior football championship and there was just one promotion place available (to the JFC winners), with a whole army of intermediate clubs moving in the opposite direction. Logic dictated that it was an ideal time to escape junior ranks and Westerns set about the task accordingly. As they had played intermediate football the previous year, Westerns were cited as 2006 JFC favourites from the outset and they duly booked a place in the decider with a 100% Group A record, easing past St Kevins, Annaghminnon Rovers and Wolfe Tones. The decider was played at Dowdallshill on Sunday September 24 and was a repeat of the opening group clash with St Kevins. Unfortunately, on this occasion Westerns failed to hit the ground running and Jim Clifford's charges fell to a demoralising 1-10 to 1-5 defeat. They had picked the worst possible stage to deliver their poorest performance of the year and the Christy Bellew Cup slipped through their fingers once more (Westerns have still never won a junior championship - they lost the 1997 final to Glen Emmets and were pipped by Dowdallshill in the 2003 decider). As captain for the year, Terence Sweeney got his hands on a nice piece of County Board silverware in the form of the Kevin Mullen Shield, but the 'big one' eluded him. Reflecting on the county final defeat, he admits: "It was a disaster. Everything was going well up until the final and there was a big build-up, then it was a total disaster on the day. We were very disappointed with the way we performed and it's difficult to know why we were so poor. We were well prepared by Jim and were confident that we were good enough to go back up. "But nothing went right for us and we missed an awful lot of chances. I was as guilty as anybody when I missed the penalty in the second half. It was just one of those days when we couldn't do anything right and the Kevins took full advantage. We knew it was going to be tough, but we never got going at all. If we'd taken even one of the goalscoring chances in the first half, it could have been a different story. But we weren't good enough on the day and we'll have to put it behind us and move on." Westerns' early season form was impressive and things looked very healthy in the camp as they claimed the first trophy of the year with a magnificent 4-10 to 3-7 defeat of St Fechins in the 2006 Kevin Mullen Shield final at Stabannon on Friday June 16. Westerns had early goals from Anthony Durnin and Clint Sweeney to lead by 2-1 to 1-1 at the end of the first quarter and they led by a point at the interval, 2-3 to 2-2. The sides were level on no fewer than five occasions over the hour and Westerns looked to be in trouble when they conceded a third goal shortly after the restart, but further goals from Andrew Kerr and Aidan McGarrell as well as a flurry of points from Durnin, Padraig Brennan and Darren Kerr fired the Reaghstown brigade to a morale-boosting victory. It was a great victory but the Westerns were eying even bigger things: "Our target for the year was to win the junior championship because that offered us the only route back to intermediate football." Terence confirms. "Winning the Kevin Mullen Shield was grand but the championship was definitely our main priority. We were totally focussed on the championship because the Division Three league didn't mean anything, with no promotion place up for grabs…" Westerns opened their Group A account with a 0-14 to 1-8 victory over St Kevins at Ardee. The Philipstown men looked good when Liam Boylan levelled matters from the penalty spot late on but Westerns pulled away with three Terence Sweeney points to earn a vital win. The Reaghstown side subsequently confirmed direct passage to the decider with further victories over Wolfe Tones (4-18 to 0-5) and Annaghminnon Rovers (1-19 to 0-7). "The first game against the Kevins was the toughest one and once we got over that we were confident that we'd reach the final. Everything went well and the team was well prepared so we had no problems in the other two group games." Westerns managed just two points in the first half of the county final and the concession of a goal in the last minute of that period left them trailing by 1-5 to 0-2 at the short whistle. They'd passed over at least three decent goalscoring chances before the break and the writing was clearly on the wall when the normally-relaible captain's 39th-minute penalty flew wide. The pre-match favourites were well beaten by the time Clint Sweeney popped up with an injury-time consolation goal. Alas, it was the Kevins who claimed the only promotion berth available to junior clubs in 2006. "Ending up as favourites on the day probably didn't help and maybe some of our players froze a bit," relates Terence. "The Kevins had lost the 2005 final and that defeat may have given them extra incentive. Winning a championship would mean a lot to the people of Reaghstown but we failed at the last hurdle again. In 1997, at least the team played well and they could say they were unlucky but we were poor in the final in 2003 and again last year. That's very disappointing." From a personal point of view, the 2006 decider meant a lot to Terence as he had missed the '03 junior showpiece through injury. It was his first final appearance and, as captain, he was determined to lead the club to victory. "It meant an awful lot to me and it was great to lead the team out, but it doesn't count for much when you lose. It didn't happen for us and it seems like it's just not meant to be. The pitch was in perfect condition on the day and was probably the best surface we played on all year. We have no excuses whatsoever." It wouldn't have been a bad year to get out of junior football, bearing in mind that the bottom grade will be infiltrated by a plethora of intermediate clubs next year - how do the Westerns feel about the prospect of contesting a much-more-competitive JFC in 2007? "I'd say the Kevins are feeling very relieved, even though the intermediate championship will also be very tough next year, with five senior clubs going down. Junior will be very competitive and there are a lot of quality sides coming down, but they are teams we have played well against before and we have nothing to fear. "We were always able to hold our own in the intermediate championship and we were a bit unfortunate to be relegated in 2005, so we definitely won't fear anybody in next year's junior championship. In a way, it might actually suit us. We never disgraced ourselves against good teams before and we always seemed to play better in intermediate than junior, so we're looking forward to the challenge and an overall improvement in standards. "The first year we went up, we were close to getting promoted to Division 2A and we were unlucky with injuries the last time we were intermediate. We've played these teams before and have done well against them, so we're not in any way intimidated. "To be honest, the seven-team junior championship was a poor competition. Our opening game against the Kevins was our only real test until we met them again in the final and we didn't have any real competitive games in between. The four-week break before the final didn't help and they had the benefit of a semi-final against Young Irelands, which must have helped. With more teams next year, there'll be more games for everyone and that's what you need. It'll make us all more competitive." The overall mood in the Westerns camp then as they reflect one last time on 2006 and look to the coming campaign? "It was disappointing to lose the final but we put in some good performances in the league since then and we're looking forward to next year's junior football championship. We definitely have the players to win it and the younger lads are all a year wiser now. Next year's JFC will be tough, but we're in with a good chance." Westerns, 2006 Kevin Mullen Shield winners: John Brennan; Gary Smith, Francis McArdle, Brian McMahon; Shane Matthews, Trevor Baylon, Richard Sweeney; Martin Kane, Dermot McArdle (0-2); Terence Sweeney (0-1), Padraig Brennan (0-2), Aidan McGarrell (1-1); Clint Sweeney (1-0), Anthony Durnin (1-3), Andrew Kerr (1-0). Sub: Darren Kerr (0-1) Tweet

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