In what was another poor year for the Ballycomoyle junior football side, the North Westmeath club looked to its ladies football teams and Scor acts for success, and they certainly weren't disappointed as new PRO Seamus Coyle explains. Glance through Ballycomoyle's excellent weekly notes in the local newspapers at any time of the year and you will quickly realise that it is one of Westmeath's most progressive and active clubs. But because of Ballycomoyle's location in the far north of the county where hurling is the pre-eminent sport and its relative lack of success on the football field, it doesn't always get the credit it deserves. "Some people from other parts of the county might think we're not up to much because we haven't been challenging for a junior championship recently, but the reality is that we are a hive of activity," Ballycomoyle's new PRO Seamus Coyle says. "We have very active ladies football and Scor sections, and enjoyed quite a bit of success in both last year. Our flagship team - the junior footballers - mightn't be going that well at the moment, but there's a lot of work being done at underage level to rectify this and every Friday night we have over 100 boys and girls down training in the pitch." If proof was needed that Ballycomoyle is one of county's most active clubs, here are just some of the events that were organised in 2008: 50km Sponsored Cycle, Sports Day, Steak Festival, Texas Hold'em and the club's first ever Dinner Dance, which was held in the Crover House Hotel, Mountnugent. This year's Dinner Dance took place in the Bloomfield House Hotel, Mullingar on January 30 last and proved to be a resounding success. Over 40 people braved the elements to take part in the Sponsored Cycle last July which saw the cyclists start out at Fore Abbey and make their way to Loughcrew and Dromone before returning to Fore via Glenidan, Drumcree and Collinstown. As with the other fundraising events, the Cycle raised a tidy sum of money for the club. Ladies football has been making great strides in Ballycomoyle in recent times, and this was reflected in the club's successes at under 12, 14 and 16 level in 2008. Under the tutelage of Helen Coyle and Gerry Farrelly, the under 12s defeated Ballinagore in the 'D' championship decider at Multyfarnham. Two goals from Kia Swinburn and Anne-Marie Kennedy at the end of the first half paved the way for a 3-3 to 0-2 victory. A third goal from Ruth Mulligan in the second half put the result beyond doubt. The under 14s, who were coached by Seamus Farrelly, overcame the might of Rochfortbridge by 2-7 to 3-2 to land the 'C' championship spoils. Multyfarnham was also the venue for this final which was closely contested throughout, but was decided by a brace of second half goals from Ballycomoyle full forward Sinead Connell. The Claire Coyle-managed under 16s also secured silverware when they powered to a 6-14 to 0-1 victory over Killucan in the 'D' final. Team captain and centre forward Ruth Daniels led by example by accounting for 6-4 of her side's total. Sinead Connell also chipped in with 0-5. "Ladies football has really taken off over the last few years and it was great to see all of our teams do well. The juniors, who were trained by Marius Reilly, beat St. Paul's and Clann Gaels to reach the semi-final where they lost to Loughnavalley. All in all, it was a good year," explains Seamus, who is married to Ballycomoyle secretary Helen and has succeeded new chairman Ray Farrelly as PRO. On the Scor front, Ballycomoyle produced winning acts at both senior and junior level. Their Novelty Act group, which consisted of Grainne Healy, Dermot McKenna, Catherine Daly, Neville Jessop, Doreen Farrelly, Neil Sammon, Anna-Marie McKenna and Seamus McDermott, won a county senior title before going on to reach the Leinster final where they lost out to the Dublin champions. In junior Scor, Ballycomoyle produced county champions in Instrumental Music and Question Time. The Instrumental Music group, comprising John Coyle, Cian Farrelly and Hilary Gaffney, also reached the Leinster final where they were edged out by the Wexford champions. "Like ladies football, Scor is going from strength to strength in Ballycomoyle. Great credit is due to our secretaries Doreen Farrelly and Catherine Daly for the work they are putting in," Seamus adds. Not so long ago, the northerners were considered to be one of the stronger sides in the junior football championship, but they have fallen well short of the mark in the past couple of years and failed to register a win last season. The tone for the year was set when they were hammered 0-2 to 3-17 by champions-elect St. Mary's in their opening match. Kieran Geraghty ran the Ballycomoyle defence ragged, helping himself to 3-7 in a virtuoso display. Following Geraghty's opening goal in the 16th minute, the Rochfortbridge full forward line began to find their range to outscore their opponents 1-5 to 0-1 in the second quarter with scores from Robbie Kenny (two), Geraghty, Ken Berry, Damien Gavin and a second Geraghty goal. Trailing by 0-1 to 2-8 and reduced to 14 men at half-time, Ballycomoyle were facing a heavy defeat and that's exactly what materialised as St. Mary's continued to rack up the scores. Geraghty completed his hat-trick within four minutes of the resumption and by the time Paul Dermody doubled Ballycomoyle's tally with six minutes remaining, the 'Bridge had amassed a total of 3-14. Further defeats to St. Joseph's and Milltown followed, leaving the blue and whites completely demoralised and unable to field for their final group match against St. Paul's. On the plus side, Ballycomoyle reached the Junior Cup semi-final and was well represented on the St. Michael's team that lost the minor Division 1 semi-final to Caulry. "It wasn't one the junior team's better years and we're obviously hoping that results will improve this year. We struggled with numbers and never looked like making an impression in either the league or championship. "Our former chairman, John Smyth, has returned as manager this year and will be assisted by selectors Martin Murphy and Padraig Cullen. The outgoing management are Pat Syrane, Ray Farrelly, Paul McCrossan and Seamus Faye." Coyle takes encouragement from the success of the St. Michael's underage club, which is an amalgamation of Ballycomoyle and Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall. "They won the under 16 championship in 2007 and had a good run in the minor championship last year. From our end, Dermot McKenna and Larry Masterson were the selectors involved with the minor team and they have been highly impressed by the whole set-up," he concludes. Ballycomoyle's successful under 12 ladies football team was: Marie Egan; Bibi O'Reilly, Shannon Farrelly, Ciara Walsh; Shauna Coughlan, Amy McNicholas, Anna Henry; Laura Coyle, Anne-Marie Kennedy; Katie Egan, Ruth Mulligan, Caoimhe McCrossan; Kelly Coyle, Kia Swinbunr, Sarah Fagan. Subs used: Roisin Gilsenan, Alex Farrelly and Rachel Connell. The Ballycomoyle team which defeated Rochfortbridge in the under 14 ladies football final was: Anne-Marie Boylan; Alanna Clogher, Rebekah Flood, Alice Murphy; Maria Henry, Claire Cheevers, Aoife Flynn; Nicola Fagan, Avril Fagan; Caoimhe McCrossan, Aoife Gallagher, Anne-Marie Kennedy; Niamh Clogher, Sinead Connell, Emma Sullivan. Subs used: Shannon Farrelly and Sarah Fagan. Ballycomoyle's under 16 ladies football championship winning team was: Mairead O'Rourke; Alice Murphy, Claire Cheevers, Rebekah Flood; Maria Henry, Karen Coyle, Aoife Flynn; Nicola Fagan, Avril Fagan; Sinead Connell, Ruth Daniels, Louise Nea; Shauna Byrne, Aoife Gallagher, Niamh Clogher. Tweet

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