In what was a mixed year for the Westmeath college sides, Athlone Community College stole the limelight with their All-Ireland Vocational Schools junior football success. In a year when eventual Hogan Cup winners St. Pat's, Navan single-handedly put paid to hopes of a Westmeath success in the Leinster Colleges SF 'A' championship, there was considerable consolation to be gained from Athlone CC's outstanding victory in the All-Ireland Vocational Schools junior football final. An injury-time goal from Athlone clubman Alan Gaughan gave the Shannonsiders a dramatic 2-10 to 1-12 victory over Bessbrook of Armagh in a thrilling final at Clones on April 18. It was a case of third time lucky for Athlone CC who had twice been beaten in All-Ireland finals at senior level. "We left it to the last few minutes and we are just over the moon. I am nearly lost for words at this moment in time," said a delighted team mentor Fergal O'Gara just minutes after the final whistle. "We thought it was gone and we were lucky when the ball hit off the post and our 'keeper made a great save at the end. Fair play to the 'nerves of steel man' Alan Gaughan, who scored yet another goal for us." Under the guidance of O'Gara and co-manager Chris Forde, Athlone CC displayed a hunger throughout the campaign which none of their rivals could match. With many of last year's provincial-winning juvenile team on board, they accounted for Tullow CC in the Leinster semi-final before squaring up to St. Peter's of Dunboyne in the provincial decider at Longwood on March 3. Athlone CC signalled their intentions with an 11th minute goal from Alan Gaughan. Moments later, Gaughan swooped for his second goal and with John Connellan and Donal Shine also getting in on the scoring act, the Westmeath school led by 2-5 to 0-5 at the interval. St. Peter's began the second half in determined fashion, firing over three points to leave just a goal between the sides. But eight minutes into the half, Gaughan grabbed his third goal to restore Athlone's six-point cushion. Dunboyne refused to throw in the towel, though, and when Brian Farrell converted a penalty with one minute of normal time remaining, the margin was again reduced to three points. Crucially, Athlone CC replied with two points from substitute Cathal McHugh, but Dunboyne kept the pressure on with late scores from Farrell and Noel Carey. However, Athlone held on for a 3-10 to 1-13 victory. If Gaughan had been Athlone's star performer in the Leinster final, Donie Shine was the name on everyone's lips after his scoring exploits in the All-Ireland semi-final against St. Brendan's of Belmullet. The Clann na nGael youngster scored a whopping 2-8 as Athlone powered to a 3-14 to 2-7 victory. Played in difficult conditions at Ballyhaunis, the game was finely poised until the Leinster champions pulled away in the second half. Within a minute of the throw-in, Shine had the Belmullet goalkeeper picking the ball out of his net. The Mayo side battled back to lead by 1-5 to 1-4 before Gaughan added a second Athlone goal and a further point from substitute Ian Coffey gave the midlanders a 2-5 to 1-5 advantage after 29 minutes. However, a fisted goal by Ultan Corrigan saw Belmullet retiring at the interval on level terms. On the restart, points from Gaughan, Shine (two) and John Connellan (two) put Athlone CC in the driving seat before Shane Nallen kept Belmullet in touch with a brace of points. But Athlone were not about to let their opponents back into the game again and put in a storming final quarter which included a second goal from Shine in the 58th minute. The All-Ireland final pitted Athlone against a Bessbrook team who had beaten a much-fancied St. Brogan's of Bandon in the penultimate round. Bessbrook brought huge support with them which was hardly surprising given their close proximity to Clones, but this didn't unnerve Athlone who made a dream start when a wonderful passing movement involving Joe Bonar, John Connellan, Donie Shine and Alan Gaughan culminated in the latter blasting to the net after four minutes. The Leinster champions stretched their lead with two points from Donie Shine before Darren O'Hanlon fisted over for Bessbrook. Gaughan and Shine replied with points for Athlone, but two points apiece from Paddy Hannaway and Ronan McCoy saw the Armagh school reduce the margin to the minimum after 24 minutes. Then came a potentially crippling blow for Athlone when Bessbrook midfielder Conor Gaskin flicked the ball to the net, but points from Connellan and Shine left the sides level (1-6 each) at half-time. The signs looked ominous for Athlone when the influential Hannaway fired over three points without reply following the resumption. But despite giving second best in the physical stakes, the Westmeath school dug deep and had regained the lead after 48 minutes thanks to points from Connellan (two), Shine and team captain Mark Fitzpatrick. Athlone then had a major let-off when another one of Bessbrook's dangermen Darren O'Hanlon saw his shot come back off the upright. A short time later, Paul McKeown restored parity for the northerners before Athlone 'keeper Gerard Kelly made a vital save to deny O'Hanlon. When Martin Ferris followed up with the lead point for Bessbrook, it looked like it could be the winner. But with the game in injury-time, Gaughan slotted home a brilliant goal after latching onto a pass from Philip Dully. There was still enough time for Bessbrook to reply with another point from Hannaway, but Athlone bravely hung on, sparking jubilation among players and supporters alike. Reflecting on the success, co-manager O'Gara noted: "We were training since last September. We only lost one game this season, the league final against Kilcock. This is just reward for the amount of work we put in and I'm just delighted for the lads - they totally deserved it on the day. We met a good team and we just pipped them at the post. Fair play to them, they hung on to the end. "This is the first time our under 16 team reached an All-Ireland final. Twice at senior level, we've reached All-Ireland finals and we were pipped at the post - we only lost by a point the last time we were there." He added: "We're glad that that run is behind us now and hopefully teams can follow us now. We were Leinster under 14 champions last year and we have seven or eight from that team. "There's going to be a good under 16 team again next year, although it's going to be hard to live up to the expectations of what we achieved this year. But in a couple of years, we'll be giving it a shoot at senior level too." Athlone Community College principal Val O'Connor could hardly contain his delight after the victory. "I'm very happy, very proud. It's the first time for the school to win an All-Ireland. We've been knocking on the door at senior level for a few years. This is a very good panel of players. "It means an awful lot for any school to win an All-Ireland. This is the premier competition at under 16 level. It's something that happens very rarely in any young person's life-time," he enthused. NO LUCK FOR OTHER WESTMEATH SCHOOLS There was no such joy for the Westmeath schools in the Leinster Colleges SF 'A' championship with eventual winners St. Pat's of Navan ending the interests of St. Mary's CBS, Mullingar, Marist College, Athlone and St. Joseph's, Rochfortbridge. Westmeath's other representative in the championship, Moate Community College, were eliminated by St. Joseph's. For Luke Dempsey's St. Joseph's team, St. Pat's were a real thorn in the side, not only ending their reign as North Leinster champions, but also defeating them in the provincial semi-final. When the sides met in the North Leinster final in January, St. Pat's recorded a somewhat controversial 3-8 to 1-11 victory. Meath referee Seamus McCormack came in for criticism for awarding St. Pat's a penalty three minutes into the second half which was expertly converted by Cian Ward. Later, with eight minutes remaining, he over-ruled his umpire by awarding the Navan school a point. In a tight game, both decisions were hugely significant. However, St. Joseph's still had enough chances to salvage something from the game with star forward David Glennon hitting the woodwork on two occasions in the second half, the second miss coming from a penalty in the closing stages. The Rochfortbridge school put that disappointment behind them when they powered to a 2-12 to 0-5 victory over Moate Community School in the second round of the Leinster championship (they had accounted for St. Declan's, Cabra in the first round before Christmas). An interesting sub-plot to the game was the involvement of Luke Dempsey and his former Westmeath protege Dessie Dolan in opposite camps. In this instance, Dempsey won the tactical battle hands down. St. Joseph's gave arguably the finest performance of any Westmeath school in 2004 when they defeated traditional giants St. Mel's by 0-14 to 1-10 in the provincial quarter-final. Last year, the Rochfortbridge school saw their Leinster hopes dashed in the semi-final when the Longford side came from 10 points down in normal time to win in extra-time. But 12 months on, St. Joseph's exacted revenge in the sweetest possible way by beating St. Mel's in their own backyard with David Glennon notching the winning point from a free in injury-time. That victory set the scene for a re-match with St. Pat's in the semi-final. Bidding to become the first Westmeath school since St. Mary's CBS in 1983 to be crowned Leinster 'A' champions, St. Joseph's entered the game in a confident frame of mind. An AJ Murray goal helped them to a 1-4 to 0-6 lead at the interval, but St. Pat's fought back to lead by the minimum as the game neared its conclusion. Then, as St. Joseph's pressed for an equalizer, disaster struck when a St. Pat's counterattack culminated in Henry Finnegan scoring a decisive goal to seal a 1-12 to 1-8 victory. Earlier in the championship, the Navan school had also beaten St. Mary's CBS and Marist College. Against a disappointing St. Mary's, Colm O'Rourke's charges were always in control and they would have triumphed by a greater margin than seven points (1-11 to 0-7) but for the heroics of David Byran in the St. Mary's goal. In the quarter-final, Marist College did everything but get a result against the Meath outfit, hitting wide after wide in the closing stages in search of an equalizer. Pat's looked to be cruising to victory when they led by 1-4 to 0-2 early in the second half, but with Conor Cosgrove and Kevin Hogan to the fore, the Athlone school reduced the deficit to the minimum. Marist laid siege on their opponents' goal in the dying moments, but their shooting let them down as St. Pat's held on for a 1-5 to 0-7 victory. Other Westmeath schools such as St. Finian's College, Mullingar and Mercy Secondary, Kilbeggan also had eventful campaigns without securing silverware. St. Finian's suffered an agonising extra-time defeat to Scoil Dara, Kilcock in the North Leinster Colleges SF 'B' championship quarter-final, while Kilbeggan lost out to Ardee Community School in the North Leinster Colleges SF 'C' semi-final. The Athlone CC team which captured the All-Ireland Vocational Schools junior football 'A' title was: Gerard Kelly; Joe Bonar, Peter Domican, David Corcoran; Jason Turley, Donovan Herembusche, Keith Waldron; Mark Fitzpatrick (captain) Philip Dully; John Connellan, Ronan Killian, Conor Duignan; Cathal McHugh, Donal Shine, Alan Gaughan. Subs used: Colin Dunning and Ian Coffey. Tweet

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