Good start boosts Ratoath to victory

Ratoath added another piece of silverware to the trophy cabinet at under-age level when they won the u-15 FL Div 1 final at the expense of Simonstown Gaels at Dunganny on Saturday. The importance of the Dunganny project to Meath GAA was once again re-inforced when the original venue, Pairc Tailteann, was deemed unplayable when the two teams convened at the frozen Navan venue about an hour before the scheduled throw-in. The alternative at Dunganny meant a delayed start, but no one was complaining and the pitches at the venue were in pristine condition as a large crowd descended on what will be the home of Meath football when all the development work is eventually completed. Ratoath have already won the u-14 FL Div 1A and u-14 Reserve FL titles this year and they completed the hat-trick in fine style with a blistering start which left Simonstown cold for the opening quarter. The Ratoath boys were ahead by 2-3 to 0-3 at the interval and it was that early two-goal blitz that ultimately paved the way to the podium. From the throw-in, it looked as though it was going to be all one-way traffic as Ratoath burst from the traps and produced some excellent football. There was scarcely a minute on the clock when Ratoath full-forward Brian McMahon pointed from a tight angle before Bobby O"Brien won possession from Robert Burlingham"s kick-out and went on a surging run through the heart of the Simonstown defence for the first goal. Ratoath remained in the ascendancy and Mark Daly split the posts in the fourth minute with O"Brien repeating the feat soon after while Liam Burke got the Navan side off the mark with a well-taken point.. However, when McMahon latched onto a long delivery from O"Brien and beat the advancing Burlingham it left the scoreboard reading 2-3 to 0-1 in Ratoath"s favour. Simonstown kept battling and points from Conor Sheridan and Niall O"Mahony left only two goals in it at the break. The Gaels made the perfect start to the second-half when O"Mahony"s goal gave them real hope inside 60 seconds and set the scene for a tense and entertaining encounter. Both teams showed tremendous character as the drama unfolded and when Martin Stokes surged through the Ratoath defence in the third-quarter it looked like another Simonstown goal was on the cards, but his effort flashed the wrong side of the post. Simonstown dictated for long periods of the second-half, but they just couldn"t turn possession into scores. Points from O"Mahony and Sheridan hauled them back to within three-points of Ratoath with 10 minutes remaining, but they were unable to close the gap and a brace of McMahon points kept Ratoath in the driving seat. Rataoth - Colm O"Riordan; Patrick Flood, Conor McGill, Darren Mulvaney; Fiachra Dolan, Colm McCullagh, Brian Power; Bobby O"Brien (1-2), Luke Burke; Colm Nugent, Mark Daly (0-1), Eamonn Wallace; Cian Carey, Brian McMahon (1-4), Conor Rooney. Subs - Ian Fitzpatrick for Rooney, Richie Timoney for Nugent. Simonstown Gaels - Robert Burlingham; Shane Gallagher, Ben Clarke, Rian Wogan; Mark Gardiner, Dean Curran, Niall Coughlan, Niall O"Mahony (1-2), Conor Sheridan (0-2); Amir Khalifa, Padraig Gaffney, James Heaney; Liam Burke (0-1), Martin Stokes, Nicky O"Brien. Sub - Donagh Fitzpatrick (0-1) for Gaffney. Referee - Seamus O"Connor (Carnaross).