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Five years following its inception, Simonstown Gaels GFC qualified
for its first every county decider - the Junior 'B' FC final of
1970 - and town rivals Navan O'Mahony's provided the opposition.
Unfortunately, O'Mahony's packed too much experience for the Simonstown
team with 1954 Meath All-Ireland winner Patsy Ratty from St Mary's
Park particularly prominent.
Ironically, Patsy later trained Simonstown for a spell in the
early eighties.
The following is the report of the game which appeared in the
Meath Chronicle:
O'Mahony's are Junior "B" champions
Patsy Ratty, the flying Navan O'Mahonys forward, has been playing
the game he loves for his club for the past twenty years but it
was not until Sunday that he won his first junior football championship
medal when, at Pairc Tailteann, he was the main architect of O'Mahony's
deserved 0-7 to 0-4 victory over a gallant Simonstown Gaels side
in the final of the Junior "B" competition.
But that medal will have good company in the Ratty household.
It will join the seven senior championship medals already gathered
by the 36-years-old. Ratty whose experience in top class football
stood himself and his colleagues in such good stead on Sunday.
It took all of Ratty's coolness and accuracy - he shot six of
Navan's seven points - to kill a Simonstown challenge that early
in the game appeared as if it was going to sweep all before it.
For three quarters of an hour this was the best Junior "B" final
for a long time with a tremendously high standard of football
exhibited. And in this respect the losers must take a large share
of the credit because in the first half they produced top-class
football and some splendid pieces of combination.
But it became increasingly obvious that though they were cutting
the Navan defence to pieces they were not taking their chances.
Gradually, Navan, after soaking up the punishment, fought their
way back into the game and Ratty showed the young Simonstown forwards
how scores should be taken.
When the ultimate winners went ahead, and led bu 0-4 to 0-2 at
half-time, a lot of the superiority that Simonstown had earlier
enjoyed disappeared and from then on, though they fought to the
bitter end, they were looking more and more like a demoralised
side.
Two sent to the line
It was a pity that such an excellent match should have been spoiled
once or twice by outbursts of temper. After one such incident,
in which fourteen or fifteen players were involved, two men -
Navan's Cormac Ward and Simonstown's Collie O'Brien - received
their marching orders. Thereafter, the standard of the play dropped
slighty as Navan cemented their newly-won advantage with more
points by the superb Ratty and Simonstown found it increasingly
difficult to get back into the game.
The experience of the Navan men was probably the factor which
brought their their praiseworthy success. Ratty, Tony McCormack,
Eanna Giles and, to a lesser extent, Cormac Ward showed the advantage
of years in the senior ranks. Ratty's positional play, judicious
use of the ball and magnificent accuracy made him the Navan men's
hero, but in a victory which compensated to some extent for the
failure of the senior team others such as Paul Ryan, Mike Nealon,
Gerry Walsh, goalkeeper Leslie Dunne and midfielders Ultan McDermott
and Christy Blake can look back on this win with pride.
Gallant in defeat
Simonstown lost absolutely no credit in defeat. In fact, they
gained many new followers with their splendid brand of open, fast
football, and with further experience they are certain to continue
too be a most successful club. John Carroll, their very talented
attack leader, looked a superb footballer until a few hefty knocks
in the second half reduced his speed. Others to shine for the
losers were full-back Patsy Lynch, the O'Brien's (Derry, Leo and
Collie), midfielder Val Devlin, and forwards Mattie McGoona and
Victor McCullagh.
Navan had their scores from Patsy Ratty (0-6) and Christy Blake
(0-1) while Simonstown replied through J Carroll (0-2), V Devlin
and V McCullagh (0-1 each).
Navan O'Mahony's - Leslie Dunne; Ken Harte, Ollie Matthews,
Austin Foran; Eanna Giles, Cormac Ward, Mike Nealon; Ultan McDermott,
Christy Blake; Peter Cassells, Patsy Ratty, Gerry Walsh; Paul
Ryan, Mark Brady, Tony McCormack.
Simonstown Gaels - Frank Carberry; Michael Hegarty, Patsy
Lynch, Derry O'Brien; Collie O'Brien, Dick Stapleton, Leo O'Brien;
Val Devlin, Eamonn Kearney; Mattie McGoona, John Carroll, Victor
McCullagh; Phil Hegarty, Jim Fitzsimons, John Ratty.
Mr. Tommy Collins (Athboy) refereed.
Incidentally, Frank Carberry and John Carroll, later transferred
from Simonstown to O'Mahony's, and won SFC medals in 1973 when
they defeated Ballivor in the decider. The Ballivor team's right-corner
back was one Noel Dempsey, our present Minister for the Environment.
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