Na Gaeil haven’t been idle since Co. title victory in May
IT MAY surprise readers to learn that Rathgarogue-Cushinstown’s opponents in Saturday’s AIB All-Ireland Club Junior football championship final won their own county title as far back as May 5. Na Gaeil from Tralee made it third time lucky after defeats at the last hurdle in 2016 and 2018 respectively when they comfortably saw off St. Senan’s by 3-14 to 1-10.
Prior to that, they had emerged from their group of four with two handy wins over Firies and Skelligs Rangers before overcoming a stiffer test from Ballymacelligott by three points.
And with just one team advancing to the semi-finals, the fourth of their five matches to annex the Kerry crown saw them surmount another tough challenge from Gneeveguilla by 0-12 to 1-7.
All of that was done and dusted by early May, so that begs the obvious question: what did Na Gaeil do in order to remain sharp for the rest of the year?
The answer is two-fold, as they availed of a couple of routes to competitive fare that we haven’t entertained here in Wexford.
Firstly, there is a proper league in the Kingdom, with promotion and relegation which is precisely as it should be.
Honestly, we would be laughed at heartily if we told an outsider that our own leagues in recent years have been based on teams’ championship grading rather than actual results.
I’m glad to note that a working group established to make recommendations on the structure of the All-County Leagues will be advocating the return of promotion and relegation.
Na Gaeil are proof positive of how this system is so important for the development of clubs, given that only one can rise up the ladder via championship in any given campaign.
When manager Donal Rooney took the team over in 2016, they were in Division 4 of the league, but they have progressed to the top flight which guaranteed them regular football last year against the top Senior clubs in the county.
This is what sustained them over the summer months, and it was also a significant factor in going one better than 2018 when they lost the Junior final to Beaufort, also a Division 1 league side.
Only eight club teams participated in the most recent Kerry Senior championship: Dr. Crokes, Kilcummin, Rathmore, Dingle, Legion, Kenmare Shamrocks, and two of Na Gaeil’s three Tralee town neighbours: Kerins O’Rahilly’s and Austin Stacks.
However, they are joined by nine divisional teams drawn from Intermediate and Junior clubs, ensuring that every footballer in the county has an opportunity to play in the Senior championship.
Na Gaeil players line out with the St. Brendan’s Board along with the other non-Senior Tralee club, John Mitchels, plus St. Patrick’s (Blennerville), Churchill and Ardfert from the outskirts of the town.
They made it to the semi-final before losing to the eventual champions, David Clifford’s East Kerry, with the club represented by their two county Seniors, Jack Barry and Diarmuid O’Connor, as well as Fergal Barry, Andrew Barry and Ryan O’Neill.
While the Senior grade only has eight actual clubs, there was 16 in Intermediate, while Na Gaeil won the third championship which is known as Premier Junior.
That means 24 teams started above them at the outset of 2019, exactly similar to Rathgarogue-Cushinstown as we have twelve apiece in Senior and Intermediate respectively.
While clearly this is the first-ever meeting of Wexford and Kerry clubs at this level, I can recall a couple of interesting connections.
Current manager James Bolger captained the county Junior team in 2000 when they lost an All-Ireland semi-final to the Kingdom in Nenagh by 2-9 to 0-8, although my memory of that game is completely overshadowed by the tragic death of midfielder David Kinsella from Marshalstown in a car accident on the following day.
And I was in Clonmel five years ago when Eoin Porter starred at centre-back as Good Counsel shocked St. Brendan’s of Killarney by 2-12 to 3-7 in the All-Ireland Junior ‘A’ football final, with club colleagues Eric Cummins and Fionn Slattery among the substitutes.
David Clifford came on at half-time and scored 1-1 in that game, while two of the victors are now soccer professionals: Darragh O’Connor (Leicester City) and Thomas O’Connor (Gillingham).