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Venue: Navan Playing Fields.
How
we got to the finals
Leading
up to this historical day the eight boys from St Declan’s school had
already taken part in two tournaments.
The first tournament was held in Tramore, St Declan’s brought
two teams to the competition both strong sides. Both teams played four games
and unfortunately they met in the final, the St Declan’s A team were
victorious. This gave the boys the
title of Waterford
region champions.
Our
next challenge was the Munster
championships, they were held in Limerick.
We already new to be Munster champions we were going to have to beat the best
in Cork, the best in Clare, the best in Kerry and also the best team in
Limerick. The quality of every team was very high and there were some
extraordinary talented players. Our
first game was against Kerry, we managed to find our form very early and tucked
away two early goals. From then on the
St Declan’s players were in control and went on to win convincingly,
the final score was 4-0.
The
second game we played was against our neighbouring county Cork. This was a much harder game than against
Kerry, every St Declan’s player had to use their experience and skill
to break down the Cork
players. Just before half time the St Declan’s were caught on the back
foot and the Cork
forward capitalised and tucked away a vital goal. The St Declan’s players came out with
only one thing on their mind and that was a quick equaliser. Every player worked so hard to keep the
ball and not let the Cork
players have any time on the ball, the
St Declan’s players had changed up a gear. It was easy to see now that Cork were getting
frustrated and were chasing the ball. Two minutes before the final whistle the Cork players were tiring
and gaps were appearing. The ball was
worked from the St Declan’s goalkeeper and was threaded through to the
striker, he shrugged off the lethargic defenders and fired the ball under the
goalkeeper. The game ended 1-1 a well
deserved draw for St Declan’s.
We
now needed to win our remaining game to be Munster Champions. Our remaining game was against Clare. It was a frantic start to the game and the
ball was being moved at a startling pace.
Both teams looked like they were well capable of scoring. St
Declan’s had a good few chances in the first half but did not
capitalise on them. Both defenders for
St Declan’s were a tower of strength and refused to let any of the tall
Clare strikers past them. At half time it was still 0-0 and there were only
twelve minutes left for St Declan’s to ensure they were Munster champions.
With the realisation of this the St Declan’s players were now hungry
for the win.
They
started the second half much brighter than Clare and kept the ball
moving. It was absolutely fantastic to
see that every St Declan’s player was working so hard to keep the ball,
their confidence was booming. They
were playing with skill and agility, the Clare players were finding hard to
defend against the nimbleness of the St Declan’s strikers.
 With five minutes left the St
Declan’s players were all over the Clare defence and that thin Clare
thread finally snapped. A curling ball
from the St Declan’s defender was controlled instantly by the striker,
he made room from himself and struck the ball cleanly in to the bottom right
hand corner. The game ended 1-0 which meant that St Declan’s were Munster
champions.
Now
the next challenge for the eight Munster
champions was to play on behalf of their Province in the All-Ireland
Championships. No Waterford
City side has ever
progressed to this stage.
It
was a bright Tuesday morning, as we travelled to Navan there was a nervous tension
in the air but the boys couldn’t wait to put the Munster colours on. As we arrived in Navan the playing fields
were awash with excitement.
Our
first game was against Connaght, from watching the previous game we could see
that the quality of football was very high and we needed to play at our very
best to compete. The game started at a
steady pace and both teams were trying to test each other out. The St Declan’s players started to up
the pace and made some great runs down both flanks. The Connaght players had to defend very
well to keep the St Declan’s players out. The first half ended 0-0. The second half started with a fantastic
run from the St Declan’s defender he charged forward with fine pace,
with great skill he brought the striker into play he controlled the ball and
spun on his left foot which gave him an excellent angle on goal. He delicately chipped the ball over the
goalkeeper, St Declan’s found the goal they were looking for. The game ended 1-0 to St Declan’s
they had beaten Connaght and had only Ulster
and Leinster to play.
 Our next opponents were Ulster
we were playing a team from Donegal.
The St Declan’s players were full of confidence and were ready
for their next encounter. Straight
from the start as a spectator it was easy to see that they were at ease
whilst playing, and the Ulster
team were no match for the fitness and skill of every single St
Declan’s player. Within five minutes St Declan’s found themselves
queuing up for shots on goal. This
attack resulted in a low driving shot from the tall, steady St Declan’s
defender. Just before half time Ulster
found themselves again chasing the ball, with the St Declan’s striker
unmarked in the box a pin point accurate pass found him and he made no
mistake in making it 2-0 to the Blues.
The
start of the second half started much as the first ended, with St
Declan’s controlling play. With
a convincing lead the Blues started to add snippets of skill it was a delight
to see. A breakdown in the Ulster
defence allowed the striker to secure his second of the tournament and the
third of the game. The game ended 3-0,
a fantastic display of football from the Munster representatives.
 Leinster were now the only team
between us and the All Ireland Championship.
The game started with a shot from the Leinster
side which was confidently dealt with by our goalkeeper. Both teams were full of talented players
and it took awhile for the game to steady down. The first real break came from St
Declan’s which resulted in a corner.
There were plenty of chances coming St Declan’s way. The St Declan’s defence stood up
excellently against the two tallest players on the pitch. Goal bound runs were stopped by
fantastically timed tackles. St
Declan’s started to pass the ball confidently and really used the width
of the pitch, these passes stretched the Leinster
players. With the end of the first
half ending 0-0 it was all still to do in the second half.
With
second half under way the fitness of the St Declan’s players started to
show they seemed to be a little bit more quicker and stronger on the
ball. The chance they needs suddenly
appeared, the left side defender shrugged off the challenge and charged down
the wing. He drew the remaining
defender in and gave a excellently timed pass into the striker, with a
defender hot on his tail he struck the ball inside the near post. St Declan’s were now only three
minutes away from an All Ireland title.
The used every last bit of energy they had to keep the ball and
frustrate the Leinster players. As the final whistle blew the five boys
fell to their need in exhaustion. I
have never seen such determination and hard work, the eight St Declan’s
players were now All Ireland Champions.
The
smiles and excitement on their faces as the received their medals and the
trophy were well earned. This is an achievement that no school boy will ever
forget and will always stay in their memory.
For
the first time ever a team from Waterford
had won the 5 a side All Ireland Championship. Three cheers to St
Declan’s and to all that have helped along the way
William Morgan.
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