There were a total of 14 parishioners from the Greater Dunboyne Metropolitan Area in action for the second weekend of the National Community Games final held in it’s new home at Athlone IT over the weekend. Of these there were eleven Dunboyne AC athletes in search of National titles
Saturday the 22nd of August 2015 saw the under 10 mixed relay quartet, namely Kate Stewart, Eriin O Toole, Ciaran McCormack and Mathieu Keiffer make their debut on the National stage. The sun was out, the youngsters were nervous and there was an unbelievable quality of opposition on show at this Midlands venue. From the gun this talented group gave it their are and if it was not for the nerves effecting their baton changes they would no doubt have made it out of the heats, however they just fell short one place outside automatic qualification. From the years of overseeing the development of young athletes the juvenile coaches at Dunboyne AC assure you that this is not the last that ye have seen of this group, they all have a very bright future in athletics.
Our maturing under 12 relay team made up of Abigail Knox, Rachael Norman, Kate Griffin, Doireann Ni Fhlatharta and Lucy Eglington had a bitter sweet kind of day. The girls had thought (as did there numerous supporters) that they had qualified from the heats for the Semi Finals having finished inside the automatic qualifying spots. Over four hours later the girls went to the assembly area to line out for the semi final to find out that they had been disqualified in the earlier heat for a baton change zone infringement. A communication breakdown led to a lot of tears and anguish amongst this dedicated quintet. There was little that could be said to console these girls, who are always a joy to work with and when grown ups get things wrong all we can do is apologise. Heads up girls, we will have many others days out to climb the podiums at the highest level.
Doireann was also in action in the girls under 12 600m where she was a dominant force in her heat as she just went to the front early and qualified for Sunday’s final.
Our last performer of the day was the group’s elder Jack Nyhan who had swapped his preferred toy the Shot Putt with a discus. Jack had not being throwing much of the disc in 2015 due to exam commitment, however his raw talent was enough to to get into the second round where he finished a respectful 5th overall just outside a medal position.
Sunday the 23th of August 2015 saw Doireann Ni Fhlatharta back for the final of the under 12 600m. Doireann went to the start line in a bundle of nerves, however she snapped out of this as soon as the race got under way and when the field got the bell she hit the accelerator. Half way through the race it was evident that it was going to be a two horse race, and when the Galway athlete took to the front there was no panic or letting up as the Dunboyne athlete just sat on the Tribewoman’s shoulder before blowing her away in the last 50m. The heartbreak and tears of the relay on Saturday were replaced by tears of joy and the reception of her Dunboyne comrades and fellow Meath athletes was very moving.
Four Gold medals made the way to our fair parish in 2015 from the various Community Games National Finals, a year where swimmers, gymnasts and footballers from the parish also represented the Royal County on the National stage and with the athletes bringing the silverware home made it all the sweeter.
Well done to all.
