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BALLINABRACKEY . . . . . . . . . 222BALLINLOUGH . . . . . . . . . . . . . 703BALLIVOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494BECTIVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208BLACKHALL GAELS . . . . . . . . 250BOARDSMILL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388CARNAROSS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369CASTLETOWN . . . . . . . . . . . . . 592CLANN NA NGAEL . . . . . . . . . . 512CLONARD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258CORTOWN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196CURRAHA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437DONAGHMORE/ASHBOURNE . 628DRUMBARAGH . . . . . . . . . . . . 652DRUMCONRATH . . . . . . . . . . . .698 DRUMREE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396DULEEK/BELLEWSTOWN . . . . 353DUNBOYNE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417DUNDERRY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 688DUNSANY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

DUNSHAUGHLIN . . . . . . . . . . . 338GAEIL COLMCILLE . . . . . . . . . 270KILBRIDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229KILDALKEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 566KILLYON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234KILMAINHAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 658KILMAINHAMWOOD . . . . . . . . . 376KILMESSAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381KILSKYRE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 536KILTALE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238LONGWOOD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615MEATH HILL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265MOYLAGH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 544MOYNALTY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 504MOYNALVEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 716NA FIANNA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299NAVAN O’MAHONY’S . . . . . . . . 549NOBBER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458OLDCASTLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .286RATHKENNY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .200

RATHMOLYON . . . . . . . . . . . . . 622RATOATH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481SENESCHALSTOWN . . . . . . . . 444SIMONSTOWN GAELS . . . . . . . 527SKRYNE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408SLANE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321ST BRIGIDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401ST COLMCILLES . . . . . . . . . . . .664ST CUTHBERTS . . . . . . . . . . . 194ST MARYS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364ST MICHAELS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310ST PATRICKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 580ST PAULS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316ST ULTANS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187ST VINCENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430SUMMERHILL . . . . . . . . . . . . . 600SYDDAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243TRIM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 672WALTERSTOWN . . . . . . . . . . . 330WOLFE TONES . . . . . . . . . . . . 468

Chairman’s address . . . . . . . . . . 2Editor’s welcome . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Senior football . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Senior hurling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14U21 football . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Minor hurling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24Senior ladies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30U21 hurling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Junior football . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Seamus McEnaney . . . . . . . . . . 41Donal Smyth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431986 Leinster win . . . . . . . . . . . 47VS Football . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Camogie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Ollie Geraghty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58Peter Darby . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63Tony Fox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Ray Cunningham . . . . . . . . . . . 69Supporters Club . . . . . . . . . . . . 71Seamus Kenny . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74Gerry from Dunganny . . . . . . . . 79Handball . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 811911 Croke Cup win . . . . . . . . . 86Cian Ward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88Mick O’Brien . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93Noel Moran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96Tom Duff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98Martin Doyle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100Greg Ennis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103Tony McDonnell . . . . . . . . . . . 108Colm Doherty . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112Hurling Team of the Year . . . . 114Football Team of the Year . . . . 116Rory Donnelly . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Dr Gerry Cummins . . . . . . . . . 121Minor football . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124Friends we lost . . . . . . . . . . . . 128Peter McDermott . . . . . . . . . . . 143David McGowan . . . . . . . . . . . . 146Ladies Colleges . . . . . . . . . . . 148Coaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150Eamonn McGovern . . . . . . . . . 153Nicky Horan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158Myra Flaherty . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163Pat Clarke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170David Farrell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176Valley Cafe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178Enda Tyrrell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182John Smyth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 712Shane Kelly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 728Cumann na mBunscol . . . . . . 730

1

CONTENTSCLUB

COUNTY

6

KILDARE TORMENTBANTY’S BOYS

Meath supporters must be sick of the sight of the Kildare jersey after they inflicted a trio ofdefeats on Seamus McEnaney’s side in 2011, including in the crucial Leinster championshipand All-Ireland qualifier games.

It’s official – Kildare are Meath’snew bogey team. Not contentwith knocking them out of last

year’s championship at the All-Ireland quarter-final stage, KieranMcGeeney’s charges returned toinflict even more pain on the RoyalCounty this year when they firstlyended their reign as Leinsterchampions before putting them outof the All-Ireland race barely amonth later.

Throw in last April’s NationalLeague defeat in Newbridge, whichincluded the infamous sideline clashof McGeeney and ‘Banty’ after thefinal whistle, and it’s easy to seewhy the Lilywhites have becomesuch a thorn in Meath’s side. Whilemany would argue that Meath havebetter players, Kildare’s supremeorganisation and fitness levels,coupled with their greatercomposure in front of goal, tilted thebalance in all three of this year’sclashes.

But it wasn’t just Kildare whocaused headaches for Meath and

their first ‘outside’ manager in 2011.In the National League, Laois,Donegal, Derry and Antrim alltriumphed over the Royals, leavingthem facing the unthinkableprospect of being relegated toDivision 3 ahead of their final gameagainst Tyrone. But against all theodds and in true Meath fashion, theembattled green and golds staged aterrific comeback which ended in adraw with the Red Hands and this,combined with Kildare’s last-gaspvictory over Sligo in Newbridge, sawthem stay in Division 2 by the skin oftheir teeth.

Of course, Meath supporterswould have expected a lot morefrom their team and it’s amazing tothink that a season that promised somuch only yielded three competitivevictories against Sligo (in theNational League), Louth andGalway (both in the All-Irelandqualifiers). Whether or not theMeath players were leftpsychologically scarred by thefallout from last year’s Leinster final

it’s impossible to tell, but there wasa definite cloud hanging over thecamp all season.

Players who had performed tosuch a high standard in 2010struggled to reach the same heightsthis year with the forward line, inparticular, looking only a paleshadow of its former self for longspells. Seamus McEnaney’sresponse was to recall GrahamGeraghty after three years inretirement. And while there wassome opposition to this sensationalmove, the 38-year-old showed in hisbrief comeback – which wasunfortunately cut short by injury –that he still has what it takes at thislevel by scoring a goal withinmoments of his introduction againstKildare in the Leinsterchampionship, only to have itwrongly ruled out for a ‘square ball’infringement by the referee.

The decision to recall the 1999 All-Ireland winning captain on the eveof the championship was almost ascontroversial as McEnaney’s own

The Meath senior squad for the Leinster Championship game against Kildare at Croke Park, front l/r: Paddy Gilsenan, Conor Gillespie, Gary O'Brien,Graham Reilly, Stephen Bray, Ciaran Lenihan, Brian Menton, Seamus Kenny, Cian Ward, Chris O'Connor. Back: Caomhin King, Anthony Moyles,

Mark Ward, Shane McAnarney, Kevin Reilly, Paddy O'Rourke, Brendan Murphy, Nigel Crawford, Joe Sheridan, Jamie Queeney, Brian Meade, Paddy Coakley, Mark O'Sullivan, Brian Farrell, Shane O'Rourke, Graham Geraghty

8

appointment as manager late lastyear. Despite strong opposition tohis candidature in some quarters,delegates voted 53-19 in favour ofthe former Monaghan bossbecoming the Royal County’s first‘outside’ manager.

In another break with tradition, theCorduff man – who became Meath’sfifth manager in seven years andreplaced Eamonn O’Brien who wasunexpectedly ousted after deliveringa first Delaney Cup in nine years –was granted a three-year term witha review after two years. Hisbackroom team consisted of formerMeath All-Ireland winners LiamHarnan and Barry Callaghan, ex-Armagh and Kildare assistantmanager Paul Grimley and formerCavan manager MartinMcElkennon, who was appointed asthe team’s strength and conditioningcoach.

However, Harnan and Callaghanwere gone before thechampionship, having decided tostep down over an apparent lack of

consultation on the decision to recallGraham Geraghty. They wereeventually replaced by just oneselector – the popular Clonee nativeand former Ballinlough managerTom Keague.

Despite an extensive search fornew talent and giving over 50players game time, McEnaneystruggled to find a winning formula.The tone for the season was setwhen Meath lost their O’Byrne Cupopener to the students of UCD.They recovered to beat Kilkennyand Laois in the O’Byrne Shield,only to lose an entertaining final toDublin after extra time in ParnellPark.

The National League was afrustrating affair with a first roundloss to Laois in O’Moore Parkimmediately putting the newmanagement under pressure.Meath lost four more games, but stillavoided relegation by virtue of theirsuperior score difference (+1) toSligo’s.

Supporters hoped the

championship and the challenge ofretaining the Delaney Cup wouldbring the best out of Banty’s boys.But not even Graham Geraghty’sintroduction could save them from afirst round exit at the hands ofKildare in Croke Park.

With the O’Rourke cousins, Shaneand Paddy, joining Joe Sheridan ina physically imposing full forwardline, Meath put their early seasonproblems behind them with a finefirst half display which saw themlead by 0-7 to 0-5 at the break.

But a John Doyle point straightfrom the throw-in signalled a strongKildare recovery and they had gottheir noses in front before substituteBrian Farrell was controversiallysent off following a tangle withKildare’s Emmett Bolton in the 52ndminute (Farrell’s appeal against thered card was amazingly thrown outby the CCCC).

Four points down and badly inneed of some inspiration, theevergreen Geraghty looked to haveprovided it when he rose highest to

Brian Meade gets in his shot against Kildare

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fist past Shane Connollyin the Kildare goal. Butfollowing consultation withhis umpires, referee SylDoyle disallowed it, muchto the dismay of the Meathfaithful in the stands. Itwas impossible to escapethe notion that the‘Sluddengate’ affair hadinfluenced the Wexfordofficial’s decision todisallow what TV replaysshowed was a perfectlygood goal.

Following that let-off,Kildare pushed on to winby 0-16 to 0-10 and so thebackdoor beckoned forthe Royals.

Amazingly, Meath werepaired with Louth in arepeat of what wasarguably the mostcontroversial GAA gameof all time. Notsurprisingly, there washuge interest in the fixturewhich provided bothteams with an opportunity David Morgan against Sligo in the NFL

Joe Sheridan heads for goal against Kildare at Croke Park

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to put things right.Played before a bumper crowd of

18,243 in neutral Kingspan BreffniPark, the game was keenlycontested early on, but once therecalled Cian Ward found hisrhythm, there was only going to beone outcome.

Ward smashed an incredible 4-3 to

send the Wee County packing on a5-8 to 1-8 scoreline. No controversy,acrimony or complaints from Louth– just a job well done by Meath, andby Ward in particular. Indeed, theWolfe Tones sharpshooter couldhave had six goals on a day whenthe Royals reigned supreme overtheir most bitter rivals and also got

their championship campaign backon track.

Despite the comprehensivemanner of their victory over Louth,doubts continued to persist aboutMeath’s consistency. On theevidence of their disastrousshowing against Mayo in theConnacht championship, Galwaywere on a level just ahead ofLouth, yet Seamus McEnaney’smen needed to play their “get outof jail” card to beat them before anexpectant home crowd in Navan.

Meath were good value for their0-8 to 0-4 lead at half-time, withdefenders Gary O’Brien andShane McAnarney among thescorers. But they faded completelyout of the game after the restart as

Galway stormed back to lead goinginto injury-time.

Fortunately, the home side awokefrom their slumber just in time toclaim a 0-11 to 0-10 victory thanksto late points from Brian Farrell andStephen Bray. But goalkeeperBrendan Murphy emerged asMeath’s match-winner after making

Kevin Reilly holds off Padraig Joyce of Galway

Graham Geraghty celebrates his goal against Kildare and the umpire reaches for the green flag, but referee Syl Doyle intervened to rule it was a square ball

13

a save from Cormac Bane in the last action to deny theTribesmen victory.

Unsurprisingly, there were groans of despair frommany supporters when the Royals were drawn againstKildare in the third round of the All-Ireland qualifiers.However, with home advantage again, SeamusMcEnaney’s men were up for the challenge, seeing it asan opportunity to avenge their earlier defeats to theirsouthern neighbours.

Alas, it wasn’t to be. Despite a brave effort, Meath hadno answer to another late surge from the Lilywhites thatpropelled them to a 2-11 to 0-14 win.

Extra-time beckoned when the sides were level on 1-9to 0-12 with seven minutes of normal time remaining,but just as they had done in Croke Park six weeksearlier, the super-fit Lilywhites finished the stronger byscoring an unanswered 1-2 in three blistering minutes toeffectively end the game as a contest.

Attacking wing back Emmett Bolton accounted for 1-1of that tally, with his fisted goal coming after an excellentbuild-up involving impressive substitute JamesKavanagh and Tomas O’Connor, while another sub,Ronan Sweeney, landed the other point to put five in itfor the first time.

Meath, to their credit, responded with late frees fromStephen Bray and substitute Brian Farrell, but time ranout on them as Kildare justified their favouritism.

Despite the awful weather conditions, a 20,000-strongcrowd flocked to Pairc Tailteann for what was a typicallyhard-fought affair between the neighbouring counties.And while Meath were still in it with five minutes to go,

they were much too reliant on the free-taking of CianWard who accounted for 0-8 (0-7 from frees) of theirtally.

Meath did well to recover from the concession of anearly penalty, which John Doyle expertly converted, totrail by just two points at the break, 0-7 to 1-6. Theyrestored parity on the restart and the game remained inthe balance until Kildare’s late push yielded the decisivescores.

Meath were left to wonder what might have been iftheir captain Seamus Kenny, who shadowed the rovingBolton for most of the game, hadn’t been forced to retirewith a head injury just minutes before the Eadestownclubman scored the clinching goal.

“The crucial point was from 12 minutes to go to eightminutes to go,” Seamus McEnaney contended.

“Seamus Kenny went off in that period but the sideswere level and we had three or four opportunities topossibly go one or two points up and we took the wrongoptions. In that particular period, there were fourbreaking balls and Kildare won four of them and that’sSeamus Kenny’s speciality.

“Stephen Bray came out to the half forward line andPaddy (O’Rourke) went in full forward. We’re notpointing the fingers anywhere. It’s a team game and yougo to the man closest to you to put pressure on him.”

While McEnaney could take encouragement from hisside’s progress during the championship after such amiserable start to the year, he will know that the Meathfootball public expects better. Now the challenge is forhim to deliver.

Cian Ward wheels away after scoring his second goal of the All-Ireland SFC Qualifier against Louth

14

GARDEN PARTY INFEBRUARY

Meath's senior hurlers got their 2011 season off to a barnstorming start when they collectedthe Kehoe Cup in early February, beating Wicklow in the final at Arklow. By collecting thesilverware, Cillian Farrell's charges had issued a clear statement of intent.

The Royal County bridged athree-year gap when theydefeated Wicklow by 0-16 to

1-11 to lift the 2011 Kehoe Cup inArklow's Pearse Park on Sunday,February 6th. Meath had led from thesecond minute - when Ger O'Neillfloated over the opening score - andheld out for a deserved victorydespite a strong Garden Countyfinish.

Nicky Horan - who had scoredeleven times during the semi-finalwin over GMIT - missed the finalthrough injury, but Dunboyneclubman Neil Hackett stepped up tothe plate with an assured display,notching eight points in total(including five frees) and creatingmany others. Captain and centreback Stephen Clynch led byexample, clipping over the point thatmade it 0-13 to 1-6 after 47 minutes,while full back Paul Faganmarshalled dangerman Don Hylandeffectively.

The winners - keen to avenge theirChristy Ring Cup quarter-final defeatto the same opposition the previousMay - registered the first six points(despite playing into the teeth of astrong breeze) and impressivegoalkeeper Shane McGann did wellto deny Wicklow an eighth-minutegoal. The hosts finally got off themark in the 18th minute but Meathwere six clear by the 20th thanks toefforts from Peter Durnin andPadraig Geoghegan.

However, Wicklow pounced for afortuitous goal and were twice withintwo points only for David Kirby toknock over the last point of the firsthalf: 0-10 to 1-4 at the interval. Thewinners' first-half scorers were NeilHackett (4), Ger O'Neill, Joey Keena,Padraig Geoghegan, David Kirby (2)and Peter Durnin.

The Garden County had the gapdown to the minimum by the 56thminute, 0-14 to 1-10, but stern Meathdefending coupled with efficiency in

front of the posts ensured that theRoyals made an encouraging startunder their new regime, winning thesubsidiary provincial hurlingcompetition for the seventh time.This was a sweet victory as Wicklowhad pipped Meath in the 2010championship with an injury-timegoal.

Meath's last Kehoe Cup successhad been achieved against Carlow in2008 and they certainly failed to buildon that. After the '11 final win,manager Farrell was under noillusions concerning the enormity ofthe challenge still facing his charges:

“The lads are putting in a big effortin training. You can praise theplayers for being fit, but let's bestraight about it, that's a minimumrequirement in today's game. Wehave a hell of a lot of work to do. Weare nowhere near championshippace yet. We are coming into aleague campaign and the hard workis really starting now and they have a

The starting XV for the Kehoe Cup game against Roscommon, front l/r: Mark Lynch, Barry Slevin, David Kirby, Ger O'Neill, Paul Fagan, DavidDonoghue, Paudge Geoghegan. Back: Padraig Muldoon, Martin Horan, Nicky Horan, Enda Fitzgerald, Shane McCann, Stephen Clynch,

Joey Keena, Willie Mahady

15

lot of it ahead of them. There is no-one shirking their responsibilities atall. It's good when you are winningand hopefully it will continue.”

Meath - 2011 Kehoe Cup winners:S McGann; W Mahady, P Fagan, DDonoghue; M Horan, S Clynch (0-1),M Lynch; J Boyle, G O'Neill (0-1); JKeena (0-1), N Hackett (0-8), PGeoghegan (0-1); M Cole, D Kirby(0-2), P Durnin (0-2). Subs: D Doranfor Cole, N Kirby for Keena.

Meath's first game in thecompetition wasn't quite so close:the Royals hit the ground runningwhen they comfortably beatRoscommon by 4-22 to 1-15 in theirseason opener at Trim on SundayJanuary 23rd. This match hadoriginally been scheduled for PaircTailteann but was moved to the well-appointed St Loman's Park due tofrost in Navan. The visitors led bythree points after 20 minutes but theRoyals rattled over the last threepoints before the break - courtesy ofBarry Slevin, Derek Muldoon andJoey Kenna - to go in level: 0-10each.

The introduction of Kiltale attackerPeter Durnin would have a tellingeffect on the match - the sub hit 2-4as the hosts totally outplayed theirConnacht counterparts after therestart. Nicky Horan and David Kirbyfired the other three-pointers, whilethe Rossies bagged a consolationgoal right at the death. Rookie Kiltalenetminder Shane McCann lookedsolid between the sticks; WillieMahady and Paul Fagan defended

stoutly; Kilmessan pair StephenClynch and Ger O'Neill ruled thecentrefield sector; and Joey Keena,Padraig Geoghegan and BarrySlevin joined Durnin in terrorising thePrimrose & Blue rearguard.

It was good to see intercountyhurling back in its spiritual home anda respectable crowd braved theextended-winter elements to checkout the Meath lads, who didn'tdisappoint. Roscommon had easedpast Louth in the first round, whilethe Royals had a Bye, but this wasall one-way traffic after an even firsthalf of sparring. Once Meath got therustiness out of their system, theywere a class apart, steamrolling thewestern visitors into submissionduring the course of a commandingsecond-half display.

Meath won by 16 points in the endand it could have been even more -Keena, Durnin, Horan and Kirby allsaw second-half goal efforts wellsaved by an inspired visiting 'keeper.

Meath - 2011 Kehoe Cup secondround V Roscommon: S McGann; DDonoghue, E Fitzgerald, W Mahady;M Horan, P Fagan, M Lynch; SClynch (0-1), G O'Neill (0-2); JKeena (0-3), N Horan (1-2), PGeoghegan (0-3); B Slevin (0-4), DKirby (1-2), D Muldoon (0-1). Subs: PDurnin (2-4) for Muldoon, M Cole forSlevin, C Joyce for M Horan, C Reillyfor Mahady.

Six days later, a brilliant haul ofeleven points from scoring talismanNicky Horan propelled the Royalsinto the decider. Back at Trim, on

Saturday January 29th, theKilmessan clubman was GMIT'stormentor-in-chief as Meath pointedtheir way to a thrilling 0-19 to 1-15semi-final victory. Goalkeeper ShaneMcGann was also instrumental in thesuccess, executing a series of top-draw saves to keep the students(boasting talented players fromcounties Galway, Mayo, Tipp andOffaly) at bay. His terrific 62nd-minute save was a match-definingmoment, for sure.

Offaly man Colm Egan did finallybreach the Meath goal in the 69thminute to set up a nervy finish, butMeath held out for a merited win,with Paul Fagan and Stephen Clynchshowing up well in the spine of thedefence.

The sides were level on eightdifferent occasions during theopening 35 minutes, with astoppage-time pointed free fromHoran ensuring parity at the shortwhistle: 0-9 apiece. Within 60seconds of the resumption, the sameplayer popped over another free togive the hosts a lead they wouldnever relinquish.

The winners claimed six of the firsteight points of the second period,Horan's mighty point from playmaking it 0-15 to 0-11 with 49minutes on the clock. Meath led byfive points early in the final quarter -0-18 to 0-13 - and held out for a goodwin, with midfielder Ger O'Neill andJoey Keena bagging a trio of pointsapiece.

Meath showed admirable resolve to

The Meath team for the Allianz HL Division 3A win over Armagh, front l/r: Padraig Geoghegan, Paul Fagan, Mick Foley, David Kirby, Ger O'Neill, DavidDonoghue, Stephen Quinn. Back: Noel Kirby, Martin Horan, Willie Mahady, Shane McGann, Peter Durnin,

Joey Keena, Stephen Clynch, Pauric Keogh, Enda Fitzgerald, Derek Doran

17

win this game and - with GMITdefending heroically - took asuccession of scores from difficultangles and testing distances. All inall, it was an encouraging displayfrom a crop of players involved inheavy training and the win set themup nicely for a crack at thesilverware.

One of the many pluses to comefrom Meath's triumphant Kehoe Cuprun was the outstanding form ofgoalkeeper McGann, whoselightning reflexes and uncannyreactions suggested that he had areal big future in intercounty hurling.Stephen Clynch also looked close tohis brilliant best and the Royalsbenefited greatly from threecompetitive games in preparation fortheir NHL and Christy Ring Cupcampaigns.

Meath - 2011 Kehoe Cup semi-finalV GMIT: S McGann; D Donoghue, PFagan, W Mahady; M Horan, S

Clynch, M Lynch; J Boyle, G O'Neill(0-3); J Keena (0-3), N Horan (0-11),P Geoghegan (0-1); B Slevin, DMuldoon, P Durnin (0-1). Subs: MCole for Boyle, D Kirby for Muldoon.

It was a huge boost to the county asthey prepared for the year ahead andthey could look forward to the leaguewith an air of optimism.

NHLMeath faced Derry, London,

Kildare, Wicklow and Armagh indivision 3A and the Royals wouldhave fancied their chances ofgaining promotion to division two.They started the campaign with a tripto Ruislip where they would face anever improving London side.Nevertheless, Farrell's charges wereexpected to account for the exiles inthis encounter.

However, on this occasion, theRoyal County hurlers came up shortin windy conditions and finished thegame with 14 players after Ger

O'Neill was dismissed early in thesecond-half.

London dictated from the throw-inand with Martin Finn leading the wayon the scoreboard the hosts wereahead by seven points at the interval(1-7 to 0-3). Meath were battling tostay in contention during the openinghalf, but when Finn rifled to the netfrom a 29th minute penalty it left theRoyal County facing a major task forthe second-half.

After the resumption Meath werereduced to 14 players when O'Neillwas sent-off, but they rallied brieflyand managed three quick pointswhich reduced the deficit to four.London regained the initiative andwere well in control before Meathsubstitute Mike Cole capitalised on adefensive lapse for a goal which puta more respectable look on thescoreboard.

In their next outing, Meath facedWicklow, the team they had beaten a

Paudge Geoghegan shows great control during the Kehoe Cup game against Roscommon at Trim

Meath manager CillianFarrell and selector

David Gaughan

19

few weeks earlier in the Kehoe Cupfinal. This time the Royals had homeadvantage and they went in asfavourites to pick up their first braceof points, but it was not to be asWicklow recorded a thoroughlymerited 1-11 to 0-11 victory.

To put the display in a clearerperspective, Meath took until the fifthminute of first-half injury time toscore and that reduced the intervaldeficit to nine points, 0-1 to 1-7.

There was absolutely nothing toadmire about Meath's first-halfdisplay, but to the credit of theplayers, they restored some prideafter the resumption and won thesecond-half convincingly by 0-10 to0-4, but it wasn't enough.

Derry were the next opponents anddespite the Oak Leaf Countyfinishing with 14 men after they hadCormac McKenna sent off in theclosing stages, victory was beyondMeath largely because of theirinaccuracy in front of goals whichproduced 12 wides and they nowface the prospect of having to defeatArmagh on Sunday next in abasement battle of pointless teams.

Meath collected their first NHLDivision 3A points when they won (1-20 to 1-17) the basement battleagainst Armagh at Pairc Tailteann.The result was more important thanthe performance, but it was onlywhen Meath were reduced to 14 menthat they started to hurl with a degreeof self-belief.

That straight red card was issued toStephen Clynch midway through thesecond-half after Peter Durnin's goalgave Meath a 1-14 to 1-12advantage. The Ulster side, finishedwith a little bit of a flourish althoughtheir rhythm was broken by a well-taken Joey Keena point near theend.

Meath saved the best until last andended the NHL Div 3A campaign witha victory over hosts Kildare as theyproduced their finest performance ofthe campaign. The spirit and passionthat was evident in the second-half ofthe win over Armagh in the last roundcontinued against Kildare as Meathbattled superbly for possession andput their hosts to the sword and ranout winners by 2-19 to 3-13 with theimpressive Derek Doran and MickCole getting the all-important goals.

Christy Ring CupNicky Horan was the main man in

attack as Meath's superior scoringpower proved decisive at Armagh inthe opening match of the ChristyRing Cup. The 2002 All-Starnominee finished with 2-6 to hisname for a Meath side who werenever reeled in after Peter Durninopened the scoring within 15seconds off the off.

Durnin finished with six points fromplay to his name as Meath repeatedtheir recent NHL Division 3A win overArmagh. Their hopes of causing anupset here were severelyundermined with the dismissal ofcentre-half-back Ruairi McGrattan onreceipt of his second yellow card,coming up to the interval. Meath ledby four points at that instant and afterthe sides exchanged white flags itwas 2-9 to 1-8 at the break.

Full-forward Paul McCormack whowas operating in a deep role forArmagh from the off now droppedinto defence while Meath numberthree Enda Fitzgerald saw out thegame as a sweeper. With the extraman Meath picked off the points inthe second-half while Armagh wereunable to create the goal chancesrequired to overturn the deficit thatgot as high as eight points at onestage as the game finished 2-21 to 1-17 in Meath's favour.

This set up a meeting withfavourites Kerry in the next round.Meath had to travel to Tralee andwere underdogs in this one, but theypushed the Kingdom all the way.Kerry opened brightly and raced 0-7to 0-3 clear inside the opening twelveminutes, Meath had two points fromwing forward Joey Keena and onefrom free taker Nicky Horan butKerry after such a bright openingseemed to take their foot of the pedaland Meath got back into the gamethanks to contributions from Horan,Keena and Peter Durnin. The gamewas tied at 0-10 apiece after twentyminutes.

As Kerry led 0-13 to 0-10 at theinterval. Meath were on top in thethird quarter as Kerry appeared to bestrangely listless and with Horanunerring from frees, Kerry lost theirway up front and other than aDarragh O'Connell free, in theopening twenty four minutes of the

second half, no other forward scored, with Kerry's other two points comingfrom midfielder Darren Dineen. Infact Meath led briefly twice, firstly 0-16 to 0-15 when Peter Durninpointed and then in the 55th minutewhen Horan converted a close infree for a foul on himself.

However Kerry upped the tempo forthe final fifteen minutes with asuccession of was followed by a 65thminute goal, that John Egan caughtand he clinically finished to the roofof the Meath net for the crucial score.

Meath huffed and puffed late on butthey could not blow Kerry's housedown, although Mick Cole did scorean injury time consolation goal but itwas only a consolation as Kerry wonon a scoreline of 1-20 to 1-17.

The Royals were now in the lastchance saloon and had to travel toNewry to face Down. Having to travelfrom one end of the country to theother in consecutive weeks was farfrom fair on the Leinster side and ittook its toll as Down were neverreally troubled as they recorded aneleven-point quarter-final win 1-18 to1-7, at Ballycran.

Gareth 'Magic' Johnson was one ofthe star turns for the winners,clipping over six points. Paul Braniffnetted the home side's goal on nineminutes and four Johnson pointshelped the hosts to an unassailable1-12 to 0-1 interval advantage.

Michael Cole fired to the Down netafter the restart and there were signsof a Royal revival as Noel Kirbyadded five points. Johnson's 55th-minute penalty was saved by visitinggoalkeeper Shane McGann butDown were not to be denied a placein the business end of the second-tier competition.

This year promised so much for theMeath hurlers as they began lifeunder the guidance of former Offalyhurler Cillian Farrell, and their earlyseason form suggested that 2011might be finally the time that theymake more of an impact on theChristy Ring Cup, but that was not tobe the case. There is no doubt thatMeath possess quality hurlers thatshould be competing at the businessend of the Christy Ring Cup, andtheir performance against eventualwinners Kerry suggests that they arenot too far off the mark at all.