This time 40 years ago Kilbride had just completed the first leg of their great hat-trick of victories in the Meath Senior Football Championship, but four decades later their ambitions were less
lofty as the club looked back on a junior campaign which failed to deliver knockout football and a big struggle in the league.

But back in 1969 Kilbride were the envy of every club in the county as they won their third senior crown in the space of six years when a team captained by Austin Reddan defeated Skryne in the final. A year later Owen O'Sullivan had the honour of lifting the Keegan Cup when Navan O'Mahonys were beaten in the decider and a third successive title was annexed in 1971 when Pat Bruton led the team which again denied Skryne on the big day.
It all represented an extraordinary rise to prominence for a rural club which started its climb through the ranks of championship football by defeating Junior B victors Batterstown in the 1960 Junior Championship final. Martin Quinn captained that team and two years later another giant stride was taken when they beat Walterstown in the intermediate decider and Owen O'Sullivan became the first recipient of the Royal Meath Association (London) Cup.
The great Jack Quinn captained them to the first of three Feis Cup triumphs in 1963, but St Vincent's of Ardcath frustrated their ambitions of winning the Senior Championship in their first year in the top flight when getting the better of them in a semi-final.
However, the big breakthrough was just around the corner and in 1964 Wardie O'Sullivan captained the side which defeated Drumbaragh Emmets in the senior final. Kilbride were the epitome of consistency and after just missing out in 1965 and 1966 they lifted the Keegan Cup again in 1967 when PJ Reilly captained the team which beat O'Mahonys in the final.
But the greatest run of success was still to come with that fabulous three-timer between 1969 and 1971 which helped earn them a place among the great club teams the county has seen.
What tremendous memories those days evoke of times when Kilbride were the kings of Meath football.
At the moment the club would undoubtedly settle for being the kings of the Junior Championship, but after an encouraging run last year this year's campaign was something of a disappointment. It will be recalled that Kilbride won four of their five group matches in 2008, taking the scalp of one of the most consistent sides in the grade, Dunsany, in the first round, but were well beaten by champions to be Moynalvey in the quarter-finals.
A 0-4 to 4-9 reversal at the last eight stage represented a big disappointment, but they gained promotion from Division 4 of the All-County A League, though losing the final to Drumbaragh. It represented progress and this year's championship was awaited with interest, especially after the arrival of former county player Cormac Murphy who had transferred from St Patrick's.
Kilbride, who were managed by Dermot White, with Patsy Farrell and Pat McDonagh acting as selectors, were drawn in group C along with Moylagh, Drumree, Drumbaragh and the second string teams from Skryne and Navan O'Mahonys and it was against Drumree that they got their campaign off to a winning start at Ratoath where the outcome was never in doubt once Garrett Lynch gave them the perfect start with an early goal.
They were looking good when they held a 1-4 to 0-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and the points were as good as wrapped up at the interval when they enjoyed a commanding 1-9 to 0-1 advantage. With the issue beyond doubt they could afford to ease off the gas in the second period and were ahead by 1-14 to 0-5 at the final whistle.
Murphy lined out at full-forward and marked his championship debut for the club by contributing three points, while John Bruton, Brian White, John Smith and Craig Sheridan were others to show up to good effect.
Kilbride surely had revenge on their minds as they travelled to Dunshaughlin to meet Drumbaragh in the second round. But in a repeat of last November's league final the north Meath combination won by 1-12 to 1-6 after the sides had been level on 1-4 each at the break. A poor return of just two points in the second half was never going to be good enough.
The only defeat suffered by Kilbride in the group stages of last year's championship came in the final round when O'Mahonys beat them by six points and the Navan men repeated that success this time around when beating them by 1-12 to 1-8 at Seneschalstown. Kilbride were in trouble at half-time when the town team led by 1-6 to 0-4 and despite adding 1-4 in the second period they fell short.
After suffering two successive defeats and failing to build on that opening round win over Drumree, the pressure was on Kilbride to record a victory over Skryne at Ratoath. They achieved it, but only just as they shaded the verdict by 0-12 to 1-8 to bring their points tally to four from a possible eight.
That became four from 10 when they were comprehensively beaten by table toppers Moylagh in the last round of group games at Seneschalstown in early September. Understrength Kilbride managed only a point over the hour against the men from the north-west of the county who had already secured their place in the knockout stages before this match.
Moylagh's 2-14 to 0-1 victory meant they finished the divisional campaign with a maximum haul of 10 points, followed by Drumbaragh who advanced to yet another quarter-final in second place in the section on eight. Kilbride were out of the hunt on four points after achieving two victories and suffering three defeats. The league didn't bring much joy either as they were relegated back to Division 4.
Finbarr Clarke is one of Kilbride's most experienced players. The 33 year-old lined out with the club from the age of eight up to minor, before joining St Margaret's, but returned to Kilbride at the end of 2003.
He was anxious to finish out his playing days with a club his father Paddy served with such distinction, winning five SFC medals during that golden era. "I have loved every minute of it," Finbarr said.
Unfortunately, 2009 didn't work out as well as he might have hoped for.
"After reaching the quarter-finals of the championship last year and gaining promotion from Division 4 of the league we thought we would kick on this year," he added. "We hoped that playing in Division 3 would help our progress. But things didn't work out.
"We spent two months in the gym early in the year, strengthening up and conditioning. We did the same last year and it went well. There was a lot of togetherness, but no matter how much togetherness there is you need to bring it onto the field. We didn't do that."
Unlike the bigger clubs, smaller units like Kilbride don't enjoy the considerable benefits of having a big panel of players to choose from.
"We have such a small panel and can't afford to have players missing," he said. "Peter Roche went to Australia in December and was a massive loss to us. As far as I was concerned he was our best player last year. He's a tigerish corner-back. Forwards don't get much change out of him. We also had four or five players injured and a lot of lads struggled with work commitments.
"As a result there was no consistency of selection through the year. A small panel can't take that. We had the same six or seven playing in all the games and lads switching positions. John Bruton played in so many positions and he had injuries too.
"Cormac Murphy came to us this year. He brought a wealth of experience. We hoped his arrival would help us to kick on. He's a good man to have around. He made a big impression, but if we had a full team his impact would have been even greater."
Kilbride started the championship on a winning note, but it wasn't plain sailing after that by any means.
"We hoped to go one or two stages further this year," Finbarr added. "We beat Drumree in our first championship game, but it wasn't much good to us. We were understrength for the Drumbaragh match. We were looking for revenge after last year's league final, but missed chances in the first half. We were level at half-time, but they kicked on in the second half.
"Losing to O'Mahonys was the biggest disappointment. We had only two substitutes that day. That was the worst we saw all year. But we had chances to win it. They weren't taken. It was a bit of a struggle to beat Skryne. David Barron was sent off with 15 minutes to go and we struggled to pick up the extra man.
"We battled hard to win and got the victory with a late Brian White point. The way we battled was the most pleasing thing."
Kilbride ended the group campaign with a heavy loss against Moylagh when they were greatly understrength and had already been relegated in the league. It's now a case of putting 2009 to bed and looking ahead.
"At least six of the lads are over 30 and you need others coming through to replace them," Finbarr said. "Hopefully, we can achieve that. You need competition for places." Tweet

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