Jordan keen for junior honours
November 30, 2009The small club on the Navan road just outside the town of Kells has been one of the most consistent challengers for the JFC title over the last five years. In 2005 they lost to eventual winners St Michael's in the penultimate round before going one step further but losing to St Ultan's in the 2006 decider.
Kilmainham have seen neighbours St Ultan's go up another step of the ladder to senior ranks while they continue to knock at the intermediate door. After failing to reach the knockout stages in 2007, Longwood and Drumbaragh ended their hopes, by margins of one and two points.
When the draws were made last March, Kilmainham were pulled out along with three second strings of senior clubs Dunboyne, Gaeil Colmcille and Wolfe Tones plus Ballivor and Ballinabrackey.
Kilmainham had a new manager in John Henry, who had guided his home club Cortown to the IFC final the previous year. Henry took over from Colm Kane and after seeing his charges win three of their first four games in Division 4 of the All-County League, the opening championship assignment was against relegated Ballivor in Athboy.
A good start proved half the battle for the men in red and black as they had scored 1-4 before Ballivor raised their first flag and Kilmainham went on to win by 2-10 to 2-8. Michael Newman took the individual scoring honours with 1-4 and Danny Butler netted the winners' other goal.
It was two wins from as many JFC outings after Kilmainham recorded a 10-point (1-13 to 0-6) success over Dunboyne at Seneschalstown. Henry's charges got away to a flying start to find the net in the opening minute with Michael Newman the scorer.
They had 1-7 on the board before Dunboyne recorded their first score and it was 1-9 to 0-1 at the break. As in the first round outing, Newman finished up with 1-4. Gavin Butler and Barry Lynch were others to show up well in that outing.
There was a setback for Kilmainham when Ballinabrackey inflicted an eight-point (3-7 to 0-8) at Dunderry. It was 2-3 to 0-2 at the break and Michael Newman was the only scorer for the losers with seven of his eight points coming from frees.
However, they got back on the winning trail in no uncertain manner when blitzing local rivals Gaeil Colmcille on a 6-14 to 0-4 scoreline in a Saturday evening clash at Martry. Newman continued his impressive scoring returns with a contribution of 3-4.
Two of his goals were netted in the first half at the end of which the scores were 2-7 to 0- Danny Butler, Gavin Butler and Peter Smith also raised he green flag.
Kilmainham booked a quarter-final place with a 3-9 to 1-9 win over neighbours Wolfe Tones at Bohermeen in the last of their group games. As in the opening round, the side in red and black started strongly by scoring 2-3 in the opening 10 minutes.
The brothers Danny and Gavin Butler served up the early goals and it was 2-5 to 0-4 at the break. The second half was closer but with goalie Kevin Jordan and backs Ross Mooney and Mark Fallon in good form, Kilmainham, for whom Gavin Butler added a second goal, held out to advance and deny Tones a qualifying place.
Cortown hosted the quarter-final clash against Drumbaragh which the Drums won by 3-9 to 3-7. Kilmainham trailed by four points (1-5 to 2-6) at the halfway stage and fell into arrears of eight points in the second period before reducing the difference to two points.
The side in green and red enjoyed an advantage of eight points with eight minutes to go and Kilmainham battled back to make it a close finish despite having Petsie Curran sent off on receipt of a straight red card.
Goals from substitute Davy Farnan and Michael Newman revived the Kilmainham hopes as the deficit was reduced to the minimum. However, Drumbaragh had the last say as John Smith closed the scoring to ensure their progress.
Again Michael Newman finished up with an impressive return, this time scoring 3-5.
The former county minor star amassed a scoring total of 7-30 for six games, an average of over eight points per match. However, for the third year in succession, his skills were not to be seen in the JFC beyond the quarter-finals.
A Kilmainham player at the opposite end of the age scale is goalkeeper Kevin Jordan, who has been with the club since 2006. The first half of the '90s was an exciting time for the Kells netminder as he earned All-Ireland minor and under 21 medals as well as helping Gaeil Colmcille to SFC glory.
He was sub goalkeeper to Conor Martin for the MFC triumph at the expense of Kerry in 1990 and the Under 21 FC success three years later when the Kingdom representatives were again the beaten finalists.
Jordan was in the number one berth when Gaeil Colmcille defeated Walterstown to lift the Keegan Cup for the first time since 1968 and he also enjoyed two Division 1 League successes.
Keeper Kevin continued to play with Gaeil Colmcille up to 1999 when he departed to London where he joined the St Teresa's club. "They were a senior side with players from another of counties in Ireland including Adrian O'Halloran from Moynalvey," he said.
"The standard of football is not very high over there. I didn't win anything with them, the quarter-final stage was the furthest we got in the championship. But I enjoyed the few years playing with them, I returned home in 2004 and went back to Gaeil Colmcille.
"I've been with Kilmainham for the last four seasons. I was invited to join them and took up the offer. We reached the junior championship final in my first year with them and while we haven't got that far since, the club have the players to win the title," added Jordan. .
Apart from the disappointing display against Ballinabrackey, Kevin was pleased with Kilmainham's form in the group games in this year's JFC. "We started off with a good win over Ballivor and after the second round win over Dunboyne, there was the setback against Ballinabrackey.
"We didn't play well at all in that game and we were beaten by eight points. We knew that the form shown in that game was not our true form and we got back on the winning path with a big win over Gaeil Colmcille.
"Then we had a crucial game against Wolfe Tones with the winners there going through to the quarter-finals. We won by six points to advance to a meeting with Drumbaragh," he reflected.
The clash with Drumbaragh was a repeat of the 2006 quarter-final which Kilmainham won. The tables were turned this time and Kevin Jordan said his side struggled after making a slow start.
"We let them have a handy enough start, we were slow in getting into the game and we found ourselves four points behind at half-time. They increased the lead to eight points in the second half and that left us with a bit to do.
"But Mickey Newman was moved out the field and we started to play better in the closing stages when we got two goals. But we had too much to make up and we lost by two points. It was disappointing to go out of the championship at that stage because we thought we could go further.
"We had a new manager this year, John Henry, who had Mark Lynch and Paddy O'Rourke as his selectors. He did well with his, he's a good trainer and the players got on well with him," said the goalkeeper.
Jordan has a lot of football mileage on the clock but he is keen to carry on in the hope of gaining junior championship honours with his latest club.
"As he years go on, it gets harder and harder. I do have problems with my knees, it's probably wear and tear but I hope to give it another go next year."
Is Kevin Jordan hopeful for 2010? "Yes, I suppose every new playing season brings renewed hope. Kilmainham is a very small club with a small player base and yet there have been plenty of successes to celebrate over the years.
"The junior championship is a hard one to win every year but we have been challenging in the closing stages for the last few years. There are some really good young players in the club, lads like Mickey Newman, Ross Mooney and the Butler brothers, Danny, Gavin and John, to mention just a few.
"We would have to be hopeful of making the breakthrough next year, we will be trying hard to win it again, maybe whichever team wants it the most will be the winners and hopefully it will be us," concluded the long-serving netminder. Tweet
