Clean sweepers
November 30, 2009Success breeds success. It's a well-known fact in sport that players often inherit something from their family elders and the hope in Kiltale now is that the current crop of youngsters can come through to emulate what was first achieved by the club in the early 1980s and then again with a third Jubilee Cup success in 2007.
Heading into 2010 the signs are looking more promising for Kiltale. Four underage titles and a senior championship semi-final place all secured in a hallmark season for the club in 2009. Now Kiltale know that the next steps to take will require even more hunger for success, so as the club can again start to blossom on the senior stage.
When the Kiltale first final of the season arrived this year, it wasn't to be played in July or August. The minor hurlers still had some unfinished business left over from the 2008 campaign, having booked their place into the final of the Meath MHC against holders Dunboyne.
It was February and the frozen pitch surface at Ratoath was to receive a scorching final played by two worthy teams, which took extra-time to decide a winner between.
In the decider, James Kelly hit an outstanding 1-10, with his goal coming in extra-time, to steer Kiltale towards the Donnelly-Loughran Cup for the third time in four years.
Kiltale (MHC final v Dunboyne): S. McGann; C. McCabe, S. Carroll, S. Browne; T. Regan, W. Mahady, A. Forde: P. Kelly, M. McCormack; T. Mahady, W. Harnan (0-1), M. O'Sullivan (0-1); N. Madden, M. Hennessy (0-1), J. Kelly (1-10, 0-9 frees). Subs - S. Dunleavy for T. Mahady, S. Egan for Madden.
Paddy Kelly's team had got the club off on the right foot, and that same weekend Louise Donoghue captained Athlone IT's camogs to the Purcell Cup. After a hard fought final against Mary Immaculate College, Limerick at the Gaelic Grounds, which finished 3-13 to 2-10 in the IT side's favour after extra-time. The Kiltale player was delighted with the success and the fact that she captained such a talented side spoke volumes about her ability as a player.
The tone was set for the season by mid-February for Kiltale's underage contingent, with silverware very much at the top of the agenda. From the Under 13 grade up, Kiltale teams were impressing in their respective competitions. Come June the club would find themselves back in another final, where another county title would be at stake.
Fresh from their Feile na Gael campaign, where they proudly represented Meath in both Laois and Offaly over the previous weekend, Kiltale met Trim in a bid to retain their Under 13 A Hurling Championship crown.
The holders had got off to a terrific start in the game at Kildalkey, when Hugh O'Sullivan buried in an early goal, which was backed up by points from Ross Ryan and David Schilder.
Trim, however, hit a hot-streak of goals just before half-time that put them into a 3-1 to 1-2 lead. The signs were looking ominous for Kiltale after that, but they showed what they were all about as a team and a further goal from O'Sullivan, along with majors from David McLoughlin and full-forward Shane Cavanagh made sure they would be taking back their title on a 4-11 to 4-4 score-line.
Kiltale (U13 HC final v Trim): Ronan Ryan; Cathal Brien, Sean Thomas Kiernan, Sean Ryan; Eoin Crowe, Brian Harnan, Cathal Ryan; David Schilder, Iarla Hughes; David McLoughlin, Michael Burke, Robert Lawless; Ross Ryan, Shane Cavanagh, Hugh O'Sullivan. Subs - Andrew Jackson, Kyle Benson, Colm O'Connor, Jack Farrell, Brian O'Reilly.
It was another great win for the club but there were no signs of a let-up about to happen either. The last week of August saw Kiltale come towards a major junction in their season. Firstly, the Under 16s were to take on Clann na nGael in the championship final and the seniors faced a stern test against the same club in the quarter-finals of the Meath SHC.
The Under 16s held up their end of the bargain with a resounding 6-13 to 1-9 victory at Pairc Tailteann. Goals from Anthony Forde and Cillian O'Sullivan paved the way for a 2-5 to 0-7 lead at the interval for the would-be winners and in the second-half the same pair ran riot, bringing their combined tally for the day to 5-8, with the other major coming from Sean Burke, to see out a comfortable win and assure another title was in the bag for Kiltale.
Kiltale (U16 HC final v Clann na nGael): Chris O'Malley; Jack Regan, Tony Forde, Kevin Ryan; Chris O'Reilly, Shane Brown, Eamon Ryan; James Kelly (0-4), Robert Fagan (1-0); Darren Brennan, Sean Burke (1-0), Cathal McCabe; Anthony Forde (2-6), Conor Egan, Cillian O'Sullivan (3-2).
Seven days later and the pressure was suddenly shifted on to the senior team's shoulders to ensure that the good times kept rolling, as they took on Clann na Gael in Navan, where a place in the semi-finals of the Meath SHC awaited the winners.
Kiltale didn't disappoint, as they were led by ace forward Peter Durnin towards a 2-17 to 2-13 win at Pairc Tailteann to book their place in the last four of the competition. The game had been tight in the opening stages before Durnin, who registered 1-10 over the hour, landed smashed in a crucial free to the back of the Clann na Gael to steer Kiltale 1-5 to 0-5 in front and from there they never looked back.
After taking in a 1-9 to 0-7 lead at the break, the victors outscored their opponents by three points in the third quarter and only a brave fight back from Clann na Gael towards the closing stages made the score-line look closer than the contest actually was.
The club was on 'cloud nine' by the time their semi-final arrived, but Dunboyne would put a real dampener on things when they grinded out a one-point victory (1-15 to 1-14) to send Kiltale crashing out of the Meath SHC for another year.
However, the season's end was not to be all doom and gloom (even in these times). There was still the matter of an Under 14 Championship final to be played for Kiltale in September, which meant a chance to secure a hat-trick of underage titles for the club.
In the decider, Kiltale travelled to St Loman's Park, Trim, to take on Kilmessan, with hopes of keeping their unbeaten final record for '09 intact. Kilmessan put up the fight to them, but in the end it was two goals from Ross Ryan along with a 0-7 tally from Jack Regan which provided decisive, as Kiltale stormed to a 2-9 to 0-9 victory.
Kiltale (U14 HC final v Kilmessan): Ronan Ryan; Mark Foy, Jack Regan (0-7), Jack Molloy; Daragh Branigan, Kevin Ryan, Brian Harnan; Sean McNally, David Schilder; Dave McLoughlin, Conor Shiren (0-1), Sean Kiernan; Ross Ryan (2-0), Rory Hennessy (0-1), Fergal McCabe. Subs: Hugh O'Sullivan for Sean McNally, Joseph Munnelly for Hugh O'Sullivan, Michael Burke for Dave McLoughlin.
A month later and the minors had rounded-off a perfect season for Kiltale, when they trounced Boardsmill in trim to claim the league title.
Kiltale, Boardsmill and Kilmessan had all finished joint-top of the division, but it was Kiltale that demonstrated their superiority when they defeated a Boardsmill side that dumped out Kilmessan in the semi-final by 2-18 to 0-9 in the Meath MHL decider.
The winners raced out of the traps for the game at St Lomas Park, with points from James Kelly, William Harnan and Mark O'Sullivan. Boardsmill hit back with frees from Niall O'Rourke to level, but Harnan provided the game's turning point after that when he smashed in a superb goal which would be backed up by a terrific solo effort from Kelly to raise another green flag and send Kiltale into a 2-8 to 0-6 lead at the break.
In the second-half, Kiltale continued to dominate by outscoring their opponents 0-10 to 0-2, with Kelly, Hanran, Tommy Regan, Anthony Forde and Michael Hennessy all tormenting the Boardsmill rearguard, and in the end it was a comfortable victory which helped define a perfect season for the club on the underage front.
Kiltale (MHL final v Boardsmill): Sean Burke; Shane Brown, Sean Carroll, Tony Forde; Tommy Regan, Michael Hennessy, Sean Dunleavy; Mark O'Sullivan, Mark McCormack; Darren Brennan, Tiernan Mahady, Cathal McCabe; James Kelly, Willie Harnan, Anthony Forde. Subs - Nicky Madden for Brennan, Sean Egan for Mahady, Eamon Ryan for Dunleavy, Christopher Reilly for Brown Tweet
