Clear of present danger
November 30, 2009Last year they reached the knockout stages for the first time since they were beaten finalists in 2005, then defeated Carnaross in a preliminary quarter-final, but surrendered a five point interval advantage when losing by two against Cortown in a last eight meeting. They scored 15 points in that game, but the concession of a couple of goals proved their undoing.
It was a desperately disappointing end to the campaign, but the fact that they lost so narrowly to a team that went on to reach the decider suggested they had something to build on for this year when they were drawn in group C of the championship along with Oldcastle, Nobber, St Colmcille's and Clann na nGael.
When they set out on the championship road last April Tommy Smyth was their coach, but he stepped aside after the opening round game against Oldcastle and Shay Duff was at the helm for their remaining games.
Oldcastle had their own troubles last year, eventually avoiding the drop down to the junior ranks thanks to a relegation play-off victory over Ballivor in late November. Their first round meeting with Syddan took place on a gloriously sunny day in Athboy and it was already apparent at that stage of the championship just how much the men from the north-west of the county had improved in a short space of time.
They were impressive and made a great start with a goal from Nicky Galligan which helped them to lead by 1-7 to 0-4 at the interval. Syddan received a significant boost at the start of the second half when Fiachra Ross found the net, but Oldcastle took over again and pushed ahead to win by 1-14 to 1-8.
A short trip to Meath Hill followed in the second round and the outcome was another defeat, this time by 1-5 to 1-8 against Nobber. Scores were scarce in the first half and Darren Fay's team held a slender 0-3 to 0-2 advantage at the break against a Syddan team which had been hindered by early injuries to Philip Duff and Luke Halpenny.
Nobber had extended their lead to three points by the end, with the introduction of county forward Brian Farrell late in the game proving decisive, but it was an improved performance from Syddan who were particularly well served by Derek Young, Eamonn Maguire, Sean Malone and Paddy Farrelly.
The early sending off of Eamonn Maguire didn't help Syddan when they faced St Colmcille's in the third round at Slane in mid-June and a 0-12 to 1-16 defeat left them in a very precarious position at the bottom of the section. They also conceded a slack goal in the opening half and trailed by 0-7 to 1-5 at the interval, before the seasiders added 11 second half points to win comfortably.
The stakes were extremely high when Syddan and Clann na nGael travelled to Moynalty for their final group assignment. The Athboy/An Ghaeltacht combination were still in contention for a knockout place, while it was a very different story for Syddan who had survival on their minds.
When the pressure was really on and they needed a victory, Syddan responded positively to win by 2-9 to 0-11. It meant they were safe and Clann na nGael, who earlier were entertaining thoughts of prolonging their championship campaign, had been forced into the relegation play-off position at the foot of the section.
Cormac Rowe was the scoring hero for Syddan, contributing a highly impressive personal tally of 2-3 over the hour, and the first of his goals helped them to hold a 1-4 to 0-5 interval advantage. It was still all to play for, but Rowe's second green flag was hugely significant and helped his side to a position of safety.
When all the calculations concerning group C were done Oldcastle and Nobber finished joint top on six points and went through to the quarter-finals. St Colmcille's were third on four and occupied the preliminary quarter-final position, but the most interesting story were the happenings down in the lower reaches of the section.
Syddan and Clann na nGael had managed only one victory each, but the fact that Syddan's was achieved against the Athboy/An Ghaeltacht combination was significant. Clann na nGael would have to enter the horrors of the relegation battle, while the team which had an inferior points difference to them was safe.
Syddan had struggled in a big way in the group and it remains something of a mystery why they have struggled to such an extent since losing the 2005 final to Duleek after a replay. In fairness, they haven't had the best of fortune on the injury front and Thomas Dillon missed all of this year's campaign when he was in Australia.
The Dillon name is synonymous with Syddan football and one of the clan is Stephen who has played minor, under-21 and senior football for Meath. He made his debut for the seniors in a National League match against Cork at Pairc Ui Chaoimh in the autumn of 1996 and went on to experience the thrill of playing championship football at Croke Park.
He scored a goal after being introduced as a substitute in a Leinster SFC game against Offaly in May, 1998, though he admits he "could have blown the ball into the net", and started that year's Leinster final when Meath lost to Kildare. Unfortunately, he also suffered a cruciate injury that year and wasn't part of the county panel which won the All-Ireland in 1999.
He went to Australia in 2001, but had earlier returned to inter-county action and came off the bench during the National League final replay loss to Derry at Clones in 2000. He is the holder of two provincial under-21 medals and was centre-forward on the team which lost to Derry in the All-Ireland final at that level in 1997.
On the club front, Stephen was centre-back on the Syddan team which won the Intermediate Championship in 1999, beating St Patrick's in the final, but tasted defeat in the decider in 2005 when Duleek deprived them of a return to the senior ranks after a replay. In between, he was part of the team which won the Feis Cup for the first time in half a century in 2003 when they defeated Skryne comfortably in the decider.
As he looked back on Syddan's 2009 intermediate campaign, did this year's captain think a change of coach early in the championship caused a problem?
"It probably didn't help, but I wouldn't hold it against Tommy," he said. "He has very high standards and was managing Fingallians in Dublin at the same time. He coached Syddan as a favour. I would have to say he's very good. Shay (Duff) took over. He was there before and is a bit of a legend in Syddan, a great Syddan man. It gave us a lift when he came in.
"We were poor in our first game against Oldcastle. But a lot of the lads were playing championship football for the first time. We had lost a lot of lads from last year for a variety of reasons, maybe eight or nine. There was an improvement against Nobber and we should have got a result. That game was there for the taking, but they beat us by three points.
"Eamonn Maguire was harshly sent off against St Colmcille's in the first half. We didn't play too well with 14 men and were beaten by seven points. We were in big trouble after that. But our league form hadn't been too bad. I felt we weren't always getting the rub of the green; we were playing well enough.
"There was big pressure on us going into the Clann na nGael game, but Shay had us well up for it. Nobber had done us a favour by beating Clann na nGael and we beat them by four points. It was a big relief to have avoided the relegation fight. We didn't want to go down on the 10th anniversary of winning the Intermediate Championship.
"The young lads kept us up this year. Cormac Rowe scored 2-3 from play against Clann na nGael and Fiachra Ross and Paddy Farrelly came on and scored three points between them. Andrew White and Robbie Cluskey were other young players to make a mark. That was a good sign from this year's championship, good for the future."
That victory over Clann na nGael was hugely important for Syddan and steered them clear of the dreaded relegation dogfight where the presence of teams like Drumconrath and Castletown would have given it a real north Meath flavour and made survival far from certain.
But with this year's troubled campaign behind them and intermediate status maintained, does Stephen think Syddan can do better in 2010?
"If we get a few of the lads back from abroad and the young players continue to progress it will be a big help," he added. "We have had problems on the injury front in recent years which has hindered us. When you have a small pick like us you need everyone." Tweet
