Before the start of the 2010 Meath Farm Machinery SFC Blackhall Gaels appeared to have a decent chance of qualifying from their group but after two wins, a draw and two losses, they narrowly missed out on a place in the last eight.

There is plenty of talk these times about the managerial merry-go-round and the senior footballers representing the Batterstown/Kilcloon club have had no less than six different bosses in the last seven years. When the Keegan Cup was lifted in 2003 Leo Turley was at the helm and they reached the full circle this year with the former Laois player back in charge.
In between Declan Mahon, Gordon Ward (two terms), Ray O'Sullivan, Eamonn Barry and Tom Nolan all held the reins with Ward guiding them to the county final in 2005 when they lost out to Dunboyne. With the team not the force they were a few years ago, Turley was unable to conjure up a miracle renaissance.
In Group A the forecasters were suggesting that Blackhall Gaels would advance along with holders Seneschalstown and other former kingpins, Dunshaughlin. However, the defending champions were the only one of the trio to make it to the home straight with Rathkenny and Walterstown proving surprise packets.
Rathkenny finished top of the section with Blackhall Gaels the only team to take a point off them. That happened in the opening round when the sides finished level at Pairc Tailteann, 1-6 for Blackhall to 0-9 with an injury time levelling point from Sean Whelan being the Gaels' only score of the second period.
It was a game which Leo Turley's charges probably should have lost as their opponents hit a total of 15 wides compared to just two by the south county side who raced into a 0-5 to 0-0 lead in the opening quarter before being ahead by 1-5 to 0-3 at the break.
Mark Crampton scored the goal when following up to finish to the net after Rathkenny netminder John Martin had saved the initial attempt by the long-serving corner-forward. Blackhall might have had another goal in the first half but referee Joey Curley turned down claims for a penalty when Donnacha Tobin was upended in the area.
Blackhall Gaels were in second place in their group following the emphatic 1-19 to 0-9 win over struggling St Ultan's in a Wednesday evening clash at Skryne.
The destination of the points was more or less decided at the break when the board read 1-12 to 0-4. As in the opening round, Mark Crampton goaled and it was 1-7 to 0-0 after 14 minutes. At the end of the scoring spree, Crampton had 1-3 and Whelan six points.
However, Blackhall were brought down to earth with a bang in the third round when Walterstown defeated them by double score (1-9 to 0-6) in Ashbourne. The Gaels were struggling from the word go and trailed by 0-0 to 1-6 after 20 minutes and were behind by 0-2 to 1-6 at the halfway stage.
It did not get much better for Turley's men after the switching of ends and they finished up with just two points registered from open play, sent over by Mark Mullally and Daniel O'Neill. Sean Whelan converted three frees and Mark Ferris got one.
When Blackhall Gaels lost by 1-9 to 2-8 to Seneschalstown in the fourth round clash in Ashbourne they were out of contention for a place in the SFC quarter-finals. The game had a controversial ending when it appeared as though a penalty had been awarded to the Batterstown/Kilcloon side in the last seconds but the full-time whistle went instead.
The referee had adjudged that Seneschalstown 'keeper David Lyons had conceded a penalty and spread his arms to indicate the award. But when Sean Whelan and Lyons tangled, the latter was sent off and the game ended. The Blackhall contingent were aggrieved while the holders left the ground a relieved lot as they advanced to the last eight.
Whelan accounted for the losers' entire total and two goals from Bryan Clarke boosted Seneschalstown to a 2-3 to 0-7 interval advantage. Synnott did award Blackhall one penalty, in the 40th minute when midfielder Eric Broad was taken down and Whelan made no mistake with the kick to level matters at 2-4 to 1-7.
However, the holders responded points from Joe Sheridan and his brother Brian and two more white flag efforts from Whelan were not enough to keep Blackhall in the title race.
They had one more SFC outing, in which they scored a 1-10 to 0-9 victory over Dunshaughlin on a wet Friday evening at Summerhill. That left them on five points, one below the holders who claimed third place in the group.
The Gaels held a narrow 0-5 to 0-4 interval advantage and, aided by the dismissal of Richie Kealy before half-time, they seized the initiative in the closing stages when Mark Ferris netted their goal. 
Looking back at the 2010 SFC, Blackhall Gaels full-back Noel O'Hora said the hopes at the start of the campaign were to go beyond the group phase but injuries and emigration weakened the team.
"We were missing Alan Nestor, George Beirne and team captain Paddy Brady for some games and then Mark Mullally emigrated to Australia in the summer and Donnacha Tobin went off to America for a few weeks. Being without players makes it more difficult with most clubs having small panels of players to draw from.
"We started off the championship with a draw against Rathkenny and while some people would have expected us to win that game, Rathkenny later showed us all how good they were and we were the only team to take a point off them in the group games.
"In the second round we had a good win over St Ultan's but then there was a bit of a break before facing Walterstown who beat us by six points after we were behind by nine in the first half. We could still have qualified but a strange refereeing decision at the end of the game against Seneschalstown meant that we were out.
"The finish to that game was very confusing, I never saw anything like it before. The referee appeared to indicate that he was awarding us a penalty but after sending off the Seneschalstown goalkeeper, he then blew the final whistle. It was  a strange end to a game and a bad way to go out of a championship, it was very disappointing after putting in so much effort for a few months," said O'Hora.
Noel was delighted to see Leo Turley back as manager. "I was part of the panel when we won the senior championship in 2003 and he helped us win the intermediate title before that. We have had a good few managers since those years but hopefully Leo will be with us again next year.
"I'd be hopeful that we could do well in 2011, especially if all the players are available. We weren't that far away this year and Seneschalstown and Rathkenny, whom we played well against, both went on to contest the closing stages," he optimistically remarked. 
After losing out to Longwood in the IHC final in 2009, Blackhall Gaels were hoping to go one better this year. However, the team managed by James Battersby fell at the penultimate hurdle when going down to defeat against neighbours Drumree.
They got away to a promising start when repeating last year's semi-final result on a 1-10 to 1-9 scoreline at Ratoath. Dermot Carty shot six points and substitute Kevin Coyle took advantage of defensive slackness to net the Blackhall goal.
In round two Blackhall drew with Boardsmill on a 4-9 apiece scoreline and then despite having Mark Mullally sent off in the first half, they got the better of local rivals Drumree by 1-6 to 0-6 at Dunsany.
There was a setback with a 2-7 to 4-13 defeat by Kilmessan before Blackhall clinched second place at the end of the group phase with a 0-16 to 0-12 win over Kildalkey. However, an earlier result was reversed in a local derby semi-final when Drumree outscored Blackhall by 1-14 to 1-7 at Trim.
Blackhall had the better of the first half to lead by 1-4 to 0-3 at the break, Alan Nestor scoring the goal. However, they failed to score in the third quarter as Drumree drew level. Although Blackhall regained the lead with points from Conor Burke and Dermot Carty, Drumree pulled clear and pushed on to win the final at the expense of Boardsmill. 
James Battersby took over from Fergus Smith as manager with Smith staying on as a selector along with David Ledwith. "After reaching the final last year hopes were high but it was an up and down sort of year," said Battersby.
"The team was without four five lads from last year and then the loss of Mark Mullally and Alan Nestor was felt sorely even though Alan did return at the end. A few of the hurlers also play football and playing both games involves a lot of commitment, lads could be out four or five days a week.
"The form in the group games was mixed. We beat Drumree but they improved after that to beat us in the semi-final clash before scoring a dramatic win over Boardsmill in the final.
"There is plenty of talent and skill and no lack of enthusiasm in the Blackhall Gaels hurling team. Some people might knock the intermediate grade but it is a good championship with not much between the teams.
"I don't know if I will be with Blackhall next year but one way or the other, they have the players to mount a serious challenge. This year lads like David McGowan, Shane O'Loughlin, Nigel O'Hora, Tom Murphy and Tom Delaney showed their worth and underage lads Daniel Carty, Stephen Morris and Conor Burke are good players on the way up," he added. Tweet

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