Meath Hill on the rise again
November 27, 2010The previous two championship campaigns had brought disappointment for Meath Hill after they had gone under to champions to be Clann na nGael at the last eight stage in 2007. They were desperately unlucky the following year when they missed out on points difference to Moylagh after the teams had finished level in the last round of group matches.
Last year, with Carrickmacross man Pat Cassidy as manager, they again failed to reach the business end of the championship, but there was the consolation of promotion to Division 3 of the All-County A League for the first time in 13 years. It meant they would be playing their league football at a more competitive level and that had to represent progress for a club which has to go back three decades for its last Junior Championship triumph.
John Maguire and John Owens acted as selectors with Cassidy this year and Meath Hill didn't exactly open their league campaign on a bright note when they were comprehensively beaten at home to Clann na nGael in a repeat of last year's Division 4 final. The Athboy/An Gaeltacht combination won by 3-12 to 0-7 after leading by 3-7 to 0-4 at the interval.
Thankfully, Meath Hill demonstrated improved form in the league ahead of the start of the championship as they drew with intermediate opponents Ballinlough (0-11 each) and Nobber (1-11 to 0-14) and those performances must have provided them with renewed hope ahead of the battle for the Matthew Ginnity Cup.
First up for Meath Hill were Kilbride at Slane and it took two late goals to enable them to open the championship on a winning note. The brilliant Mark Tully scored a first half goal for the Hill who started slowly, but gradually got moving to be on level terms (1-4 each) at the change of ends.
The second period remained close and a draw looked a distinct possibility until Meath Hill produced a two-goal salvo which propelled them to a 3-9 to 1-9 victory. Tully, who notched 2-3 overall, got the first and when captain Keith Ginnity scored the second the points were safely in the bag. Apart from Tully, Brendan Kieran, Michael Byrne, Aodhan Matthews and Ginnity were particularly impressive.
It had been a bit of a struggle, but at least the Hill had started on a winning note, and when they defeated Kilmainham by 0-10 to 1-6 in a tight second round match at Nobber it was clear that they would be serious contenders to advance to the latter stages of the competition.
Meath Hill conceded a first half penalty goal to former Meath minor player Michael Newman, but otherwise they defended brilliantly and gave away only six points. That goal enabled Kilmainham to be on level terms (1-3 to 0-6) at the interval, but the Hill narrowly outscored them in the second period to shade the verdict on a day when Chris Yorke starred in goal and Paddy Owens, Byrne, Tully and Liam Coyle impressed.
Moylagh took the group stages of the championship by storm and something was likely to give when Meath Hill met them in a battle of unbeaten teams at Moynalty. This was a tough, well-contested encounter in which Lee Breslin was sent off near the end at a time when Moylagh were well on their way to a 1-10 to 1-5 victory.
The team from the north-west of the county led all the way, including by 0-6 to 0-2 at the break, and when Barry Smith scored their goal seven minutes into the second half they were well on their way to a third successive championship win. Tully notched a goal from a penalty for Meath Hill after 49 minutes, but Moylagh were in control.
Despite that defeat Meath Hill were still very much in the running for a place in the knockout action as they had four points to their credit from three games and with outings against struggling Slane and Dunboyne's second string to come they had to be very hopeful of progressing.
They bounced back from the defeat against Moylagh to beat Slane by 0-12 to 1-5 at Syddan where they trailed by 0-0 to 1-3 at the end of the first quarter, but battled back to lead by a point at the break before edging clear in the second period.
When they concluded their group campaign with a 2-15 to 0-9 success over Dunboyne at Walterstown, where they held a comprehensive 1-10 to 0-6 lead at the interval, they were safely through. Jason Yorke scored 1-2 in the first half and Tadhg Boyle got the other goal in a very good team performance.
Moylagh topped the group with a maximum haul of 10 points from five games and Meath Hill filled the runner-up position on eight after recording four victories and one defeat. Kilmainham missed out as they finished third on six, Dunboyne were next on three, followed by Kilbride on two and Slane on one.
Unfortunately, that was as good as it got in the Junior Championship of 2010 for Meath Hill and when they played Ballinabrackey in the quarter-finals at Bohermeen they were decisively beaten on a 1-9 to 3-13 score line. They were slow to start and trailed by five points at the end of the first quarter, before bringing the deficit back to three.
The Hill then conceded a soft goal, but got on top early in the second half when a Tully goal helped them reduce the deficit to the minimum. But the concession of another goal proved a huge blow and Ballinabrackey pulled away.
Tadhg Boyle is a former secretary of the Meath Hill club and has been playing football at adult level for them since 1997. He is no stranger to Junior Championship quarter-finals, having been involved in six and been on the winning side only once.
"Preparations were good before the championship," he said. "We got into Division 3 of the league for the first time since 1997 last year. It took us 13 years to get back. My first game at adult level was in Division 3 in '97. We were well beaten by Clann na nGael in our first Division 4 game this year, but then drew with Ballinlough and Nobber.
"We probably took Kilbride for granted in our first championship game, but Mark Tully and Keith Ginnity scored goals in the latter stages and we won by six points. We leaked an early goal against Kilmainham in the second round, but we recovered and defended very well. Liam Coyle was brilliant that day; he was inspirational. He played under-21 football for Donegal. We negated Barry Lynch and Michael Newman and just shaded it, but Kilmainham missed a lot of chances.
"We were terrible against Moylagh. We were caught in the headlights. Liam Coyle was missing with a knee injury and was a huge loss to us. Mark Tully was the only player to score for us; he was our only outlet.
"Conditions were dreadful when we played Slane. It was a wet, dirty day. That game was a struggle and Slane were fighting for their lives. We fell behind, but battled back to win by four points. I thought we always looked like winning. On a positive note from the year, we blooded lads late in the championship. Pierce McGrath scored six points from play in our last group match against Dunboyne. He's only 17 or 18. We beat them easily."
But when it came to the knockout action Meath Hill suffered disappointment when a talented Ballinabrackey outfit beat them comprehensively.
"Ballinabrackey were the better team when we played them in the quarter-final, simple as that," Tadhg added. "They fully deserved to win and we had no excuses. It was a tough, hard game and they played very well.
"It was disappointing, but looking forward we have a good under-21 team. Aodhan Matthews is a very good player. He's Tom's son. We also have Mark and Niall Tully. They are all only 19 and are very talented. You have to be optimistic. It's the only way to be."
Meath Hill's second team competed in the Junior D Championship. They won three of their four games in group B, against Moynalty (2-8 to 0-7), Carnaross (1-8 to 1-5) and Kilmainham (2-8 to 1-10) and lost to Trim (0-7 to 0-13). But when it came to the knockout action they too exited the title race at the quarter-final stage when they went under to Dunsany by 0-10 to 1-10 at Kilberry.
The Hill put in a great effort and led by three points at one stage in the second half, but Dunsany finished strongly and notched 1-4 late on to win. Tweet
