The last four in the 2010 Meath SFC was made up of three teams who had celebrated with the Keegan Cup in the previous six years. Rathkenny were the exceptions with the wearers of the red and black making a remarkable turnaround to come so close to ousting holders Seneschalstown just a few months after being concerned in relegation strife.

In 2009 Mon Mome was a 100/1 winner of the Aintree Grand National and Rathkenny were similar odds to win the county senior championship for the first time since 1923 before a ball was kicked in their fourth top grade campaign since gaining intermediate honours in 2006 when they were also outsiders.
They reached the SFC quarter-finals in 2007 but the following year it took a play-off win over Kilmainhamwood to enable stay up and last year there was the extra-time controversy after beating Walterstown before a compromise was reached too allow 17 teams participate in 2010.
Remarkably while fancied teams like Navan O'Mahonys and Summerhill failed to advance to the last eight, Dermot Smyth's charges finished the group phase as the only unbeaten team before getting the better of Duleek/Bellewstown after extra-time and bowing out with a two-point loss to the defending champions.
Before the start of the championship, manager Smyth suggested that other teams would be delighted to be drawn in the same group as them. One previewer offered the opinion that one win could keep Rathkenny safely in the top grade for another year while another predicted that that they would be demoted.
However, they won four games in Group A after drawing with Blackhall Gaels (0-9 to 1-6) at Pairc Tailteann. Rathkenny should have won that game as they finished up with a total of 15 wides to just two by their opponents.
All those misses meant that the men in red and black did not take the lead until the 58 minute mark with a point from James Macken. They were five points in arrears before Brian Lenehan got them on the board from a free after 18 minutes. It was 1-5 to 0-3 at the break and Rathkenny did not start turning their possession into scores until the closing stages when John Donegan, Colm Gore, Donal Curtis and Macken got on target before Sean Whelan levelled late for Blackhall.
County selector and All-Ireland winning player of the '90s, Donal Curtis, shot two points in the second half as Rathkenny repeated last year's relegation play-off win over Walterstown with a 0-10 to 0-8 victory in the second round tussle at Pairc Tailteann.
In a close contest the sides were on level terms (0-4 each) at the break before the Curtis brace and converted frees by Richie Timmons and Brian Meade left Rathkenny ahead by eight to six. Tom Walsh replied with a couple of pointed frees before John Donegan and Meade shot over to send their supporters away in a happy mood.
Rathkenny went to the top of Group A following the 0-9 to 0-8 success over Seneschalstown in the round three clash at Simonstown. The sides were on level terms five times before John Donegan secured the victory.
After trailing by 0-5 to 0-6 at the break, Rathkenny had the advantage of an extra man for the last 20 minutes following the dismissal of Cormac Duffy who got two yellow cards from David Coldrick. Brian Meade and John Donegan shot two points apiece from open play and Richie Timmons, four frees, put his name on the rest of the winning total.
A quarter-final place was clinched with a 1-7 to 1-6 victory over Dunshaughlin. The perceived lack of scoring power which prevented them from registering more than 10 points in any of their SFC outings had not stopped them from collecting seven points from a possible eight.
After being in arrears in the early stages, Rathkenny hit the black and ambers with 1-3 in a scoring burst to lead by 1-5 to 0-3 at the break, Colm Gore netting the goal. Brian Lenehan slotted over a 45 and scored from play and in between Richie Timmons converted a close-in free in that spell.
Points from Donal Curtis and Brian Meade were all that Rathkenny could manage in the second period as their opponents reduced the arrears to the minimum margin. However, the lead was protected and a place in the last eight secure.
There was a third successive one-point win for Rathkenny as the 0-9 to 0-8 success over St Ultan's at Meath Hill ensured that the top spot was retained. Substitute Owen Elliott shot over the winning point after the red and blacks led by 0-4 to 0-3 at the break.
Elliott had returned after a few months in Australia and made his mark after coming on for the second half. He made a quick impression with the first score after the restart and David Donegan, Elliott and Lenehan were also on target as the lead was stretched to 0-8 to 0-5. Although the Bohermeen parish side narrowed the gap, the unbeaten run was maintained.
Rathkenny bettered the 10-point mark in their quarter-final but they had 80 minutes to tot up the 1-11 against Duleek/Bellewstown, who finished with 0-11, as the fourth of the last eight ties at Pairc Tailteann went to extra-time. It had been 1-7 to 0-10 after the hour!
The game was not overly exciting and after trailing in the early exchanges, Rathkenny got to grips with the task in hand with points from Donal Curtis and a Brian Meade brace before a Richie Timmons goal helped them lead by 1-4 to 0-5 at the first break.
Duleek/Bellewstown had Michael Dowling sent off on 52 minutes but they still managed to detain supporters of both sides for another while with a Peter Curran converted free keeping the lights on for a bit longer.
The sides were still locked together after the first 10-minute period but two Brian Meade points, play and free, and a Richie Timmons converted free in between kept the Rathkenny dream alive.
However, hopes of a first SFC title in nearly 90 years were ended as Seneschalstown carved out a 0-10 to 0-8 win in a low-scoring second semi-final. Rathkenny appeared to be in a strong position when leading by three points nine minutes into the second half but then failed to register again.
The wearers of the red and black also started the first half well with points from Richie Timmons (free), Brian Meade and Ivan Lenehan giving them 0-3 to 0-0 lead after just five minutes. But they only managed one more score before the break when the board read 0-4 each.
Rathkenny were left to rue a great goal opportunity on nine minutes when corner-forward Colm Gore was left facing an unguarded net but his shot hit the right upright. It should have been 1-3 to 0-1.
Joe Sheridan put over three of the holders' three points in the first half but Seneschalstown were not at their best with easy scoring chances being missed. In the early stages of the second period points from Brian Meade (free), Richie Timmons (two frees) and John Donegan raised hopes of another surprise outcome.
However, the outsiders ran into a scoring drought after that as a converted free by Brian Sheridan and a score from play by substitute James Conlon saw Seneschalstown through.

Rathkenny midfielder John Donegan has been a key member of the team for the last few years and although disappointed at not figuring in the county final, he obviously could take positives from the campaign.
"Overall it was a big turnaround from 2009. Dermot Smyth, who came in along with Vincent Lenehan towards the end of last year, instilled a lot of belief into the team and set high targets for us to achieve," he remarked.
"We got a point from the opening championship game against Blackhall Gaels and while we could have won that game, the performance helped to give us more confidence.
"The second game was against Walterstown and after all the controversy over the relegation play-off last year, some neutral spectators might have been disappointed that there were no nasty incidents. There were no grudges between the players but it was a nice match to win and both sides went on to qualify for the quarter-finals.
"The win over Seneschalstown at Simonstown in the third round was probably our best of the year. The backs did very that day and the victory put us in a good position for qualifying.
"Then another one-point win, this time over Dunshaughlin, put us into the quarter-finals. A goal before half-time put us in a good position and although they came strong at us in the second half, we just held out.
"The game against St Ultan's was a funny sort of contest but we were keen to retain our unbeaten record and we just about managed that. We expected to be meeting Navan O'Mahonys next and were surprised when the news came through that it would be Duleek/Bellewstown," recalled the former county senior player.
Donegan said his side's quarter-final was regarded as a close game with the bookmakers and so it turned out on the pitch. "After leading by two points at the break, we were ahead for most of the second half before they hit a late equaliser to force extra-time. We got a few scores in the second of the extra periods and were delighted to get through to the semi-finals.
"There was never much between the sides in that game and it was very disappointing to lose after coming so close. Maybe the missed goal chance in the first quarter proved crucial but we didn't push on after going three points ahead early in the second half.
"Of course, they also missed chances and would have had cause to regret them had we won. I suppose we are not putting enough scores on the board although we are creating plenty of chances.
"This year Owen Elliott missed a number of games when he was in Australia and another forward, Thomas Martin, was out injured. Little things like that can count against you but still we did well to make so much progress.
"Hopefully we can strengthen the panel for 2011. We can look forward with a bit more optimism than in the past. It was a fair achievement to get to the last four in the SFC and we will be aiming to do it again next year," he concluded. Tweet

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