A big change for Rathmolyon
November 27, 2010John Gorry helped Rathmolyon to championship success in 1993 and 1996 and managed them in 2008. In between he played with and coached Dunboyne, but last year he took over at O'Mahonys and it must have been an emotional occasion for the former county player this year when the Village and the Brews Hill men had to battle it out for survival.
Rathmolyon have the distinction of winning the last senior championship final to be played in Trim. That was in 2006 when a team coached by James Heffernan pounced late with a Gary Cole goal to shatter Dunboyne in the final. They gave the defence of the Jubilee Cup a good rattle the following year when Mike Cole acted as player/manager, but exited the title race at the semi-final stage against Kilmessan.
Gorry was at the helm in 2008 when Dunboyne eliminated them in a quarter-final and last year, with Frank Aughey acting as coach, they failed to reach the knockout stages when collecting just four points in their group campaign. It was clear heading into this year's campaign that Rathmolyon were in decline since that 2006 triumph.
Aughey was again their coach this year and they were drawn in group A of the championship along with Kiltale, Gaeil Colmcille, Na Fianna, Trim and Kilmessan and with Neil Cole a long-term absentee due to injury and Mike Cole set to miss their championship opener against Na Fianna the signs weren't particularly encouraging.
A difficult championship campaign began with a comprehensive defeat at Longwood where Na Fianna won by 1-13 to 0-7. Barry Slevin was Rathmolyon's tormentor in chief as he scored a dozen points, but they were well in contention at the interval when trailing by the minimum (0-4 to 0-5).
Kevin Fagan's accuracy was vital in keeping Rathmolyon in touch in the opening half and he had them on level terms from a free soon after the restart. However, it was all down hill after that as Na Fianna limited them to just two further points and pushed clear, boosted by an Anthony Boggan goal. The winners had David Kirby sent off, but they were well on their way to a winning start at the time.
A young Trim team demonstrated growing maturity this year and they defeated Rathmolyon by 0-17 to 1-11 in the second round at Boardsmill where Alan Douglas contributed 11 points for the town side. But the Village people must have been very hopeful when their team made a flying start.
With just four minutes gone Mike Cole sent in a delivery which bounced off the crossbar and Gary Cole finished to the net. Tommy Cosgrave and Noel Fagan played well at midfield, but Rathmolyon didn't always make best use of their possession and led by 1-7 to 0-8 at the break.
They were also two points clear at the three-quarter stage (1-10 to 0-11), but Trim took over and won the remainder by 0-6 to 0-1 to secure victory. Tom Henderson, a son of Kilkenny great Pat, played well at full-back for Rathmolyon, while their chief scorers were Mike Cole with seven points and Gary Cole with 1-1.
Rathmolyon scored 3-11 against Kilmessan in last year's championship, but still lost by eight points, and when the teams met in the 2010 championship at Boardsmill the pressure was really on Aughey's team because they were pointless from two outings and clearly in danger of falling into a relegation battle.
This time they notched an impressive 1-18, but again they were beaten as Kilmessan pounced with two late goals to leave them shattered. Kilmessan started as if they were going to cruise to victory and with Ger O'Neill finding the net they scored 1-4 in the opening nine minutes.
But with Mike Cole in inspirational form Rathmolyon took over, scored with great consistency and led by 1-12 to 1-6 at the interval. Mike Cole scored five first half points, John Farrell registered 1-2, Noel Fagan and Gary Cole got two points each and corner-back Mark Lynch notched the other.
They were still looking good at the three-quarter stage with a 1-15 to 1-10 advantage, but helped by a Kevin Keena goal Kilmessan battled back to parity (2-12 to 1-15) with eight minutes remaining. Gary and Mike Cole replied with points for Rathmolyon, but Kilmessan finished strongest and with Keena netting again they shaded the verdict by 3-14 to 1-18.
That must have been a heartbreaking defeat and it was also a loss which plunged them deeper into the relegation mire.
Goals were the order of the day in the fourth round against Kiltale at Boardsmill and with Kiltale getting four in the second half they won by 5-13 to 3-8. But it was Rathmolyon who led by 2-5 to 1-6 at the interval after John Farrell had netted twice. Kiltale had edged ahead by 3-8 to 2-8 at the three-quarter stage and added two more goals to move clear. Gary Cole replied with a goal for Rathmolyon, but they were a well beaten team at that stage.
The fifth round meeting with Gaeil Colmcille at Athboy was, in everything but name, a relegation play-off and it was the young Kells side which responded best to the challenge when turning in a superb performance to win by 4-8 to 2-11 and hold onto their senior status.
Twelve wides proved costly for Rathmolyon who made the worst possible start when Fionn Ferguson goaled for Gaeil Colmcille in the first minute. Kevin Fagan and Brendan Murray exchanged points and when Fagan added a brilliant goal and Mike Cole slotted over a long range free the Village were ahead by 1-2 to 1-1.
Murray and Gary Cole traded points and then Tom Shine goaled from a penalty to regain the lead for Gaeil Colmcille. Eamonn Regan, Mike Cole ('65') and Daniel Whelan pointed to push Rathmolyon ahead again five minutes before the break, but that was the last time they led.
Gaeil Colmcille finished the first half best to lead by 2-7 to 1-6 at the interval and after Mike Cole converted a '65' and a free to keep Rathmolyon in touch they leaked a sloppy goal to Charlie Usher which enabled the Kells side to lead by 3-7 to 1-8. Another goal from Ferguson ended the game as a contest and while Mike Cole pulled a goal back at the other end, it just wasn't enough.
Less than four years after winning the championship final Rathmolyon were preparing for a final with a difference. O'Mahonys had finished bottom of the other group and the two went head to head in the relegation shootout at Trim in late August.
When O'Mahonys had Mikey Kelly sent off after only 18 minutes it looked like advantage Rathmolyon, but they failed to score beyond the 42nd minute and that proved disastrous as they missed chances and conceded the last seven scores. They had 14 wides, seven in each half.
Shane McKeigue goaled for O'Mahonys on 11 minutes, but four Mike Cole points had Rathmolyon level (0-4 to 1-1). When Gary Cole netted towards the end of the opening quarter they were in front by 1-4 to 1-1, but the concession of a goal to McKeigue late in the first half helped the town side to be level (2-3 to 1-6) at the break.
John Farrell's 39th minute goal helped Rathmolyon to lead by 2-8 to 2-4, but their only other score was a brilliant point from the same player. O'Mahonys took over and scored a succession of points to move ahead, leaving the Village to chase a goal which never came. It finished 2-12 to 2-9.
The Cole brothers, Mike, Neil and Gary, have been mainstays of the Rathmolyon team for many years and Gary was this year's captain. He was understandably upset after their relegation, but is determined that they will return to the senior ranks.
"From the 2006 team we had three or four lads missing off this year's starting team and a few were gone from the panel," Gary said. "Training had gone fairly well before the championship, but I think when you lose your first couple of games the belief and confidence goes.
"Neil missed a lot of the year and only came back as a substitute for the Gaeil Colmcille game. He had a cruciate ligament injury. He injured it again in the relegation play-off. Mike didn't play in our first championship game against Na Fianna and that didn't help either.
"Aaron Fagan injured his ankle early in the Kiltale game. We didn't have Kevin Fagan for that one. He had got injured against Trim. He's worth a few points to us. It was one of those years. We never seemed to have a full team.
"During the year we seemed to play for only half a game. We made a bad start to the championship when losing to Na Fianna. We thought we were fit enough, but we fell away in the last 10 minutes against Trim. We were six points up at half-time against Kilmessan and went seven ahead early in the second half. But they got one very soft goal and came back to beat us.
"Goals were killing us all year. You can score as many points as you like, but if you're giving away goals it destroys you. We conceded five against Kiltale and four against Gaeil Colmcille. That's too many.
"In the relegation play-off against O'Mahonys we had an extra man for about 40 minutes. We used Mark Lynch as the extra man in the half-back line, but in hindsight we probably should have used an extra man at midfield. O'Mahonys got seven points in a-row late in the game.
"We gave away free after free. I suppose that's what happens when you're under pressure. In the last couple of minutes we could have got a goal, but kicked wide. We had gone four points up in the second half and shouldn't have found ourselves in that position at the end. O'Mahonys deserved to win. They were the better team in the last 10 minutes."
Rathmolyon will now start planning for a serious assault on the intermediate title and a quick return to the top flight.
"Our dressingroom wasn't a nice place on that Sunday evening," Gary added. "We need to get into training early next year and try to get straight back up. We need to get the momentum going, get the heads right. We're optimistic. You have to be." Tweet
