Tailteann Cup glory and a second promotion for Kilmainham
November 27, 20112011 was a fantastic year for the black and reds who two years ago were in ACFL Division 4, but will be in the mix with a number of senior clubs next season just one promotion away from Division 1.
Of course the big goal is the junior football championship where the quarter-final stage has been a major stumbling block since they went all the way to the final in 2006. Maggie Morgan, who doubles up as PRO and junior team statistician, is hoping the small, but highly progressive north Meath club will be able to break what has become a psychological barrier for them in the year ahead.
Since appearing in the 2006 JFC final against St. Ultan's, Kilmainham have failed to progress past the quarter-final stage.
Last August's 1-7 to 2-8 defeat to Navan O'Mahony's was their fourth quarter-final defeat in five seasons. Needless to say, this losing sequence has been a source of huge frustration for the club situated on the outskirts of Kells, who on their day are capable of beating anyone in the JFC.
"We can't seem to get past the quarter-final," Kilmainham PRO Maggie Morgan says ruefully.
"For whatever reason, it has been an insurmountable obstacle for us since Ultan's beat us in the 2006 final. It would be a massive weight off our shoulders if we could break our quarter-final duck. It's more of a psychological thing at this stage. We know we are good enough to win a junior championship, but for some reason, the quarter-final has been a stumbling block for us.
"However, we'll keep plugging away and hopefully next year we'll finally be able to clear that hurdle."
Maggie, whose husband Gerry and sons Darren, Gerard and Shane are also deeply involved with the club, dismisses the notion that Kilmainham took O'Mahony's second team for granted after they eased into the last-eight on the back of four straight wins and a +38 score difference.
"It wasn't complacency that beat us - if anything I think we showed them too much respect. We were more nervous than usual and maybe it was the quarter-final thing playing on the players' minds. We had played some great football up until then and it's a pity that we weren't able to do ourselves justice when it mattered most," the team statistician remarks.
"Even though Michael Newman was our top-scorer against O'Mahony's and in the preceding games, he had struggled with a groin injury for much of the year and that was an obvious blow to us."
After a disappointing 2010 championship campaign when they surprisingly failed to reach the knockout stages of the JFC, Kilmainham were determined to make amends this year under their Simonstown manager Paul Clarke and his selectors Gerry Morgan (Maggie's husband) and Martin Blake. They opened their Group D campaign with a hard-earned 1-9 to 1-7 victory over Curraha in Kilberry when an early goal sent them on their way.
After Curraha had a player dismissed early in the second half, the wearers of black and red stretched their lead to five points, but the 14 men refused to wilt and had reduced the deficit to the minimum before Kilmainham scored an insurance point in stoppage-time.
Another strong start paved the way for a 1-14 to 0-10 win over Duleek/Bellewstown in Kilmainham's second outing. Petsie Curran, Barry Lynch and Ger Morgan had them ahead by 0-3 to 0-0 inside eight minutes, but Duleek/Bellewstown got the next three scores to level. The sides remained deadlocked until Kilmainham hit four unanswered points through Shane Butler, Danny Butler, Seanie Mahon and Curran in the closing stages of the half to take a 0-9 to 0-5 lead into the break.
The north Meath club led by double scores after Shane Morgan pointed on the restart, but once again Duleek/Bellewstown came back strongly with five points in-a-row to tie up the scoring. However, Kilmainham finished much the stronger with points from Gavin Butler, Shane Morgan (two) and Danny Butler being followed by the clinching goal from substitute Mark Newman.
Paul Clarke's charges made it three wins from three when they had 10 points - 2-18 to 2-8 - to spare over their underage partners Drumbaragh at Cortown. County player Michael Newman marked his return to the side after a long injury layoff with an eye-catching haul of 2-7, and was ably assisted by Barry Lynch, Gavin Butler, Shane Butler and Petsie Curran.
Kilmainham completed their group campaign with a 4-13 to 0-6 thumping of Dunboyne's second string. The winners had 1-5 - with Danny Butler accounting for 1-1 of that tally - on the board before Dunboyne eventually opened their account. There was no respite for St. Peter's, however, as Michael Newman tucked away a penalty which he had won himself to leave Kilmainham sitting pretty on a 2-7 to 0-1 lead at the break.
A Seanie Mahon goal within 15 seconds of the resumption ended the game as a contest. Sean Brosnan, Seanie Mahon and Shane Morgan all added points before full forward Newman completed the rout with Kilmainham's fourth goal, which brought his tally to 2-7 for the second game running.
Kilmainham had high hopes of maintaining their 100 per cent record against Navan O'Mahony's in their quarter-final meeting at Athboy, but the Brew's Hill second string had other ideas and caused a surprise by running out four-point winners.
The underdogs settled quickly and raced into a three-point lead thanks to scores from James Reilly, Johnny Brennan and Shane Crosby. An off-colour Kilmainham outfit had to wait until the 20th minute for substitute Sean Brosnan to raise their first white flag. Ger Morgan added another, but at half-time Kilmainham were lucky to be just three points in arrears - 0-3 to 0-6 - after veteran goalkeeper Kevin Jordan had kept them in the game with a string of fine saves.
Paul Clarke's men wasted little no time in wiping out O'Mahony's lead on the restart. Shane Butler, who had been substituted in the first half, re-entered the fray to kick a point before Michael Newman also found the target. A foul on Newman yielded a penalty, which the Kilmainham dangerman converted to put his side ahead for the first time, 1-5 to 0-6.
A place in the semi-finals looked to be on the cards for Kilmainham when Newman gave them a three-point advantage, but O'Mahony's fought back to leave the teams level on 1-7 apiece with two minutes of normal time remaining.
But just when it appeared a replay would be needed, O'Mahony's broke up field and corner forward Johnny Brennan crashed home their second goal to put them three points clear. Sean Keating, who scored their other goal, followed up with an insurance point to end Kilmainham's dream of lifting the Matthew Ginnity Cup for another year.
Despite their championship disappointment, Maggie says the club can take encouragement from their promotion from Division 3 of the league as their success in the Tailteann Cup and their good run in the junior 'D' championship.
Indeed, Kilmainham's most successful days in the season came after they had exited the championship. First up was a 0-7 to 0-6 win over Bective in the Tailteann Cup final under floodlight at Pairc Tailteann in late September.
Kilmainham were first on the scoreboard when Michael Newman sent over a forty five. The talented full foward was the only scorer for Kilmainham in an opening half which the eventual winners dominated as they went in 0-5 to 0-2 ahead, with Newman on target with the last two scores of the half.
Bective came out more determined in the second half and the game was all square entering the final 15 minutes.
Bective then took the lead for the first time but when defeat looked likely, Kilmainham showed real spirit with a Danny Butler point leveling the game. Referee Pat Clarke added six minutes of injury time in which play moved from end to end. Both sides went in search for the winner before Kilmainham were awarded a free and Newman duly obliged to give his side a one point victory.
It was a great day for all associated with the club as County Board Chairman Barney Allen presented the Tailteann Cup to Kilmainham captain Ros Mooney.
The team for the Tailteann Cup final was: Kevin Jordan, Ros Mooney, Harry Newman, Jonathan Quigley, Sean Mahon, Gerard Morgan, Shane Morgan, Gavin Butler, Barry Lynch, Shane Butler, Trevor Lynch, Mark Newman, Petsie Curran, Michael Newman (0-6), Danny Butler (0-1). Subs: Joe Mahon, Davy Farnan, Pat O'Sullivan.
A top two league fininsh didn't look on the cards when Kilmainham lost their first two games in the competition against Gaeil Colmcille and Kilmainhamwood. But a run of six straight victories put Paul Clarke's side into a position near the top of the table as they accounted for Clann na nGael, Cortown, Carnaross Moynalvey, Meath Hill and Na Fianna. A home loss to parish rivals Drumbaragh seemed to end their hopes but wins over Ratoath and Ballinabrackey meant Kilmainham finished the campaign on 16 points, in joint second place with Moynalvey. It was then that the Kells side's 0-17 to 1-8 win in Moynalvey proved decisive as they advanced to the final because of a better head-to-head record against the IFC winners.
The final didn't go to plan as Gaeil Colmcille won out by 1-11 to 0-9 at Bohermeen. The scores were tied just once when Danny Butler cancelled out Kells' opener.
Dogged Kilmainham defending meant that it took some time for Gaeil Colmcille to shake off Paul Clarke's men as they led by just 0-5 to 0-3 at the break. A third quarter scoring burst proved pivotal to the outcome and fatal for Kilmainham. Stevie McManus flicked goal in the 34th minute left it 1-6 to 0-3 to the town side and by the mid-point of the second-half eight points separated the sides, 1-9 to 0-4. Michael Newman's accuracy from placed balls threw his side a lifeline. However, the leeway was too much to make up.
For Kilmainham there was the consolation of promotion, their second in as many years, while they may wonder what might have happened had not four scoring attempts skimmed the woodwork and yielded nothing.
The side that played in the ACFL Division 3 final was: K. Jordan; S. Mahon, H. Newman, J. Quigley; M. Fallon, G. Morgan, S. Morgan; G. Butler (0-2), B. Lynch; S. Butler, T. Lynch, S. Brosnan; P. Curran, M. Newman (0-4, 3 fs, 1 45), D. Butler (0-3). Subs - D. Farnan for Brosnan (ht), J. Mahon for Curran (52).
"We were delighted with our performances in Division 3 while the Tailteann Cup success was a special occasion. Promotion was a brilliant achievement considering we only got promoted from Division 4 last year. We had 33 players togged out for the junior championship quarter-final and 63 players who contributed during the year, which was a fantastic number for such a small club," explained Maggie.
"The junior squad is very united and close-knit, and they got great backing this year from our social club which consisted of Louise Farrelly, Paula Noonan, Gerard Morgan and June Madden. They staged 'Take Me Out' and Fashion Show fundraising events that were a huge help to our club financially. In addition, we hosted a number of championship games during the year with the intermediate game between Kells (Gaeil Colmcille) and St. Michael's drawing the biggest crowd."
The Kilmainham PRO is fulsome in her praise of underage coaches Peter O'Higgins, Mark Needle, Gavin Lynch, Anthony Farrelly and Noel Corcoran for their efforts with the Round Towers club, which is a combination of Kilmainham and Drumbaragh.
"When Kells broke away from Round Towers a number of years ago, it was a big blow to Kilmainham and Drumbaragh because our juvenile players had been plying their trade in Division 1 up until then," Maggie explains.
"It took us a while to find our feet again, but I'm delighted to say that Round Towers is coming back strongly now and we are especially strong in the under 12 and under 14 grades. Hopefully the Trojan work that's being done with the kids will pay off in the long run." Tweet
