Kilskyre chairman Tom Gilsenan has just completed his first year in the position and he speaks to the Royal County Yearbook about the past 12 months, which have been eventful to say the least.

This north Meath hurling club plied its trade in the intermediate ranks in 2011, having been promoted courtesy of a restructuring of the hurling grades.
They are passionate about the small ball code in the area, despite it being a pre-dominantly football area, they have had some success down through the years.

However, recent times have proven leaner, although 2010 saw the club lift the division three hurling league title, only for the county board to rule that Kilskyre lined out ineligible players in the final.

So Tom's first task on appointment as chairman was to deal with the aftermath of the whole affair.
"The suspensions issue was the first thing I had to deal with even though I had nothing to do with it. This was a frustrating process as the club wanted to prove that they had done nothing wrong by lining out the players in question," said Tom.
"We felt aggrieved that the whole process was dragged out so long as we were only looking for recognition that we had done nothing wrong, but in the end it was agreed that there was a lack of communication on both sides. It was then just a case of putting the whole issue behind us and moving on, which we have done."

Once the whole saga had died down, the attention turned to matters on the field, and the league was the first competition to be played and Kilskyre got off to a flyer winning their opening three matches against Donaghmore/Ashbourne, Blackhall Gaels and Ratoath to leave them almost qualified. However, a defeat to Wolfe Tones in their next outing meant that they had to beat Dunderry in their last outing to ensure qualification and they did that in some style by recording a 1-12 to 0-5 win. A long wait ensued before the semi final was played. Kilskyre faced Kilmessan and it was the latter that triumphed on this occasion, but once again Kilskyre could be proud of their achievements.

In the championship, Kilskyre, who were playing in the second tier would not have been considered for the title, but they are determined bunch and under the guidance of Tom Shine, the black and ambers were not to be taken lightly.
A 5-8 to 2-8 win over Ratoath was the perfect start and this was followed by a good 1-10 to 0-11 victory over St Peter's Dunboyne. A one-point victory over Donaghmore/Ashbourne made it three wins from three and yet again Kilskyre were on the verge of qualification. Then Kiltale were put to the sword in some style as Shine's charges recorded their biggest victory to date when winning by 5-16 to 0-9.

With a place in the knockout stages ensured, the pressure was off in the last match against Kildalkey, but Kilskyre were determined to finish the group campaign on a high and even though they couldn't manage a victory, they did record a draw to ensure their unbeaten run remained intact.
The format of the championship was uncertain as the general consensus was that the winners of the group would automatically go through to the semi finals, but that was not the case as table toppers Kilskyre had to play a quarterfinal against Blackhall Gaels.
Kilskyre qualified for the intermediate hurling semi-final after a hard-earned win. The winners didn't get it all their own way, especially in the first half where they trailed by 1-5 to 0-3 at the break. Blackhall where first off the mark with 1-2 in the opening few minutes. Sean Geraghty, who had recently returned from America, was Kilskyre only scorer in the opening period.

The introduction of county senior football Peadar Byrne gave the 2010 junior finalists the boost they needed. Kilskyre got the perfect start to the second half when, not for the first time Simon Deevey booted to the Blackhall net. Points from Lorcan Maguire and Tom Nugent left the match all square at 1-5 each.

Another Deevey goal put Kilskyre ahead for the first time. Blackhall had to wait till the 15th minute for their opening score courtesy of a well taken point. A brace of points from Junior Reilly and one from Peadar Byrne sealed a great 2-8 to 1-9 win for Kilskyre.
This set them up with a semi final meeting against Rathmolyon, who were championship favourites and they proved too strong for Kilskyre as they ran out comfortable winners.
"I think that the situation of being a dual club took its toll by the end of the year. The lads were tired in both the league and championship semi finals.

"They had an excellent year and it was a pity the way it ended, but I do believe that the county board should do more to ease fixture congestion and also to promote the game of hurling.
"I understand that football is always going to take precedence, but there should be more done for the hurling."
Tom revealed that the club have placed a greater emphasis on their underage structure and it is an area they are concentrating on developing more.

"Two former players Frank Lynch and Frank Tunney are looking after the underage at the moment and they would have anywhere between 40-to 50 young lads in the park, ranging from 6-year-olds to 12 years of age."
Tom does feel that they club may have been better off staying in the junior ranks for another year or so to help the younger players in the squad develop.

"You can look at it two ways I suppose, they are playing a better standard in the intermediate, but the reality is that we are some way off competing against the stronger teams in the grade.
"If we were still junior, we would be confident of doing very well and winning the championship, which would be a massive boost for the club. We do have a player's Player of the Year every year, which helps create a bit of buzz among the players and it is something that has proven very beneficial." Tweet

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