The Wolfe Tones club emerged on the senior stage in 2005 having won back to back junior and intermediate titles. Having consolidated their place in the senior ranks in their first year, the Kilberry/Oristown outfit caused a sensation by lifting the Keegan Cup twelve months later.

The stage was set for the Tones to dominate the senior ranks, but despite being amongst the annual favourites for the title that hasn't materialised.
This year's campaign promised so much as a new manager was brought in with highly rated Monaghan coach Paddy Martin handed the task of trying to guide the club to a second senior title.

Team captain in 2011 was Ciaran McLoughlin, who is one of the most consistent full backs in the county for the last number of years. Ciaran is also one of the most experienced players on the squad and he spoke to the Royal County Yearbook about this year's campaign and his hopes for 2012.

The draw for the senior championship saw Wolfe Tones placed in a group alongside Oldcastle, Simonstown Gaels, Blackhall Gaels, Trim and Summerhill.
On paper, Tones looked the strongest side in the group alongside Summerhill, but Ciaran admitted that from the start, they knew they had a lot of hard work to do.
"When Paddy first met us, he asked was there one more kick in us and from very early on it was evident that there was as lads gave a huge effort," said Ciaran.

"Paddy is a very good trainer, you could have the craic and a laugh with him, but when the drills were being done, you took them seriously or he wouldn't be long laying down the law and that's the way that it should be."
The Tones quest for a second Keegan Cup was not helped by the fact that a number of long term injuries to key players including county star Eoghan Harrington, but this paved the way for the younger members of the squad to step up to the mark.
"A few of the young lads had to make the step up from minor, which was a big ask of them, but in fairness they adapted very well to the senior ranks and this was a credit to them."
In the first match of the championship campaign, Wolfe Tones faced Oldcastle and the 2006 champions were strong favourites to take the points in this one.

Nonetheless, the north Meath side battled hard throughout and the Tones had to dig deep to grind out a two-point victory. Despite getting off to a great start and the fact that Oldcastle were reduced to 14-men after 20 minutes, Wolfe Tones had to work hard in order to secure a 2-10 to 1-11 victory. Eanna Harrington and Stephen Sheppard scoring the all-important goals for Paddy Martin's charges.

In the second round of matches, Simonstown Gaels were the opponents and this turned out to be another tight affair with nothing separating the sides at the final whistle as the match finished 2-7 to 1-10. Three points from their opening two matches was not a bad start for the Kilberry based outfit, but they needed another win to keep their campaign on track.

Trim was the venue for the meeting with Blackhall Gaels in the third round of the group stages and yet again this turned out to be a close affair. Indeed as the game entered the dying minutes, it looked as if Wolfe Tones were heading for their first defeat of the campaign.
Time was almost up when Wolfe Tones, a goal down mounted a late attack. Stephen Sheppard found himself in possession in the Blackhall Gael's square surrounded by three or four defenders.
The ball was wrenched from Sheppard's grasp and referee Cormac Reilly pointed to the penalty spot. Up stepped Eanna Harrington to calmly steer the ball home and earn the Tones a draw that had looked to be well beyond them at one stage.

"We struggled early on in the campaign to find any really form, but the main thing was that we weren't losing any games. With a few new faces in the team, it took us a while to settle and the early games really brought the young lads on a good bit."
In their next outing, the Tones returned to winning ways as Trim were comfortably defeated by 1-19 to 1-4 with Cian Ward impressing on this occasion scoring 1-10 of his side's total.
This gave them great confidence as they looked to finish the group stages on a high. And this is exactly what was achieved when a comfortable 1-9 to 0-5 win was recorded over Summerhill.
"We finished the group very strongly and the side was really settling at this stage. It gave us great confidence as we headed into the knockout stages."

Walterstown had surprised many by reaching the quarterfinals of the championship and they stood in the way of Tones and a place in the last four.
Once again, the purple and gold continued their good form and Cian Ward was at the centre of all three goals, making the first two and then settling the issue with a well struck third in the 40th minute.
The scores were tied twice before the opening goal arrived in the 14th minute. Ward held the ball up well in the left corner before finding Stephen Sheppard in a central position and the number six dispatched the ball to the net.
Seconds later the prolific scorer was in possession in the opposite corner from where he found younger brother Fiachra who fired the ball to the net at the hospital end.

Then the elder Ward landed a free shortly after the board at the opposite end of the ground read 2-4 to 0-2 and the clock had barely ticked into the second quarter.
Wolfe Tones held an eleven-point advantage at half time and when an excellent Christopher Blaney effort from an acute angle on the right sailed over at the start of the second half, the Tones set about erasing any doubt about the outcome. Ward scored the third goal late on as Martin's charges recorded a comfortable 3-14 to 0-9 win.

And so on to the semi final where Wolfe Tones would renew rivalry with Summerhill, a side they had comfortably defeated in the group stages. However, any team that reaches the semi final of the Meath championship deserves to be treated with respect.
"The squad got stronger as the campaign went on and the injured lads returned, so we were confident that we could go on and win the championship. We were certainly well prepared for the semi final and it was down to the players on the day."

Tones only led briefly in the early stages of the semi final with Cian Ward unusually of target with three frees in the opening quarter.
After missing two early scoring chances, Ward gave his side the lead from a free on eight minutes but even though playing against the breeze in the first half, Summerhill slowly but surely worked their way into the game.
Summerhill went on to lead by 0-5 to 0-2 at the break, Ward putting over Tones' second play from play. Early in the second half Summerhill missed a great goal chance when David Nolan saved well and the pendulum appeared to be swinging in Tones' favour when points from Niall McLoughlin and Ward (free) left the board reading 0-6 to 0-4.

However, Summerhill then struck for the decisive goal with wing-back Stephen Husband moving forward to fire to the net on 42 minutes to leave the scores 1-6 to 0-4. Tones' task became more uphill when the inspirational Ciaran McLoughlin was dismissed for a second yellow card offence on 46 minutes.
Even though Summerhill only managed to raise the white flag twice in the second half they did enough against lacklustre opposition. The issue was decided when Tones missed a late penalty. Tony McDonnell did well to keep out Ward's kick and the follow-up attempt was sent wide to leave the final score 1-7 to 0-6.

"It was bitterly disappointing to lose the semi final, especially the way we did. We just didn't perform on the day and nothing seemed to go right for us. We had the wind behind us in the first half and didn't use it to our advantage and that proved to very costly.
"I think some of our lads thought that we just had to turn up and beat Summerhill after we had beaten them in the group stages, but that counts for very little as we found out to our cost."
Ciaran is in no doubt that this Wolfe Tones side are capable of lifting the Keegan Cup again and he is adamant that they will be back all guns blazing next year.

"We will be definitely up for it next year, there is no question about it. As long as we can stay injury free and none of the lads head off travelling than we can be a match for anyone.
"It has been proven over the last few years that whoever puts in the biggest effort in the championship will win it, so we know what we have to do."

Foy aims high

For any club that gains promotion to a higher grade, the initial aim is to retain that status and this can be regarded as a successful year. Wolfe Tones' hurlers achieved this feat in 2011, but such is the focus and determination of the side that failing to reach the intermediate hurling championship quarter-finals was seen as a major disappointment.

This is the opinion of manager Frank Foy, who spoke to the Royal County Yearbook about this year's campaign.
Wolfe Tones won last year's junior hurling championship and were duly promoted to the intermediate ranks, although a change in the format of the intermediate and junior championships meant that they would have moved into the second tier anyway.
However, their focus was on the 2011 campaign and having reached the final of the Leinster JHC 'Special championship, their year started earlier than most.

The final was played in Pairc Tailteann last January, which was the scene of their county junior success only a few months previously and they faced Dublin side Fingallians in the decider. Wolfe Tones had to thank the goal poaching skills of Stephen Sheppard when he got on the end of a loose ball to score the games only goal as the Meath side trailed by 0-7 to 1-3 at the interval.
The second half proved a very tight affair with both sides swapping scores and when Meath minor star Killian O'Brien put the Meath side in front with ten minutes left things looked good for Wolfe Tones. But Fingallians found an extra gear and some superb free taking gave the Swords based side a two point win (0-13 to 1-8) to the delight of their very large band of supporters.
"This competition was a great grounding for the year ahead and we were very unlucky not to win. The lads gave it their all as they did for the whole year, in fairness to them," said Frank.

Soon after the league campaign begun and there was little break for the players as they swung into the new season, but Frank admits that the players got on with it.
"There was no complaints from the lads, any night there was training, they turned up and I have to say that they were a great bunch to work with," added the Offaly native.
When the championship draw was made, Wolfe Tones were placed in a tough group alongside Dunderry, Kilmessan, Blackhall Gaels, Rathmolyon and Boardsmill.
"It was a tough draw, but to be honest I felt that we had the players to get out of the group and we didn't fear any side in it, even though two of them (Rathmolyon and Boardsmill) were favourites for the title.
"We have soon very talented hurlers up here and there has been a lot of work done at underage level to bring them through and they are certainly beginning to shine now. Fitness wise, they would always match anyone as the majority of them play football also, so we felt that we had an advantage there.

Frank revealed that it is not easy to train a dual club, but admitted that the footballers did all possible to accommodate the hurlers when needed.
"The system we have in place is that when a championship game is on that code takes precedence and the other doesn't train, otherwise we train one night a week. You can't expect dual players to be out four nights during the week and then a game at the weekend, you will just end up with them suffering from burnout. It's not easy combine both at times, but in fairness it doesn't work too badly for us.

"The likes of the football chairman Michael Carr was very understanding as were most of the football committee, so we were very fortunate in that respect. It is important to get an understanding between both codes; otherwise the players will be pulled from pillar to post."
The first outing in the championship saw the Tones pitted against Dunderry, who have been very consistent in the intermediate grade for many years now, reaching last year's semi final.

Dunderry went into the game as favourites, but the 2010 junior champions were not overawed by their opponents and indeed an excellent performance resulted in a win for the Kilberry outfit on a scoreline of 1-13 to 2-07.
"It was a great start to the campaign and I was quietly confident going into the match that we could beat them. The lads really played well on the day and deserved their victory."

A second victory was soon recorded as this time Kilmessan's second team were put to the sword by a narrow margin in a low scoring game. Only one point separated the sides as it finished 2-04 to 2-03 in Wolfe Tones favour.
"We couldn't have asked for a better start to the campaign, but these games came at a price as the injury list increased by the week. Eanna Harrington actually played against Kilmessan and the following morning he went into hospital with a burst appendix, which ruled him out for the rest of the campaign.

"We also had the likes of Mark Coleman and Donal Curtis out for long periods, while other players were also out for different periods and this didn't help our cause for the remaining matches."
Wolfe Tones went into the match against Blackhall Gaels missing no fewer than eight players for various reasons and for any side to lose so many would be a struggle. And so it showed as they suffered their first defeat of the year as the Batterstown outfit ran out comfortable winners on a scoreline of 3-12 to 0-08.

With two games remaining, the Tones needed another couple of points to make sure of qualification for the knockout stages, but the faced tough assignments against Boardsmill and Rathmolyon.

The Boardsmill was first on the agenda and the old saying that goals win matches was never more adapt as Foy's charges conceded six on the day as they lost by 6-8 to 2-8, but Frank stressed that this was a game that they could have won.
"I know we were beaten by 12 points, but it was a game that we could have actually won. We conceded some soft goals and they cost us dearly, but we had the chances ourselves and didn't take them."

Through other results, Wolfe Tones needed just one point to qualify for the quarterfinals and they gave it their all against championship favourites Rathmolyon, but unfortunately their efforts fell just short as the 2006 senior hurling champions won on a scoreline of 2-09 to 2-08.

"We were bitterly disappointed not to lose out and I'll always regret the fact that we didn't have all the players available during the year, which was a great pity, cause I'm sure that if we did, we could have won the intermediate title.
"But one thing is for sure, we will be back battling for honours again next year and with the players that we have, there is no reason why we can't win the title."

Frank was ably assisted on the line by James Connolly and Michael Burke, who also acts as the hurling chairman within the club and he was keen to sing the praises of his colleagues.
"Both James and Michael did great work. Michael organised most of the challenges, while he did a lot of the coaching also. He does a huge amount of work for the club and has been for a few years now." Tweet

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