Still a leading light
November 27, 2011Nicky Horan has been what somewhat of a gem for Meath hurling over the past two decades since lining-out with his native club's senior side at the tender age of 16. Back then, things had looked so promising for the sport, which was very much second choice to Gaelic football, with an All-Ireland B title having been captured the previous year.
The year was 1994 and it was a defining one for Nicky, who had to combine duties between club and county after being called into the Royals' panel by then manager John Davis.
"Everything happened for me in 1994. I was 16 when I played my first senior game for Kilmessan and we reached the county final that year when we were beaten by Trim," Nicky explained.
"I played with the Meath minors and Under 21s and we basically won whatever leagues were there to be won. There was a good bunch of players coming through at that time, but the biggest problem was keeping them to play. Many of them didn't really progress to senior level."
Davis would hand Nicky his Meath senior debut in the early rounds of the 1994 National League and since then the talented Kilmessan man hasn't looked back, as he approaches an 19th season with the Royal County.
"John Davis was over the team when I was called in and at the time I was given a couple of chances in the league early on and thankfully I was able to take them," he stated.
"My championship debut was against Westmeath in Castlepollard and I think we beat them by three points that day, so it was good to start off with a win. Carlow beat us in the next round though and it was disappointing after putting in so much work that year."
While Nicky would have to wait three more years before tasting his first bit of success with Meath, when they soared to Kehoe Cup, Leinster and All-Ireland Junior Championship triumphs in 1998, he managed to raise his profile in the meantime.
Having impressed on the national stage, it wasn't long before Nicky was earning calls from Leinster to represent his province in the Railway Cup, and, in turn, his performances in the inter-provincial competition would earn him a call from Croke Park to represent Ireland in the International against Scotland. And there was more to come for Nicky on the Royal front.
After the treble success of 1998, Meath would defend their Leinster and All-Ireland B titles the following year before going on to land to more Leinster crowns (2002 and 2003) and another All-Ireland in 2004, when they would also record their second Kehoe Cup success in six years.
A five-year drought would ensue for Nicky and co, before the introduction of the Nicky Rackard Cup would present them with a new objective.
"We won the Nicky Rackard Cup in 2009 but we failed to go on and win the Christy Ring straight after that, and it is still our goal," said the 6' 3" veteran.
"A completely new panel had come in that year and I suppose the reasons behind the success were that we were competing at a level that we were comfortable at. We wanted to challenge for the Christy Ring the following year and it has been disappointing that we haven't been able to win it yet.
"I've had the privilege of playing with Leinster a few times and I've also played with my country in the Shinty International against Scotland as well, which was a great honour."
This February will see the Kilmessan maestro turn 34, and while he accepts that he won't be able to play on into another decade with his county, he also isn't willing to give up on their goals as 2012 will see another bid mounted for Christy Ring glory.
However, he does admit that the slide in Meath hurling in recent years has seen other counties jump ahead of them in the queue.
"It's probably gone back a good bit in the last few years because of the lack of games within the county at club level," Nicky admitted.
"When I started hurling at underage level with Meath we were beating Dublin at minor and Under 21. The standard in Dublin hurling was always higher at club level than in Meath because of the amount of clubs, but back then we were almost always expected to beat them. There's no reason why Meath hurling can't be brought up a peg or two, and hopefully we'll get there."
Looking at his list of honours, it's not hard to understand where Nicky's optimism comes from.
At club level, there haven't been too many hurlers in Meath to have tasted the same success which Nicky has with Kilmessan over the past 17 years. After losing the county senior hurling championship final to Trim in his debut season, which he still recalls as one of the toughest defeats to take in his career, Nicky would more than make up for the loss in the years that followed.
In 1997, Nicky would be a catalyst for Kilmessan during a historic season which saw him earn his first county title. Two victories would follow in 1999 and 2002, before an outstanding three-in-a-row success would be achieved by the end of the 2004 season, which saw Kilmessan establish themselves as the top guns in Meath club hurling.
2008 saw the club reach new heights though, as they claimed another Jubilee Cup and went on to clinch a first Leinster club Intermediate Hurling Championship in their history.
Since then Kilmessan have been looking to get back to the Promised Land and under the guidance of Ollie Horan this past season they came within a whisker of reaching another county final. A promising win over champions Kildalkey (1-14 to 1-8) in the first round looked to have set them on their way, before they hit a stumbling block at the semi-final stage, where they were denied in extra-time for the second consecutive season.
"We were beaten semi-finalists again this year," Nicky explained. "That's the second year in-a-row that we were beaten in extra-time, but we've a lot of good young lads on the team and if they can step it up I'm sure we'll get there. We'll be starting with a clean slate next year and hopefully we can go one better."
For the last 16 years, Nicky Horan has worked as a Sales Rep for Heiton Buckley, one of Ireland's leading builder's merchants operation. The company operates from 27 strategically located branches around Ireland to provide a full service to the building, repair and maintenance sectors. Tweet
