Ballinlough may not have the same playing resources as some of their rivals, but they more than make up for this with their tremendous team spirit as veteran forward Francis Tunney explains. For Ballinlough, consolidating their position in the senior ranks has taken priority in the past few years. So, from that perspective, 2004 wasn't a bad year for the North Meath club. While their sensational defeat of Dunshaughlin provided the year's highlight, Ballinlough's only other win of the senior championship campaign against neighbours Gaeil Colmcille was of greater significance as it ensured them of survival in the top flight. The contribution of veteran forward Francis Tunney, who returned for the crunch game after missing the earlier rounds, was immense as Ballinlough pulled out all the stops to register a 0-10 to 1-4 victory. "It was a massive relief to beat Kells because I don't think we would have deserved to be involved in a relegation play-off," says Tunney, who accounted for 0-6 of Ballinlough's tally. "I missed the earlier matches, but I know that the lads were unlucky not to take anything from the games against Simonstown and O'Mahony's. They had a great win over Dunshaughlin, but it wasn't until we beat Kells that we made sure of our senior status. At the start of the year, our target was to stay up and it's nice to be able to say that we achieved that," he adds. With one of the smallest picks in the county, most would agree that Ballinlough have done well to retain their senior status all these years. Tunney believes the key to their survival has been their tremendous team spirit and never-say-die attitude. "We don't have the numbers of the bigger clubs, but we make up for it with our application and team spirit," he explains. "We had a good team throughout the 1990s but none of us are getting any younger and we have found the going a lot tougher in the last couple of years. But if we can hang in there for another year of two, I'm sure Ballinlough will be a force to be reckoned with again. "Our problem at the moment is that there is a big age difference between the old stagers like myself and the younger lads who are coming through. Because the team was so successful in the 1990s, it wasn't changed which has left us with the present situation. We have a shortage of fellas in their twenties playing for us at the moment, but I'd have great faith in the younger lads. There are some great footballers coming through." Under the management of Sean Barry and his selectors Fergus Higgins, Peter Lynch and Derek Mullally, Ballinlough opened their championship campaign with a 0-7 to 0-11 defeat to Simonstown Gaels. The North Meath side's determination was evident from the start and with veterans Vinny Ryan and Declan Lynch showing up well, they led by 0-5 to 0-2 after 15 minutes. Simonstown battled back to restore parity at half-time before points from Peadar and Seamus Byrne restored Ballinlough's lead on the restart. But Simonstown scored six points without reply in the final 25 minutes to take the spoils. In their second outing against Navan O'Mahony's, Ballinlough dominated the first half, only to lose their shape in the second as the town side battled back to record a 2-9 to 0-8 win. Declan Lynch and Peadar Byrne were to the fore as Ballinlough built up a 0-7 to 0-2 lead at the interval. But just as in the Simonstown game, the red and whites faded badly in the second half and to compound matters, they finished the game with just 13 players after Joey Byrne and substitute Philip O'Brien were both sent off. A third straight defeat looked to be on the cards against Dunshaughlin, but Ballinlough defied the odds with a magnificent 0-9 to 0-8 victory. Sean Barry's side held a 0-4 to 0-2 lead after 18 minutes, but Dunshaughlin finished the half strongly to lead by 0-6 to 0-4 at the break. Ballinlough were back on terms by the end of the third quarter courtesy of points form Peadar Byrne and Jody Devine. Devine levelled twice more to cancel out efforts from Stephen Ward and Martin Reilly before capping a fine individual display with the winning point in the 59th minute. A forgettable first half display left Ballinlough with too much to do as they succumbed to Trim by 0-4 to 1-10 in their next outing. A brace of first half goals from Sean McGarrell and Ger Robinson proved their undoing in a 1-8 to 2-10 defeat defeat to Dunboyne which left them needing to beat bottom-of-the-table Gaeil Colmcille in the penultimate round. With Tunney making a timely return, Ballinlough went into the half-time break leading by 0-5 to 0-2 thanks to points from Devine, Tunney (two frees) and Terence Fagan. That advantage had stretched to 0-8 to 0-3 by the 20th minute of the second half courtesy of further efforts from Tunney, substitute Conor Maguire and Peadar Byrne. But with eight minutes remaining, the Kells men were thrown a lifeline when Thomas Shine scored the only goal to reduce the deficit to two points. Gary Arkins left the minimum between the sides to set up a grandstand finish, but Ballinlough were not to be denied and two pointed frees from Tunney in injury-time secured a priceless victory. With their senior status secured, Ballinlough could afford to relax in their final game against eventual champions Skryne and were perhaps guilty of relaxing too much as they slumped to a 1-5 to 2-13 defeat. Later in the year, Ballinlough contested the Reserve League final but despite the best efforts of Tunney, they lost out on a 0-7 to 0-6 scoreline. Amazingly, it was Tunney's first defeat in nine final appearances for the North Meath club. The Ballinlough sharpshooter was only 18 when he played on the Ballinlough team which savoured junior championship and Division 3 league honours in 1988. Three years later, he added an intermediate championship medal and was also to the fore when Ballinlough defeated Simonstown to claim their first Division 1 league title in 1997. In 1999, Ballinlough regained the Division 1 title following a 0-12 to 1-6 victory over Walterstown. They also reached the senior championship quarter-final that year, but were forced to give second best to eventual winners Skryne. "I've had a good career with Ballinlough, but my biggest regret is losing that quarter-final to Skyrne in '99. They beat us by a point and went on to win the semi-final and final easily. That was the best Ballinlough team I've played on and I think we deserved to win a county championship. "We were super fit and were boosted by the arrival of two good scoring forwards in Tomas Blake (from St. Brigid's) and Paul Darmody (from Kerry). But unfortunately the Keegan Cup eluded us," Tunney ruefully reflects. With a young family, Francis doesn't intend playing for Ballinlough next year. But, then again, he could be persuaded to don the red jersey if the need arises. "I'm officially retired from football, but you'd never know what will happen next year. I'll definitely keep playing with Kilskyre - I love the hurling and it's not as demanding as the football," he concludes. Tweet

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