Moylagh were pipped at the post for a place in the knockout stages of the Junior 'A' Football Championship, made it to a Junior 'D' semi-final final, a Junior 'A' hurling semi-final and continue to make great stride at underage level. Sean Fox reviewed an eventful year for the club. Moylagh's footballers aren't that far away from being a potent force in the Meath Junior ranks. Equally their hurlers aren't a million miles away from making it to the intermediate grade, judging by their respective performances in 2004. The footballers had hoped to land a place in the knockout stages of the Junior 'A' Championship, while the hurlers fulfilled their expectations by making it to the semi-final of the Junior 'A' Hurling Championship. The footballers failed by the "skin of their teeth", according to long serving clubman Sean Fox. "We took five points off the three teams that qualified from the group (St. Michael's, Meath Hill and Dunboyne) so we were disappointed not to make the knockout stages on that form." That Moylagh only managed to gain four points from their other four fixtures - St. Mary's, Summerhill, Kilmainham and St. Vincent's proved their ultimate undoing. That all four teams finished below them in the group only adds to the frustration. Moylagh's championship challenge got off to the worst possible start when they went under to St. Mary's in Round 1, 1-12 to 0-8. "We were beaten by seven points. On the day we were second best and we can have no gripes about it," said Sean. Manager John Mulvanney and his selectors Eamonn Campbell and Martin O'Growney picked up the pieces after that defeat and were able to galvanise their charges for the challenge of Summerhill in Round 2. "We only beat them by a point, 2-7 to 1-9, but a win is a win. We expected to beat them, but we were very slow to get out of the blocks, for one reason or another. We were determined to get our season back on track in that game because we knew there would be tougher challenges ahead," he recalled. One of those tougher challenges loomed on the horizon in Round 3 in the shape of St. Michaels' "The St. Michael's game ended in a draw, 0-10 to 1-7. We had chances of winning that game. It was the first time we played to our potential. We considered St. Michael's to be the best team in the group and that is how it eventually panned out," Sean explained. "The lads upped their performance for the St. Michael's game and were probably unlucky that they didn't take full points. We had a player sent off in that game but even allowing for that fact, we should have taken both points," he opined. With just three points on the board from their opening three matches a win against Dunboyne, who were fancied to progress from the group, was imperative. "It was played in Simonstown on a hot summer's day and it was a tight one. We have a habit of making things hard for ourselves. It was a game we should have won more convincingly but it was a win all the same." He continued: "At the start of the year, when we studied the fixtures, we felt we would need to win that game. We beat them 0-15 to 1-11. The way we looked at it, the victory kept us in the championship and put us well on our way of getting out of the group." Moylagh had hoped to pick up full points against Kilmainham in Round 5 to cement their knockout place, but Kilmainham weren't singing from the same hymn sheet. "They beat us by 3-9 to 1-10. I don't think anybody played well that evening. We were overrun. They seemed to want it more than us on the night and fully deserved their victory," he mused. That defeat left Moylagh needing to pick up full points in their final two group games and hoping that results elsewhere went in their favour. In their penultimate fixture they were pitted against basement outfit St. Vincent's. "We beat them by two points 1-11 to 1-9. We were on top for long stages during that game, but we just couldn't put them away. They were fighting against relegation and made life very difficult for us. It was a very competitive division throughout." The manner of the victory suggested that Moylagh might struggle against their final group opponents Meath Hill who already booked their place in the knockout stages. "They were through at that stage and we were depending on results elsewhere going in our favour." He continued: "All we could do was focus on winning the game and see how far that got us. In the end we had four points to spare 0-10 to 0-6. In the end Dunboyne pipped us at the post for the final knockout place." Moylagh's prospects of reaching the knockout stages were dealt a severe blow early in the year when Padraig McCormack was suspended for three months. While many felt his punishment didn't fit the crime, his absence was felt nonetheless. Similarly, the club missed the firepower of Justin O'Reilly, who suffered a knee ligament injury, which required surgery. In rural clubs like Moylagh the difference between winning and losing can be all down to numbers. "We would have fancied our chances of beating any of the teams in the quarter-finals, but we would have needed to have all of the players fit and available to us," Sean commented. With the likes of Joe Melia, David Hand, Colm Fanning to the fore and young guns like Keith Mahon, Barry Smith and Quinton O'Reilly pushing for places next year, Moylagh will be once again pushing for a quarter-final berth. Moylagh's chances of winning the Junior 'D' championship all came down to a numbers game. "We had used 26 players on the Junior 'A' team, so we were down to the bare bones with the Junior 'D' team." A few lads came out of retirement to make up the team, but on the whole it was a very young team. They did remarkably well to go as far as they did. Meeting a town team (Trim) in the semi-final was their downfall, but they can look on their efforts with great pride," he commented. Moylagh bowed out of the Junior Hurling Championship at the semi-final stage to a very strong Killmessan outfit. "We were unlucky in that match. We came back at them towards the end, but Kilmessan's experience told in the end. All in all the hurlers can be very happy with their achievement," he commented. "We would have about 10 or 12 dual players in the club. I feel it is very demanding on the players, but they acquitted themselves very well in both codes. Some of those lads would have been playing at under 17 and under 18 as well, so they got a lot of games this year," he commented. He continued: "The lads gave the both codes a fair crack of the whip this year. They trained twice a week with the football and then had a night on their own, with trainer Noel Briody, when they focused on hurling skills. The dual players are the lifeblood of a club of this size." Moylagh and St. Brigids joined at underage level, from under 12 right through to minor, this year to form Inny Gaels. "The idea was prompted by a lack of numbers at underage level. Both clubs decided to give it a lash and it worked extremely well. They managed to win an under 12 league, which was a great achievement considering it was their first year," he noted. "We are looking forward to continued success with St. Brigid's at underage. It made sense for both clubs to come together at underage level, and both clubs were happy with the way things went this year," he concluded. Tweet

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