Oldcastle will have to wait for another year for an opportunity to regain senior status, following their exit from the 2004 Intermediate Football Championship at the hands of Nobber in the quarter-finals. Selector Eamonn Moore reviewed the year. The footballers of Oldcastle are a proud bunch. It still rankles that they are no longer plying their trade in the Meath Senior Football Championship. Relegation from the top flight in 2002 is still fresh in the memory and still hurts. A burning desire to return to Meath's premier grade is the motivation that drives and perhaps haunts the club. In that context their exit from the 2004 Intermediate Football Championship at the hands of Nobber in the quarter-finals was a bitter pill to swallow. "We went to the quarter-finals last year, when we were beaten by O'Mahony's. We put up a good show against them. They went on to win it so we felt we were in with a great chance of winning it this year," Eamonn recalled. The loss of corner forward Packie Kevin with a cruciate knee ligament injury at the start of the year, followed by a hernia injury to Ronan Farrelly robbed Oldcastle of two of their better forwards for practically all of the campaign. But Eamonn who was a selector along with Eamonn Gillic, Martin Halpin and Oweny Gilsenan believes team manager Benny Reddy got every last ounce out of the players at his disposal. "Benny gave it everything and the players responded to that. They trained very well, so it wasn't through a lack of preparation that we didn't win it," he recalled Despite the loss Eamonn still felt Oldcastle had the wherewithal to launch a serious challenge on the Intermediate Football Championship. "The loss of the two lads was a big blow to us, but I still felt we were capable of winning the championship. But if they had been fit they would have made a huge difference," he affirmed. Oldcastle's pre-championship preparations via Div 2 of the league didn't go particularly smoothly because of absences and injuries. They got their IFC campaign off to a stuttering start when they accounted for St. Colmcilles in Round 1. "We expected to beat St. Colmcilles, but we didn't play that well on the day. We hadn't been playing that well in the league up to that point. It was the first time we had our full team out." He continued: "We didn't really get going in the first half and it was only in the second half that put any football together. We did enough to beat them 0-9 to 0-7." Oldcastle had to rely on another strong second half showing to see off the challenge of Slane 0-11 to 0-6, in Round 2. "We only won that game in the last 15 minutes. The lads were doing an awful lot of hard training at the time and we put our sluggish performance down to that fact." Benny Reddy's charges moved into the comfort zone in Round 3 when they scored a comfortable victory 1-13 to 0-8. They were full value for their double score, eight-point victory. "The lads looked sharp in that game and deserved their eight point victory. After three rounds we had six points on the board, even though we weren't playing that terribly well. So we were happy enough with the way things were going," he recalled. Oldcastle's championship aspirations took a knock in Round 4, when they were beaten 1-9 to 0-10 by Duleek. "We beat Duleek off the park for most of the first half. We were leading by seven points coming up to half time when we conceded a very sloppy goal. "That goal knocked the wind out of us and we never really got back into our stride after that. There was only a point in it at the finish, but we felt we should have put them away in the first half, when we were totally on top," Eamonn remarked. The character of a team can often be best judged by the manner in which they react to defeat. In typical gutsy fashion, Oldcastle bounced back with noteworthy victories in the Feis Cup. "It was important to get back to winning ways after the Duleek defeat. We had a couple of great results against Trim and Syddan in the Feis Cup. Trim were practically at full strength and Syddan had a strong team out against us, so we were delighted with those victories," he recalled. Having got the Duleek defeat out of their system Oldcastle resumed their championship campaign with a 0-12 to 1-5 victory over Donaghmore / Ashbourne in Round 5. "Things were looking good again for us and we were confident of beating Donaghmore / Ashbourne. We had four points to spare over them at the finish, but we felt we were comfortable throughout," he recalled. Having beaten Syddan handsomely in the Feis Cup, Oldcastle were in confident mood when they met the Deesiders in their penultimate group game. "The attitude wasn't right that night. They were over confident. They thought they would beat Syddan on the strength of the victory over them in the Feis Cup. "The players were in the wrong frame of mind before the game and paid the price. They were brought down to earth with a bump. Syddan were the better team on the night and fully deserved their four-point (0-12 to 1-05) victory," Eamonn explained. Oldcastle's facile victory over Ratkenny (2-12 to 0-4) ensured they would finish second behind Duleek who headed the group on 11 points. It also secured their quarter-final berth against Nobber who qualified from group A, with an identical record of five wins and two losses. "We won that game against Rathkenny too easily. It didn't do anything for us in terms of preparing us for the quarter-final. It was a game we could take nothing from except the victory," he quipped. It was generally accepted that Nobber would provide a stern test for Oldcastle in the quarter-final but nothing could have prepared the camp for the first half mauling they received at the hands of the black and ambers. "We still can't fathom what happened us against Nobber. They went 14 points up, before we got on the scoreboard. We came back at them strongly in the second half and nearly caught them," he rued. He continued: "There was only five points in it at the finish (2-11 to 1-9), but we left ourselves with too much ground to make up. We didn't play for the first 20 minutes, they dominated all over the field and that proved our downfall." Oldcastle's Junior 'C' footballers went one better than the intermediates and made to the semi-final of the championship before losing out to Syddan 0-13 to 0-6. It was a great achievement by a panel of players predominantly in their teens. "Nine of that team were under 21 and they will have gained great experience from reaching the semi-final. The under 21s also did very well even though they were beaten in the first round by Dunshaughlin," he explained. "There is plenty of young talent around Oldcastle and they are capable of playing a lovely brand of football. A town the size of Oldcastle should be playing senior football. We will be going out with all guns blazing to win the intermediate next year," he enthused. With Benny Reddy at the helm for another year Oldcastle will be rated amongst three or four teams with a 'live' chance of winning the 2005 IFC. It is a point not lost on Eamonn, who believes Reddy is certainly the right man to get the very best out this well of young talent. He commented: "Benny has said he wants to stay with us and we are all delighted. He has a great way with the players and he'll get the very best out of the lads. This was his first year with us. I'm very confident he'll take us to another level next year." With the likes of Ronan and Terry Farrelly, Packie Kevin, Vincent Reynolds, Brendan Halpin, Oweny Gilsenan and Eugene Smith at their disposal, Oldcastle certainly have the players required to win the IFC. If they can remain injury free, they'll be there or there about at the business end of the season. Few got the better of Jack Briody For the older generation in Oldcastle, Skryne's 2004 SFC success evoked nostalgic memories of a bygone era. Fifty-nine years earlier, in 1945, Skryne also won the Meath senior football championship, beating none other than Oldcastle in the county final, played in Kells. Jack Briody is one of two surviving members of that great Oldcastle team (the other being Barry McEnroe). Jack spoke to 'Royal County 2004' about a time when men were men and Oldcastle were a footballing force to be reckoned with. It was the first golden era of Meath football. The Royals had appeared in the 39 final and captured a first-ever All-Ireland in 1949 and repeated the trick five years later. Tradition had been altered forever. With Meath football at an unprecedented high, club football in the county was tough and keenly contested. There was nowhere to hide, unless one opted to sit at home and listen dreamily to the wireless. But people like Jack Briody and his Oldcastle team-mates were more interested in making the news! During his decade-long stint as an Oldcastle defender, Jack came up against some of the finest forwards Meath GAA has produced. These were men who could mix it, footballers who would not be intimidated or scared. But Jack was equally resolute. He was well able to hold his own against any man - regardless of the size of an opponent's reputation or ego - and invariably gave as good as he got in the years 1944-54. Football was a different game entirely back then. Players were anything but pampered, yet they gladly gave of their all once they crossed the line and entered the playing zone. Nobody was playing for himself; love of the parish was all encompassing. Jack remembers how the national game first commanded his attention: "I went to school in Ballinlough and the first football I saw was under Fr Drake, who was the curate in Kilskyre. He bought us a football and it was great. "When I was twelve or thirteen, I was playing at Millbrook in the evenings. Then Sergeant Russell who won All-Ireland medals with Kerry got on to me and asked me to play for Oldcastle. He was over the team and he was also a Meath selector. I remember he brought myself and Paddy Briody from Moylagh to Meath trials in Trim once, but nothing came of it." Jack played a bit of football in Offaly as well. He recalls: "I went to Edenderry and played senior football with them for one year. I remember playing against Mick and Paddy Casey when they were just starting out with Rhode. It was tough football." The highlight of Jack's career came within a year of breaking onto the Oldcastle first team. Kells was the venue for the 1945 Meath SFC final. Skryne provided the opposition: "Myself and Batty McEnroe are the only two survivors from that team. It was a dirty wet morning in November, with a frost lying on the field. Kit Lynch was a big strong man in the middle of the field and Jim Carney was another strong man and those two were a match for anyone. Skryne had Paddy O'Brien and they beat us handy enough." It was as close as Oldcastle have come to winning a senior championship. Jack and his colleagues also played in several Feis Cup finals. "We had some team when the four Maguires and Connie Kelly came into the side. I remember one day we drew with Syddan in a Feis Cup final in Navan. It was a wicked day, with a fierce thunder and lightning storm, and I don't think the game should have been played at all. There was another final we lost where we got a late goal that would've given us a two-point win, but the referee said the ball had been thrown into the net. I don't know myself if it was or not because I was playing in the backs!" There was never any shortage of games to be played and Jack used to travel by bicycle to participate in games in Mountnugent, Ballyjamesduff and Ballinlough. The players togged out along the ditch, but it was no big deal. Nobody minded. It was what happened on the pitch that counted. "Kells and Navan are the only two grounds I ever remember having any dressing-rooms when I was playing," Jack notes. "There was a severe petrol scarcity at the time, too," the octogenarian continues. "Tony Burns had a big V8, and so had Lornie Carney, Paddy Carney's father. That's how we got to many of the matches. As far as I can remember, I never missed a single game for as long as I was playing. I injured my foot one day against Ballivor in Kells and was in hospital for a day, but that was all. There was no stopping us from playing football in those days. We just went down to the field and played with the ball - and we loved it. "The players are looked after better now, but we didn't mind a bit. We togged out and we played and that was it." During his career, Jack won a Yore Cup in Carnaross and numerous other tournaments at various locations around the county and further afield. Lining out in the Oldcastle rearguard, he came up against all the big names of Meath football in the 'forties and 'fifties - he cites the Halpennys, Peter McDermott, Paddy Meegan, Frankie Byrne and Brian Smith amongst others. What were the tactics of the day? Were backs expected to play rough? "I suppose we did in a way," he concedes. "We always tried to play the ball, but you had to mix it with them because otherwise they'd make a fool of you! It's very hard to pick out a toughest opponent. Peter McDermott was a good footballer and Bill Halpenny was a very good full forward, but I always tried very hard and like to think I held my own." Some impressive talent began to come through with Oldcastle. Jack rates John Smith, Eamonn Clarke, Mickey Devine and Noel Smith as very good footballers and also fondly remembers Teddy Dolan (who, he says, always had an acquaintance standing around with a lit cigarette in case he needed a drag at any stage during the match . which was often!) Oldcastle slipped back to intermediate and then junior, winning a JFC in 1952. Jack worked on the railways as a lorry driver from 1947 and took early retirement in 1982. The last time he was in Croke Park was for the 2001 All-Ireland final between Meath and Galway. Reflecting on his memorable club career, he states: "I'm glad I played a lot of football because I made a lot of friends along the way. It helped keep me fit and I think that has stood to me." Tweet

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