On the surface, not a lot changed for Rathkenny this past year. They remain in the Intermediate Championship for 2005 and also in Division 4 of the All County A Leagues. But you know what they say about books and covers. Turn the pages and there's always more to a story. Scratch below the surface and there are plenty of reasons for Rathkenny Gaels to review 2004 with much optimism. Especially when you consider the strides forward made at juvenile level where the highlights were an Under-17 league victory late in 2003 coupled with Parnells' minor championship triumph. And just as streams become rivers, boys become men and that will stand to Rathkenny over the coming years. The club also had an All-Ireland winner this year with promising youngster Brian Meade part of the successful St Pat's Navan college team that were crowned kings of Ireland under the guidance of Colm O'Rourke this term. Meade certainly had a busy year, starting back at the tail end of 2003 when he was a member of the Under-17 league winning team. He then starred at midfield for St Pat's in their All-Ireland Colleges adventure and also captained Parnells to victory in the minor championship. The underage talent is being well nurtured in the area. Brian and Colin Curtis featured with the Meath minors in the early stages and were unlucky to be dropped when the championship panel was eventually narrowed down. Brian hails from Clogher and comes with a good sporting background. His parents Dennis and Kathleen are avid Meath fans, and brothers Aidan and Ciaran have featured on Rathkenny teams in recent times while cousins Paul and Alan play with Simonstown. Brian played at centre-field for Rathkenny intermediates during 2004 and along with John Donegan looks like manning the midfield area for some time to come. The Under-17 team was captained by David Taaffe, and they enjoyed a well deserved win over St Cuthberts at the end of 2003. This win marked the emergence of plenty of exciting young talent. The hard work carried out by all the various mentors over the last few years has not gone unnoticed. The various underage teams were looked after by several dedicated people this past year including Tommy and John Martin, Rene Gore, John Gore, Ray Connolly, Vincent Lenehan and Brian Reilly. "It is encouraging that there are talented younger players starting to come through from the underage teams," admits club stalwart Larry Murray. "But at the same time it can still be awkward for us because we struggle for players. We haven't been hit with an influx of people like other areas of Meath. Slowly they are starting to come in but most of the families have young children so it will be a while before we see the benefits for the club." At the time of writing, the Under-17 and Under-21 teams were still involved in their respective 2004 Championships. The Intermediate team started the year with good intentions. They aimed at promotion from Division four and also a top four finish in the championship. However, a poor start in the league left the team playing catch up, and despite some good wins they finished out of contention for promotion to Division Three. They played eleven games, won five, lost four and drew one. The roll on effect was such that when it came to championship stage some of the teams they encountered had too much experience for Rathkenny. The gap between the teams in higher divisions proved extremely difficult to bridge. Despite this, some good results were achieved including the wins over Syddan and Donaghmore Ashbourne. In Group B of the Intermediate Championship the red and blacks finished joint fifth with five points from seven games. Their record reads two wins, one draw and four defeats. They finished well above the basement though, with Donaghmore Ashbourne bringing up the rear of the group with just two points. Their scoring tally tells its own story though with Rathkenny chalking up 2-59 in the championship but conceding 7-70 - meaning their scoring difference finished on -26 points. Rathkenny's championship campaign included an early defeat to eventual beaten finalists Duleek. Rathkenny were hoping to cause an upset but Barney Rock's Duleek side possessed far too much firepower and chalked up a six point victory, 0-12 to 0-6. Just two weeks later though, on April 24, Rathkenny put that defeat behind them to beat Donaghmore Ashbourne, 0-12 to 1-6. Rathkenny always looked comfortable in the game. That result set them up nicely for a crunch clash with Syddan at the end of May, where they battled out a narrow victory, 1-6 to 0-8. Rathkenny were in a good position to make the play-offs but they lost their momentum from there on in and failed to win another championship game for the remainder of the campaign. Rathkenny's Feis Cup ambitions came to an end against a far superior Blackhall Gaels outfit on May 13, 2-12 to 0-7. "It was an okay year as regards the intermediates because at least we didn't lose our status. It is important that we can stay there because we have new, younger players coming through that will continue to strengthen the side over the coming years," continued Murray. "We had some good results in both the league and championship but I suppose we were disappointed we didn't do better in the league overall. Still we must keep looking to the future." With the recent wins at underage level, supporters of the red and black are quietly confident of good times ahead. Nothing comes easy in Meath football though, and a big effort is needed if Rathkenny are to achieve success on a par with that of neighbours Wolfe Tones in recent times. Still the talent is there and old hands such as Donal Curtis, Thomas Rowan, Michael Reid and Derek Smith will join with the rising stars again in 2005 in the quest for glory. The Rathkenny juniors, who won championships in 1996 and 1999, did not fare too well in the C competition this year but still showed signs of greater potential to come. The pluses to be taken from the 2004 junior championship is the experience gained by younger players such as David Donegan, James Macken, Francis Allen and others who played during the year. Meanwhile, veterans such as Michael Doggett, Bernard Markey and the versatile Gerry Gavigan continue to assist in the search for success at this level. But perhaps the biggest plus of all for Rathkenny is the knowledge that brighter days lie ahead. For now, they have to be patient and wait for the younger players to develop. But eventually the stream will become a river, the boys will become men. Tweet

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