Trim's heavy defeat by Simonstown in the SFC semi-final underlines the difficulties faced by dual clubs who reach the business end of championships in both codes, claims club secretary Fergal Flanagan. Given that, it is hardly surprising they still have reservations about the current format of the county's premier football competition. The team in red-and-white went into their third consecutive senior football championship semi-final on the back of an eight-match winning run, before coming unstuck in spectacular fashion, losing by thirteen points, 0-6 to 2-13. That defeat on September 19 came eight days after the club's hurlers lost narrowly to Kilmessan in a hard fought SHC decider and at the end a pretty hectic few weeks for the St Loman's Park-based outfit. As Fergal Flanagan points out the club has several dual players who had been training four nights a week since January. "We made several requests to the County Board to put the semi-final with Simonstown back one week, but they refused to. The senior football final was fixed for October 3 and that was 'set in stone', we were told," he added. To further the club's sense of grievance, the final was put back a week after the other semi-final between Skyrne and Dunshaughlin ended level to prevent the winners from having to play important championship games on three consecutive weekends. So it is understandable if Flanagan cites fixture congestion as "one significant factor" in them losing to the Navan men for the second year running at the penultimate hurdle. Trim had a 100% win record in the group matches reaching the knockout stages with two games to spare in a seven-match programme and were being widely tipped to bridge a 42-year gap since their only Keegan Cup success in 1962. "Maybe all the talk rubbed off on us a bit and we were possibly a bit complacent after winning eight matches," Flanagan concedes. He also admits to being a bit concerned after their 4-5 to 1-8 win over Seneschalstown in the quarter-final at Dunsany. "Five points is a poor return from six forwards over the hour. Also, Joe Sheridan caused us a lot of problems that evening and it was only when we moved Darren Fay onto him in the second-half that we got on top of them," he remarks. Trim opened the 2004 Keegan Cup race at Pairc Tailteann on Thursday, April 15 with a 1-7 to 0-9 win over eventual champions Skyrne. Despite fielding without the suspended Ronan Fitzsimons and losing key forward Michael Lowther with a troublesome hamstring injury, they still managed to forge a minimum margin success courtesy of a brilliantly executed goal from Sean Murphy after trailing by 0-6 to 0-9 going into the final stages. Nine days later second-half goals from Declan Murray and Darren Fay boosted Eamon McEneaney's charges to a 2-11 to 1-10 over Dunboyne at Dunsany after trailing 0-6 to 1-8 at half-time. "The measure of Trim's championship credentials can be summarized in a match in which they didn't play altogether well yet still emerged with a convincing second win of the campaign", wrote Paul McCabe in The Weekender. The result was achieved without the suspended Ronan Fitzsimons, while Michael Lowther limped out injured for the second match running. However, a tally of 15 wides was another cause for concern. Trim improved their claim for a place in the knockout stages for the fifth year running with a 2-14 to 1-8 win over struggling Gaeil Colmcille at Athboy on Saturday, May 29. Brendan Murphy, a member of the All-Ireland winning Meath minor football team in 1992 who later spent time in English soccer with Bradford City and Wimbledon, reclaimed the number one jersey in 2004 and earned his corn with several top clash saves in this encounter. A scoring blitz that yielded 2-2 in the run up to half-time was also crucial to this success. Ronan Fitzsimons returned from suspension, but once again Lowther failed to last the full hour. Another six weeks elapsed before they returned to Athboy for their fourth SFC outing on Saturday, July 10, seven days after Meath's exit from the All-Ireland race. A 1-10 to 0-4 victory over Ballinlough, after leading 0-6 to 0-0 at the break, virtually sealed their place at the business end of the competition. Again injury forced Lowther to leave early while the town side ran up a total of 18 wides. With the Royal County now departed from the race for Sam, the three remaining rounds of the group stages of the Keegan Cup race were run off at fortnightly intervals. Trim made sure of the quarter-final spot with two matches to spare with a 2-9 to 0-9 win over Simonstown Gaels on the evening of Sunday, July 25 at Pairc Tailteann. Goals in each half from Eoin McGrath and Darren Fay proved to be the difference on the scoreboard, after the Trim led by eight points midway through the second-half. The form of Paul Gilsenan was also central to their fifth success of the campaign. Trim had nothing but pride and position to play for in the final groups games and they secured top spot with wins over Navan O'Mahony's and Dunshaughlin respectively, at Pairc Tailteann. The Trim defence came up trumps against O'Mahony's on the evening of Sunday, August 7, restricting the Brews Hill side to just three scores of the hour - just one from open play - in a 0-9 to 1-2 success. Two weeks later the county grounds hosted Trim final group game, where victory would have guaranteed Dunshaughlin a place in the knockout stages for the sixth consecutive year. A brilliant goal by Colin McHugh saw the team in red and white maintain their winning ways on a 1-7 to 0-7 scoreline, but O'Mahony's defeat by Dunboyne meant Dunshaughlin advanced on scoring difference. McEneaney's men finished on 14 points, five clear of both Simonstown and Skyrne. The quarter-final at sunny Dunsany on the evening of Sunday, September 5 paired Trim with Seneschalstown, who scrapped into the last eight with seven points (three wins and a draw) after edging out St Patrick's on score difference. The previous weekend the club's hurlers qualified for the SHC final with a narrow win over Dunboyne. Having missed the three previous outings through injury, Lowther was back in the starting fifteen. Joe Sheridan gave the Yellow Furze side the tonic of an early goal and continued to be a thorn in Trim's side until Darren Fay was delegated to track him. Goals from Eoin McGrath and Paul Gilsenan (penalty) left Trim 2-4 to 1-4 ahead at the break. Brendan Murphy came to Trim's rescue with a brilliant save from Joe Sheridan just before half time while second-half goals from substitute Benny Murray and Lowther saw Trim home on a 4-5 to 1-8 scoreline. Having gone into the knockout stages as the bookmakers' fancy for outright victory, Trim came undone in a big way against Simonstown in the semi-final. It was the fifth weekend running for the club to be in senior championship action in either hurling or football. Backed by elements, Trim led by 0-3 to 0-1 in the early stages and hopes were high that they could avenge defeat by their Navan-based opponents at the same stage twelve months previously. But, after conceding a goal to Evan Kelly things began to unravel although they regained the lead briefly only to trail 0-5 to 1-4 at the break. However, the former Drumree player's second goal sealed the issue. The Trim team that lost to Simonstown Gaels was - Brendan Murphy; Paddy Hegarty, Joe Tighe, Richie Fitzsimons; Robert Brennan, Darren Fay, Maurice Power; Frankie Murphy, Ronan Fitzsimons; Sean Murphy, Paul Gilsenan (0-1), Colm McHugh; Eoin McGrath, Michael Lowther (0-5, all frees), Benny Murray. Subs - Declan Murray for Benny Murray, Eibhin Lynam for Brennan, Conor O'Keeffe for Power, Aaron Fay for Richie Fitzsimons. Of the club's other football teams, the third string fared best reaching the Junior D final where after failing to take their chances in the final lost by 0-9 to 3-6 to neighbours Dunderry at Kilmessan. Trim second string reached the Junior B quarter-final where they went under to St Brigid's by 0-11 to 0-7 while on their first year back in the B FL Division 1 they ended up being relegated along with Dunderry. The Under 21 side were eliminated from the championship in a first round replay by Walterstown. The club exited the Feis Cup at the first hurdle losing to intermediate side Oldcastle by 2-8 to 2-12 but came close to reaching the Division 1 FL final, losing out the Summerhill and Simonstown (again!). Crucially they lost to the 'Gaels in a league encounter with an understrength side two days after the initial championship meeting. "After going out of the championship, we decided to rally the troops to try and win the league," Flanagan added. Summerhill, Simonstown and Trim all tied on 18 points with results between the sides canceling each other out. After beating a Seneschalstown side composed mainly of members of their Under 21 panel by just one point, Trim lost out on a place in the league final on scoring difference. Had they scored another three points in the eleven-match campaign they would have made it. Despite the disappointments of 2004, Trim footballers show no sign of wallowing in self-pity. "We'll just have to knuckle down and get on with it," concludes Flanagan. As the saying goes, the darkest hour is the one before dawn. Trim hurlers went close Despite operating under the most testing of circumstances, Trim went all the way to the 2004 Meath senior hurling championship final and came within three points of defending champions Kilmessan therein. It was long-serving stalwart CJ Murtagh's first year at the helm and the Red & Whites recovered superbly from a shaky start to force their way through to the county decider. Speaking to 'Royal County 2004', CJ reflects on a busy year for Trim, who went out all guns blazing' on both fronts but unfortunately finished the season empty-handed. It was CJ's turn to be manager. Simple as that. A great servant to Trim in both codes, he was hoping to play on for another year. However, when he was asked to consider assuming managerial duties, CJ Murtagh couldn't say no. Somebody had to do it. Thus, the nine-times SHC winner nailed up his hurl and took over the team for the first time. It was almost an extraordinary first year in charge too . Trim came within three points of Kilmessan on county final day. They could've won if they'd played with the same zip and zeal that was evident in the semi-final defeat of Dunboyne. Ultimately, however, the exertions of gunning for both senior championships caught up with the club and they ran out of steam towards the season's end. A pity, because they had made a valiant effort in the small ball code, under conditions that were far from ideal, in the face of distractions that most other challengers for the SHC need not worry about. CJ Murtagh played senior for Trim for 20 years, 1984-2003 inclusive. It would be very difficult to find a man with better credentials to manage the team. Put it this way: the queue of candidates for the post in '04 wasn't exactly in the running for a place in the Guinness Book of Records! And so the job landed in CJ's lap. He took it on readily. Unfortunately, it meant the end of his playing career: "I brought back Sean Colgan as a selector, and also asked Declan Murray to act as selector. Declan was also playing and I felt that we needed two men on the line, so I decided not to play. I had hoped to play one more year, but when your turn comes around to manage the team you have to take it on." How did the appointment come about? "The club was actively seeking someone to take it on. They've always had someone from inside the club and they couldn't get an outside man. The players asked me would I do it and I decided I would. I was reluctant enough at the start because I have three small children and it wasn't ideal, but we worked it out and I began to enjoy it. In fairness, I was probably next in line anyway." CJ was the obvious choice. The fact that Trim almost won the SHC against all odds proves this beyond any doubt. Managing the team represented a big change after 20 years as a player - how did CJ take to management? "It went fine," he says. "The lads all rowed in behind me and I couldn't complain. "It was Trim's centenary year in 2004 and the senior football championship was the club's main priority. After 42 years without a senior football championship [the club's only SFC success was in 1962], that's very much our burning desire. Everybody in Trim wants a football championship and we've been so close in recent years. We went all out for that again in 2004 and we all knew and accepted that hurling would be taking a back seat to a certain extent." There was no conflict, no in-fighting. Trim demonstrated a united front. Everybody knew the score. All energies were invested primarily into an assault on the Keegan Cup and the hurling team made the best of what resources remained. CJ, who's well known throughout the Royal County as a dual player himself, explains: "We had nine players on both panels, so it was a bit of a struggle. We only had twelve or 13 lads who weren't playing football, but we all knew the score from the start of the year and we knew what the priority of the club was. We accepted that. There was no pressure put on lads not to play football. We thought we had a serious chance in the football. We honestly felt that 2004 could be our year." Clearly, then, there was a great show of unity within the club, with no animosity whatsoever between the two codes. Surely this had an adverse effect on the prospects of the hurling team, however? "It wasn't a help," CJ concedes. "But, as I've said, everyone was aware of the situation from the outset. We all rowed in behind that and, as it turned out, things started to go really well for us." It wasn't possible to get the team together for training or for challenge games. Indeed, the only time the full squad got together collectively was for two nights in the week running up to championship matches. Eventually, however, it all fell into place - after a disastrous start: "We played Rathmolyon in the first round and I have to hold my hand up and say the team was picked badly for that game. Our regular goalkeeper of five years, Brian Carley, had moved to Wexford and we brought him up for the game. Through no fault of his own, he wasn't ready for the game and we also lost two full backs. We conceded six goals. It was a terrible start and our backs were against the wall from early in the season." It was an embarrassing defeat. Trim normally have the measure of their neighbours, but the 6-7 to 2-12 defeat hurt their pride. The response was admirable. "We had to knuckle down because our involvement in the competition was on the line." Trim found another goalkeeper in Mark McCormack and the 20-year-old proved a revelation. A spirited Kiltale side was beaten by 2-8 to 0-8 in the second round and previously-unbeaten Kildalkey were accounted for next, 2-14 to 2-6. When local rivals Boardsmill were overcome, it set up a crunch meeting with Killyon in the last round. A draw would have been sufficient to see Trim through safely to the knockout stage but they went one better, prevailing by a point, 2-8 to 0-13. The county semi-final against Dunboyne in late August was an absolute thriller. The game was played at Pairc Tailteann and Trim's uncanny ability to find the net once more saw then through as they came out on top by a point, 2-9 to 0-14. "They had been a bit of a bogey team," CJ notes. "But it was an outstanding match and a great win." Bearing in mind the obstacles they had to overcome, was the manger surprised that Trim had made it through to the final? "The lads were very disappointed with the first round defeat. Even though they hadn't done a lot together as a team, they still had their pride and we still considered ourselves one of the top two hurling clubs in the county. It hurt us to lose that game to Rathmolyon. Every game was a pressure game after that. They were all knockout matches really and the lads rose to the occasion each time. "The Killyon game was our trickiest because we always get it hard to beat them, and they were still in contention. But pride brought us through and, of course, the football was going well too. "People said it was a good bonus to get to a county final, but that wasn't the attitude in Trim. When we reach a final we want to win it. I played in ten finals and won nine of them, the only defeat coming in 1991 against Killyon after a replay. We won nine out of 14 between 1987 and 2001 and we beat Kilmessan in six of those, so we had nothing to be afraid of. "They had won their semi-final by 22 points, but we knew we could compete with them and that we'd give them a game if we performed on the day. However, our touch was poor, our pick was bad and our strike wasn't clean. It all caught up with us. We were beaten by three points [1-12 to 2-6], without playing well. "We did the hard work in the first half and we were only six points down at half time [1-8 to 0-5] after playing against a strong wind, but we only scored one point with the wind in the second half. We started going for goals too soon. We didn't score soon enough in the second half and ended up chasing the game." What's CJ's overall assessment of Trim's performance over the year? "After a terrible start, they improved with every game, culminating in a great semi-final win. If we had played as well in the final I think we could have won it, but we had been playing senior football and hurling weekly for seven consecutive weeks and the final proved one game too far. I wouldn't be too unhappy with the way things worked out after getting off to such a bad start with a limited panel. "I think there's a championship in this team within the next two years. We'll have the same panel again in 2005 and the football will still be a priority. We'll be relying on the same guys to give it their all again, but we should have four or five minors coming on the following year. "It's very difficult for senior dual clubs who have to play with the same players week in, week out. Seven games in the senior football championship before you get to the quarter-finals is ridiculous and when you put that together with five hurling matches and a semi-final and final, it's placing huge demands on players. From the first week in June we had the same guys out weekly and it was inevitable that it would take its toll." What an effort, though. Tweet

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