A new club was born in the Royal County in 2003 when An Gaeltacht (Rath Cairn) joined forces with Athboy to give rise to Clann na nGael. It was an historic development and the club set about its tasks accordingly. As is often the case in such scenarios, there were those in both camps who questioned the wisdom of Meath GAA's latest amalgamation. Nonetheless, everybody concerned put their misgivings aside, knuckled down, and set about moving forward. Clann na nGael is a dual entity. As reported in the adjoining feature, the hurlers performed well in their maiden campaign, powering into the final of the IHC. However, the footballers weren't quite as successful at the first time of asking. There was certainly no lack of ambition evident, a fact borne out by the decision to place none other than county star Graham Geraghty in charge of team affairs at the start of the year. But things didn't knit together as neatly as had been hoped and Clann na nGael's footballers failed to build a head of steam. Invariably, when two teams come together, there are initial teething problems that need to be ironed out. Bearing this in mind, it was hardly a major surprise that Clann na nGael's footballers failed to hit the ground running. No damage has been done though. The Athboy/An Gaeltacht combination has had a year to acclimatise to the new lie of the land and should be a more finely-tuned outfit in 2004. Building a 'new' club takes time, as former county man Tom Hanley realises: "We weren't expecting it to be an overnight success. I think it was obvious all along that it'll take time and patience before we can find our feet. Having said that, we didn't anticipate quite so many poor results and we ended up in the dreaded relegation play-offs. "Going into the play-offs, I think we were nearly favourites to go down, but at least we managed to avoid relegation to the Junior B grade. In that respect, the year finished on a bit of a high. The last thing we wanted was to take a step backwards. We've maintained our junior championship status and hopefully our performances will improve in '04." Clann na nGael made a poor start to their first season and found themselves unable to arrest the slide. Before they knew, it they were stuck in a rut and the season had virtually passed them by. They were in Roinn C of the JFC, alongside Wolfe Tones, Simonstown Gaels, Moynalty, Dunderry and Summerhill. From those five outings, only two points were culled, at the expense of Moynalty. This form was poor enough to send the rookie outfit into the relegation play-offs but they dug deep to preserve their junior 'A' standing with a four-point defeat of St Paul's, 0-10 to 0-6. Clann na nGael weren't so fortunate in the league. Only Meath Hill finished below them in Division 4 of the all-county league, with the Clanns winning just twice in eleven outings. They were relegated and will compete in Division Five next term. Okay, it's true that Clann na nGael never set the world on fire in '03. Admittedly, they laboured and struggled at times, but it was still a landmark year and Tom Hanley - who previously made his name with Athboy (as well as winning All-Ireland minor and U21 championships with Meath in 1990 and '93 respectively, not to mention a national football league medal in '94) - is confident that things will fall into place eventually. Time, he insists, is of the essence: "I suppose the first year after two clubs amalgamate is always going to be the most difficult as the players need time to adapt to their new surroundings and to gel together. It's worth stressing that it is still a dual club and the hurlers reaching the intermediate final was a notable achievement. "From an Athboy point of view, we slumped after losing our manager Mattie McCabe as well as two key players - Jamie Shaw and Shane McInerney - both of whom are playing in New York. It made sense to join with Rath Cairn and we brought Graham [Geraghty] in at the start of the year, but things just didn't come together for us." Some cynics might suggest that Clann na nGael does not equal the sum of its individual parts. But Tom moves quickly to silence the critics: "I'd like to stress the underage section of the club, which is of paramount importance. We really are getting things up and running at underage level, with great coaches helping out from both Rath Cairn and Athboy. Our juveniles are in good hands. "That's the most positive thing about the two clubs joining together. We have gained a lot of good men at underage. Of course, we were already joined at underage level and accommodating those players was one of the main reasons behind the amalgamation at adult level in the first place. "The young lads wanted to stick together. They didn't want to play against each other when they started to play adult football, so the clubs were brought together partly to suit them. It makes sense because there's a bond between the lads and they want to keep playing together. We'll be a lot stronger when they start to filter through." What was the club's aim at the start of the year? "We were never going to go out and win a junior championship. The target was to hold our own, get a few wins under our belt and take it from there. I think some people thought we'd be very strong with two junior clubs coming together but we never saw it that way. We didn't expect a quick fix. Realistically, we're probably looking three or four years down the line before we'll be challenging." At one stage it seemed as though the Clanns were headed for junior 'B' football, which certainly would've been a disaster. Fortunately, a familiar face returned to save the day: "Mattie McCabe came back for the game against St Paul's and everybody responded to him. The lads raised their heads, lifted their game and got the result we needed. "Up to the play-off we had a very bad run of results where the effort wasn't being put in and the attitude wasn't what would be expected. But we've got out of jail and hopefully we'll turn it around next year. "It was absolutely vital that we won the play-off because relegation would have been a big step in the wrong direction." Were some of the players mourning the demise of their old clubs? With pride in the parish being so integral to all things GAA, was there perhaps a lack of deep-rooted passion for the new club? "It was sad to see the old clubs going because there's a lot of tradition there but at the end of the day players just want to play football and Clann na nGael provides them with an opportunity to do that." Long term, the genesis of Clann na nGael should prove worthwhile: "It was never a case of amalgamating and winning a junior championship at the first attempt. Time will tell. We'll have a better indication of how successful the club has been after four or five years," Tom predicts. "The two clubs could have soldiered on on their own, but we definitely have a stronger hand when we pool our resources. There are a lot of good underage teams in the club and those players will start coming through in two or three years. "They're delighted that they won't have to play against each other. Some of these lads have won U14 and U12 titles together and now they'll a chance of winning honours together at adult level..." What are Clann na nGael's objectives for 2004? "We have to get a good manager in at the start of the year and make sure we approach the season with a better attitude. If we can get a few positive results early on in the year, we can build from there. It's still a young team and there's plenty of talent at our disposal, so it's really a matter of getting things moving. "All we need is a few wins on the board." Hurlers fall at final hurdle At the outset of the 2003 intermediate hurling championship, amalgamation side Clann na nGael were installed as favourites for the title, having being relegated from the senior ranks the previous year and all went according to plan until county final day. Clann Na nGael are the combination of neighbouring teams Athboy and An Gaeltacht who decided to join ranks at the start of the year in a bid to gain some honours at all levels, something that had deserted both clubs in recent years. Although Athboy were crowned the intermediate hurling champions in 2001, for a club with such a strong tradition, playing at the secondary level in Meath hurling is unacceptable for many followers of the club. The club have not annexed the Jubilee Cup for the past 21 years but have always being noted as one of the strongest sides in Meath hurling until the last few years as retirement and emigration intervened. The loss of such influential players like David Martin and Paddy Growney during the mid-nineties have hit the side hard and they have struggled to replace such talented hurlers. But like so many clubs that have went through a lean spell, they are currently rebuilding a squad capable of contesting a senior final once again and were very unfortunate to lose their senior status last year when Trim can count themselves lucky to have contested the senior championship in 2003. This year's Athboy side consisted of the majority of the team that won the intermediate title two years ago and the experience of doing so was thought to be the boost that gave them the edge over their rivals. They received a blow before the start of the championship when cornerback Owen McKenna was ruled out for the year through injury, while star forward Daithi Geraghty opted out of hurling for a year. The loss of Geraghty in particular was a huge blow to the side as he had been their scorer-in-chief for the past few years. Former Meath county hurler Christy Kelly was once again in charge of team affairs and they got their year off to a predictable start with a comprehensive win over Blackhall Gaels. The Batterstown side had won the junior Championship the previous year but the gulf in class was evident as the green and gold side ran out easy winners on a scoreline of 4-14 to 1-9. Clann na nGael faced Kilskyre in their second match and their first real test in the championship. Kilskyre had been beaten by Wolfe Tones in the final the previous year and were keen to go one step further this term but they were never really in this match as the Athboy side were on top for the majority of the match. The 3-10 to 2-7 winning margin was no more than the winners deserved and the remaining teams in the championship were warned that Clann na nGael were eager to get back into the senior ranks. Next up were Drumree whom Clann na nGael had already played in a league match earlier in the year. That result went convincingly the way of John Davis' charges, although the Athboy/An Gaeltacht combination had only began training in earnest at the time, while Drumree had a couple of months hard work under their belt. The returning fixture in the championship saw a completely different day, as the skill level of the Clann na nGael side was superior to that of their opponents. Centre-forward Gary Mangan who had been in the form of his life all season led the line with some excellent scores and when Drumree did look capable of causing a threat, the Clann seemed to able to pick off scores to keep their distance ahead. Their was five points to spare between the sides at the finish, 2-11 to 1-9 and although the winners were worthy of their victory they must have realised that they would meet Drumree further on in the championship. Clann na nGael were now the only unbeaten side in the championship having six points from three matches and further wins over Gaeil Colmcille and Na Fianna guaranteed them a place in the semi-final. With Drumree, Kilskyre and Na Fianna all qualifying for the last four along with Christy Kelly's charges, the pairings for the penultimate stage of the championship were Clann na nGael versus Na Fianna and Kilskyre would meet Drumree. Na Fianna were the last side to qualify for the semi-finals and thus were underdogs against the pre-championship favourites but as is the case in so many matches the tag of favourites and underdogs was thrown out the window as a close match was contested. The game itself was far from a classic but that didn't worry the Athboy based side, as they were relieved to come away with a two point victory 1-8 to 1-6. Preparations for the final went well with a number of challenge matches being played and the scene was set for the final that was fixed for Sunday, October 5 as curtain raiser to the senior decider. The typical Irish weather was evident as torrential rain and gale force winds threatened to spoil the match and that's exactly what it did as Clann na nGael found it difficult to adapt to the adverse climate. Following an early point by corner forward Mark Geraghty, Drumree hit back the best possible way with a Dermot Doyle goal in the second minute. They kept the pressure on Clann na nGael on should have stretched their lead but instead hit six wides. When Drumree found their range their was no stopping and despite points from Gary Mangan (two frees) and Barry Doherty, the red and white hoops had a convincing four point lead at the interval, 2-4 to 0-4 with Paul Gaughan netting their second goal in the 22nd minute. On the resumption points from Mangan and Trevor Matthews gave their side a sign of hope but amazingly it was to be their last score of the match as Drumree totally dominated from here on in. A goal by Meath football star David Crimmins midway through the second half killed off any hopes the former senior side had of regaining their status for another year. Clann na nGael heads dropped considerably and a number of silly frees were given away as substitute David Troy rounded off a magnificent display by the winners with their fourth goal late on. For Christy Kelly's side it was heartbreak as the burden of being favourites was just too much for them. One thing is for sure Clann na nGael will once again be favourites for the intermediate title in 2004 and with such players as Darren Heaney, David Wright, Matthew Mullen, Mark Geraghty, Barry Higgins, Gary Mangan and Brian McGovern among their ranks they have the base to build a side capable of competing for senior honours in a couple of years. Clann na nGael team that lost the 2003 intermediate hurling final was: Marcus Quinn, Andrew McCormack, Martin Kelly, Padraic McElhinney, Neil Bird, Darren Heaney, David Wright, Matthew Mullen, Barry Higgins, Barry Doherty, Gary Mangan, Trevor Matthews, Mark Geraghty, Bernard Heaney, Kit McGovern. Subs: Brian McGovern for K McGovern, Vinny Doyle for P McElhinney, Paul Daly for B Higgins, Paddy Foy for B Heaney, Darren Shaw for M Kelly. Tweet

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