The wait goes on
December 31, 2003
They say good things come to those who wait, the hurling people of Dunboyne will feel that they have played more than their fair share of the waiting game, but as Brendan Boylan reports, this must again be their lot for another twelve months.
For when Gerry Kelly sounded the final whistle on October 5th, he ensured that Dunboyne's quest to regain the Jubilee Cup will stretch at least ninety years.
It will also have brought painful memories from bygone days flooding back when the side in black and amber went under in three consecutive senior finals.
This is not something they will want to endure again and is bound to be used as motivation, as if any were needed after losing two finals in a row.
While going under to Kilmessan for the second year on the trot, again by a very narrow margin, was again disappointing, there is still plenty of reason the hurling folk of Dunboyne to look forward to a bright future. Having shaken off their yoyo tag since returning to the top grade in 1999, they have made steady progress every year and they are getting closer and closer to making the long overdue breakthrough.
Motivation was never going to be a problem following the heartbreaking manner in which the title was taken from under their noses last term. They opened their season in very bright fashion, defeating O'Mahonys under the floodlights at Brews Hill on St Valentine's night to qualify for the 2002 O'Doherty Cup final in which they ran up a remarkable tally of 1-20 while overcoming Killyon to take the title.
It was a small bit of consolation for last year's runners up who had gone under to the men in blue and white stripes in a very much-delayed 2001 U-21 HC final a few weeks earlier.
Kilmessan was the venue on the second Sunday in January as O'Mahonys claimed their sixth title on the trot in the grade, edging home by 0-15 to 0-13 after extra time as Tommy Loughran and James Burke collected their sixth consecutive medals in the grade in the first of many meetings between the sides during the year.
Another competition that was held over from 2002 was the O'Growney Cup, of which John Gorry's side were the holders, and this competition provided a few useful fixtures in the run up to the start of the championship.
Having overcome Kiltale, Dunboyne again crossed swords with O'Mahonys at the second last hurdle. It took a point from Sean Moran to level affairs at 0-11 each in the dying seconds of extra time before 2-1 from the same player in the replay a week later saw them qualify to play Trim in the final on a 3-10 to 0-06 scoreline.
It was on May 31st, again at Kilmessan, that Trim ended Dunboyne's odyssey of nearly two years with the O'Growney Cup.
In truth, it was one man, Joey Toole, who took the title to Trim when he hit all but a point of his side's total, accounting for 3-4 as John Andrews got one over on his good friend Gorry by 3-05 to 0-12.
After much off field hassle, the championship eventually kicked off at the end of April when Dunboyne came up against Sean Ryan's Killyon side, who were hoping to repeat their shock first round win of 2002.
When Johnny O'Connor rounded Brian Perry early on to enable the pre-match favourites race into a 1-04 to 0-01 lead, it appeared any chance of an upset had been dealt with.
However, Killyon assumed control as Leighton Massey, Mark Gannon, Calvin Ryan and James Mitchell all fired over as the side in green and red turned around three up, 0-10 to 1-04.
Three soon became seven as first Massey raised another white flag before Ryan hit the net to leave the board reading 1-11 to 1-04. Indeed Killyon's advantage could have been greater had county keeper Gannon not been unusually off colour with his shooting from dead balls.
The misses let Dunboyne off the hook and within minutes they had shook Stephen Quinn's net three times to go from being seven points in arrears to find themselves leading by three. It started when O'Connor saw another pile driver come back off a post when the net seemed certain to shake, luckily Vinny Maguire was there to guide the rebounding sliothar to the onion bag.
Gary Watters then pointed before Neville Reilly collected a brilliant pass from Paul Fagan before blasting the net to restore parity, 3-05 to 1-11. Watters then amazingly put his side well clear, having been seven behind barely five minutes earlier, the wing forward's great solo goal made the score line 4-05 to 1-11 and even though Massey did tap over a couple of frees Dunboyne just got over the finish line with their noses just in front, 4-07 to 1-13.
Having had the edge over them in the early part of the year, it was nearly inevitable that O'Mahonys were eventually going to get one back at Dunboyne. They did, and in the biggest clash between the sides all season, the second round of the championship, in the now traditional setting for clashes between these sides, Donnelly/Loughran Park in Kilmessan.
A tight contest was always in prospect, and that was exactly what it was as Tommy Loughran and Neville Reilly engaged in a personal point taking battle between themselves. For most of the tie it appeared as if that was they way it was going to end up and when the latter sent over his tenth point it seemed he had guaranteed the win for his side.
However, with Dunboyne 0-15 to 0-14 up, his high scoring counterpart sent the ball across the bows of Stephen Reilly's goal which found its way to midfielder Brendan Farrell and he flicked it over the advancing custodian to eventually lay the Dunboyne bogey for O'Mahonys in most dramatic fashion.
Defeat is hard to stomach at any stage, particularly so in the manner it had arrived and it presented a serious test of character for John Gorry's team. If they had any doubts about themselves after the O'Mahonys game, they must have felt their championship dreams were dashed when they went under to Longwood in the third round at Trim. It was a night when their ambitions took a real hammering in one of the poorest displays seen from this team in a long time.
With Michael Burke pulling the strings at midfield for Larry Giles' side, the all whites led by 0-06 to 0-04 at the interval. Dunboyne had opened brightly enough but once Dan Dorran moved from full forward to centre forward the trend of the game changed.
Indeed the entire Dorran clan made massive contributions, Ray held Neville Reilly scoreless from play and with the marksman in chief off form the black and amber attack looked devoid of ideas.
Another Dorran, Jim, set his side on the road to victory instantly after the restart when he beat Stephen Reilly after Burke had split the defence wide open to leave it 1-06 to 0-04.
To their credit, Dunboyne never gave up as points from Paul Gannon and Davin and Neville Reilly narrowed the gap to a point and indeed Diarmuid Byrne had a chance to get his side on level terms but he elected to try for a goal and missed. The full cost of Byrne's miss was illustrated moments later when Tom Dorran beat custodian Reilly again to ensure a 2-07 to 0-09 win for Longwood.
At that stage it appeared as if Dunboyne were out of contention for the Jubilee Cup and incredibly plunged into a relegation battle. They needed to beat Dunderry and Kildalkey and hope their conquerors from their last outing had slipped before that, and even at that the best they could get would be a playoff. When Longwood went under to O'Mahonys it gave them the lifeline they wanted, but only providing that they took care of their own business first.
When Keith Callaghan rifled a shot to the Dunboyne net after a Tommy Leavy effort had rebounded off a post it looked as if Longwood were going to go straight through to the last four. However, as so often before, it was Neville Reilly who settled the black and amber army before putting them in front for the first time, 1-02 to 1-00 after a brilliant cross field pass from Barry Watters.
It was 1-04 to 1-02 at the start of the second period but Dunderry resumed in very bright fashion as firstly Ivan McCormack drilled a loose ball to the net and then Callaghan used all his strength to hold off Davin Reilly's challenge and blast to the net to leave the side once again inspired by the evergreen Tommy Dowd in the driving seat and leading by 3-02 to 1-04.
Though not for the first time, Dunboyne showed they were a team with great spirit, Paul Gannon and Barry Watters began to dominate midfield and with the supply to burly full forward Callaghan, who had been his side's main threat all day contributing 2-2, cut off, Dunboyne assumed control. Neville Reilly pointed four times on the trot, two frees, to draw the sides level before player/coach John Gorry set Diarmuid Byrne up to put Dunboyne clear again, 1-11 to 3-3, and then the latter hit an inspirational shot over his shoulder to leave a clear goal between the sides.
From that point, Dunboyne never looked back as points flowed from Paul Gannon, Barry and Brian Watters and Davin and Neville Reilly as they ran out winners by 1-15 to 3-03 and set up a grandstand clash with Kildalkey in the last round of the divisional stages.
Now sensing that they were back in with a fighting chance of taking the title, they were in no mood to hang about as they raced into a 1-07 to 0-01 lead with Neville Reilly and team captain John Watters accounted for that total as Tony Fox posted the only response for the side in blue and white.
A worrying trend had developed which saw Dunboyne drift out of games and so it was as Fox's score seemed to ignite has colleagues and by half time the deficit had been cut to 1-07 to 0-05.
Ten minutes into the second half a goal was all that separated the sides, but then Dunboyne ignited again as two majestic efforts from Diarmuid Byrne and other scores from Davin and Neville Reilly (two each) and Gary Watters ensured a 1-15 to 0-08 win and another crack at Longwood.
As is so often the case, there was no similarity to the first meeting of the sides nearly two months earlier. On this occasion Ray Dorran was unable to contain Neville Reilly as the diminutive corner forward helped himself to 1-7, the goal being his tenth in all competitions throughout the year. Barry Watters and Paul Gannon were dominant at midfield and with Michael Burke not having near as big an influence as in the original tie, Dunboyne were never really in trouble as they eased home by 1-13 to 0-08.
Their reward for that win was a semi final clash with Trim at Pairc Tailteann on the last day of August. It had all the makings of a cracker, particularly as it pitted two of the best forwards in the county, Neville Reilly and Joey Toole, against each other. Many felt that the game was that finely balanced that it could come down to a straight shoot out between the two scoring machines.
It couldn't have been tighter at the interval as John Gorry and John Andrews brought their sides in at half deadlocked, 0-07 apiece. Reilly accounted for all but one of his side's scores while his classy counterpart in red hit the target three times.
As the second half wore on and the point for point nature of the game continued until Paul Gilsenan gave Andrews' army a slender lead. With game on a knife edge, you always knew it was going to take something special to swing it either way, and Trim 'keeper Brian Carley will not want to be reminded of how it came about.
He had to plenty of time to deal with what looked like a rather aimless long ball, but instead of gathering the ball he chose to block it out in front of him only to see Neville Reilly nip in, round him hockey style, and drill to the net along the ground.
That left Dunboyne 1-09 to 0-10 clear and although Toole pulled a point back, the side in black and amber, still hurting after the way they were denied last year, defended like demons in the form of Paul Fagan, Davin Reilly, Tommy O'Connor, Sean Callanan and Leo Reilly. They then broke upfield and player/coach Gorry, who had entered the fray to steady the ship after his troops hit the front, set team captain John Watters up for the goal which assured his side of a second successive final appearance, where they were joined a few weeks later by Kilmessan again who overcame O'Mahonys after a replay.
Motivation was never going to be an issue for either side, Kilmessan would be keen to hang to the title they won so dramatically last year and there was also the added bonus of boasting rights as a win would put them back ahead of their greatest rivals from Trim.
There was also an extra incentive for Nicky Horan, who as well as leading Meath to All Ireland JFC glory in August, had done everything one can do in Meath hurling, except captain his club to championship glory.
Foremost on the minds of John Gorry and his Dunboyne side will have been ending the villages 89 year wait to get their hands on the Jubilee Cup. If any extra drive was required, which it wasn't, it could be got by trying to make up for the heartbreaking manner in which the title was taken from their noses last year, as well as atoning for reversals at the hands of the side in blue and white in the earlier in the year in the JHC and MHC.
After a tentative opening, Horan got the holders off the mark when pointing after Stephen Clynch was fouled before the challengers enjoyed their best spell. Sean Moran, switched from corner back to wing forward, was at the heart of everything they did, pointing twice, as Paul Gannon and Neville Reilly also pointed to leave them 0-04 to 0-01 to the good.
Gannon, a doubt all week in the lead up to the game, then retired and Kilmessan got to grips with Dunboyne, and the greasy conditions. Horan and Clynch soon restored parity and although Barry Watters did edge Dunboyne ahead again, a ghost from Dunboyne's past came back to haunt them again.
Once Clynch levelled the game a 0-05 apiece, Dunboyne went totally out of the game for a period as the champions put themselves in a position where they were never caught.
Clynch and Horan continued to knock over points and then the moment that took the title in the end for champions arrived when Charlie Kenna set up his 16 year old brother Joey for a goal which left the side in all white clear by 1-07 to 0-05. He rounded his Meath minor colleague Paul Fagan, who lost his boot in the race for possession, and smashed an unstoppable shot past Stephen Reilly.
Though Dunboyne were thrown a lifeline when then custodians brother, Neville, pointed and then Sean Moran blasted to the net at the hospital end of Pairc Tailteann to leave his side only one in arrears, 1-06 to 1-07, at the interval.
You felt that if the challengers got the first score after the break they had every chance of dethroning the champions, but once Clynch put two between the sides you got the impression Dunboyne were in for an uphill struggle.
It marked the beginning of another period when Dunboyne fell completely out of the game as firstly Ger O'Neill took advantage of an error by goalkeeper Reilly and then Horan knocked over a further two points to leave it 1-11 to 1-06.
Dunboyne were then amazingly thrown another chance when Neville Reilly pointed and then combined with Diarmuid Byrne to put Moran in and he blasted past Mark Brennan for a second time to cut the gap to one. Their joy was short lived however as Horan raced down the pitch to edge his side the little bit further away again.
Dunboyne have got out of many tight corners in the past but on this occasion they just left themselves with too much of a mountain to climb. Then thin line between success and failure was demonstrated in less than a minute when it appeared Vinny Maguire was going to sensationally take the title with a goal only to see Brennan tip his stinging drive over and bar and Horan point from the puck out and take the title.
Thus more hurling heartache for Dunboyne, two weeks before the senior final they stood a chance of taking two hurling titles, but alas, like last year, they ended up with nothing. And both years they came within the width of a post of ending their long wait to get their hands on the Jubilee Cup.
Still, they can take heart from the fact that they had the spirit and determination to recover after last year and get back to the same stage again.
Sometimes the best lessons of all are learned in the hardest of ways and I have no doubt that if this very talented bunch can stick together and learn from their pain of the last two years then the Jubilee Cup will be draped in black and amber very soon.
Historic Féile glory for Dunboyne
In July this year Dunboyne's under-14 footballers created history when they became the first Meath team ever to win the All-Ireland Féile na nOg title.
Those who witnessed the magnificent feat will never forget the scenes of delirium and joy in Pearse Stadium. The entire panel and mentors had done their club and county proud. In many of their games it appeared that they were dead and buried but they showed tremendous resolve and belief to fight back. They won the All-Ireland title the Meath way - against all the odds. Here, in their own words, is how they won it:
We had set our sights on qualifying for the All-Ireland Féile na nÓg competition back in 2001. In June of that year we narrowly lost to St Colmcilles in the under-12 Division One final. However, the following November we beat St Colmcilles by two points to become the first Dunboyne team to have the honour of representing Meath in Féile na nOg.
We were very disappointed not to advance further in both the Meath under-14 league and championship in 2003, but it did allow us to concentrate fully on preparing the team for the Division Two All-Ireland Féile.
Elizabeth Gallagher and Thomás O'Connor from our senior team helped out and brought a new dimension and professionalism to our coaching and training. We also learned a lot about the competition from other previous participants including St Martins, Simonstown, Navan O'Mahony's and Kilcock.
We organised a number of challenge matches. We played the Louth Féile champions, Geraldines, and Dublin sides Ballyboden St Enda's and Kilmacud Crokes. The latter were Division One Dublin Féile champions and tipped to win the All-Ireland.
The risk of playing Kilmacud was the possible negative impact it would have if we suffered a heavy defeat. Both teams were missing some players, but to our surprise we came out on top. We knew then that we were going to Galway with a very good side that was peaking at the right time.
In the days leading up to the Féile we made sure the players were mentally prepared and weren't going to Galway just for the craic. We had a team and parents' meeting, stating our agenda for the weekend with our host club Tuam Stars.
July 11th finally arrived and we left for Galway at 7.30am, with our first match against Tuam Stars at 2.30pm. This was always going to be one of our toughest matches after such a long journey and against a proud Galway club. But in a low scoring game we took the lead in the final five minutes and ran out two point winners, 0-6 to 0-4.
That evening we reassembled at 5pm and headed for the parade in Salthill with almost 5,000 people marching from the promenade into Pearse Stadium. A total of 133 clubs from all over the world - boys and girls - proudly displayed their club and county colours with banners and flags.
Standing in the magnificent stadium gave us a real sense of how privileged we were to be able to experience such an occasion. We couldn't have been prouder - representing our village, community and county. It was the kind of gathering that you just didn't want to end - but end it did under a setting sun over Galway Bay at around 10pm.
Caherlistrane (Galway) were up next on Saturday at 10.15am and then St Joseph's Doora Barefield from Clare at 12.30pm. So that morning we headed for Caherlistrane, which is about 10 miles from Tuam. We led 1-2 to 0-3 at half-time and finished strongly to win 2-7 to 0-5.
We now faced St Josephs in a crunch game where the winners qualified for the semi-finals at 5pm that evening. St Josephs were a very strong side and we had seen them beat Tuam Stars comfortably earlier that morning.
In a very close game we just about came out on top, fighting back from a two point half-time deficit to win by the same margin, 0-6 to 0-4.
We then faced Cavan Gaels in the semi-final in Moycullen. The Cavan side got off to a great start, scoring two goals within seconds of each other. At half-time it appeared they were on the way to the final and we were heading home as we trailed 0-1 to 3-1.
We had the benefit of a strong breeze in the second-half but some of the lads looked tired. We tried to rally the comeback of all comebacks. We made some positional switches and reminded the players of the renowned Meath Spirit and how the Royals are known as the comeback kings.
Cavan Gaels went ten points ahead after the break but with 13 minutes left we started to reel them in. At full-time it was all square, 3-3 to 3-3, and extra-time was needed. We edged out the extra period with an all-important fourth goal firing us into the final, 4-5 to 3-5.
We could not believe it - we were now in the All-Ireland final where we would face Down club St Bronagh's of Rostrevor. The final would take place the following morning in Pearse Stadium. Mobile phones were busy as we sent messages back to Dunboyne - where the priest prayed for us at Saturday night mass.
That evening we went back to Tuam where our host club had a reception and teenage disco for the players. The panel also had the pleasant surprise of meeting Pete Finnerty and he kindly addressed them for about ten minutes. His words of advice, experience and encouragement put across the message that this was a special occasion and urged the players to give it their all.
By 10.30 we were all exhausted and went to bed for a good night sleep. The final was scheduled for 11.30am the following morning, to facilitate the All-Ireland hurling quarter-final between Galway and Tipperary.
As we arrived at the stadium we could see the television crews setting up for the senior match and there was a real buzz around the ground.
We had a great band of supporters during the tournament, including our club President Pat Kelly, chairman Sean McManus, club officers Michael Kenny and John Watters and our juvenile secretary Teresa Clince. There is no doubt that their encouragement and vocal support helped lift the team.
But it was also fantastic to see the number of supporters who had travelled down especially for our final, including county board juvenile secretary Mairead Delaney.
Our lads also got a much-needed lift when Thomás O'Connor arrived in the dressing-room before the game.
However, just as in the semi-final we got off to a terrible start and conceded two early goals. Our hopes hung by a thread at half-time, trailing 0-1 to 2-2.
Could we stage a second Meath comeback within 24 hours? We told the lads they could do it again and that they could still go home as All-Ireland champions. Against all the odds we rallied back and won by three points, 3-5 to 3-2.
We were All-Ireland champions and our triumph had been witnessed by hundreds, including President of the GAA Sean Kelly, former President Joe McDonagh, Dublin boss Tommy Lyons and Galway manager John O'Mahony.
Words cannot adequately describe our joy at the final whistle. To win an All-Ireland is special but to do so when the odds appeared stacked against us says a lot about the character of this great bunch of players.
The homecoming to Dunboyne was incredible. We had a Garda escort into the village and a reception was organised at the clubhouse where hundreds of people had gathered to welcome home the All-Ireland champions.
This is what makes the GAA special and unique - the community and parish sharing in the success and letting these 14-year-olds know just how much it means to have the club name on an All-Ireland trophy. The team also made history by being the first Meath club to win a Féile na nÓg title since the competition began in 1982.
There were so many highlights of what was an incredible experience, but a very special moment for everyone was bringing the trophy to Tom Yourell back in Dunboyne.
Tom was instrumental in bringing football to St Peters back in 1949 and it was a very proud and moving moment as we posed for pictures with the man who has done so much for Gaelic games in our village.
The team bus had departed for Galway full of hopes and dreams on July 11th, and arrived back home to Dunboyne with the greatest prize possible on board.
Panel: Donal O'Loughlin, Michael Convey, Michael Dunne (Captain), Christopher Kane, Kevin Gilligan, Daniel Geraghty, Stephen Hogan, Mathew Brady, Robert Wall, Andy Yeow, Brian Minnock, Michael O'Grady, Niall McWilliams, Daryl O'Flaherty, Craig Berrigan, Padraic Curran, Adam O'Shea, Richard Keany, Eoin Dolan, Brian Fahey, David Glen, William Brown, Rory Conniffe, Graham Moran, Paul Kelly. Waterboy: Pauric Gallagher.
Manager: Eamonn Gilligan. Mentors: Jim Gallagher, Martin O'Grady, Tom Hogan, Ken O'Shea, Larry Kelly, Caroline Dunne and Eimear Gilligan.
Most Read Stories