Kilmainhamwood preserved their senior status for another year when they beat Ballivor 1-8 to 0-8 in a relegation decider at Kells on Saturday, September 6. The north Meath men let a huge collective sigh of relief at the final whistle. John Loughran reviews a season that just went from bad to worse, before it eventually got better. Hope springs eternal in Kilmainhamwood at the turn of every year. Their 1996 victory in the Meath Senior Football Championship is still fresh in the memory. Many of the fresh faces that led them to glory seven years ago are still part of the current senior panel. At the beginning of 2003 there was a palpable feeling around the 'Wood that the Keegan Cup could once again be destined for the north Meath village. To add to the optimism Kilmainhamwood and Meath legend Brian Stafford was appointed team coach. As the club's floodlights beamed out across north Meath in mid-January, a summerfest of football looked on the cards. The 'Wood's campaign got off to a poor start on Friday April 11 at Pairc Tailteann, Navan when they were beaten by Dunboyne by a single point, 1-12 to 1-11 in a highly entertaining encounter. The 'Wood failed to get out of the blocks in the first period and Dunboyne led by double scores 1-7 to 0-5 at the interval. However, they orchestrated a significant revival and managed to claw back the deficit to the minimum 1-8 to 1-7, midway through the second half. The two Rays - Magee and Cunningam hauled the 'Wood back into contention. The former Cavan player netted, while the current Meath panelist notched two vital points. While they matched their opponents in the scoring stakes (0-4) for the remainder of the match, the 'Wood were unable to to get that all important additional score that would have given them at least a share of the spoils. The' Wood's bandwagon rolled onto Rathkenny the following Saturday afternoon to face a rejuvenated St Pat's who had accounted for Trim the previous weekend. Despite having Paddy Carolan dismissed for two bookable offences the 'Wood prevailed on a 2-6 to 0-6 scoreline. Carolan bagged one of the vital goals before his early bath, but the outcome of the match was still in the melting pot until deep into injury time. Michael Shankey pointed to give the 'Wood a three point lead before Magee crashed home to an empty net to leave the verdict beyond doubt. Buoyed by their victory over St Pat's Kilmainhamwood faced into their third group match against Trim with renewed heart. Trim had atoned for their surprise defeat at the hands of St Pat's by defeating Summerhill in round two, so a close encounter looked on the cards. Despite leading for most of this match the 'Wood came out on the wrong end of a 1-11 to 0-12 scoreline. Indeed the 'Woods management team will wonder how they let this game slip from their grasp. Midway through the first half the 'Wood led 0-6 to 0-1. At the interval they still led 0-8 to 1-3 and retained their lead until the closing stages when Trim finally drew level with five minutes remaining. Two points in the final moments assured Trim of what had previously looked like an unlikely victory. The 'Wood lost this encounter because they failed to maintain their first half momentum - adding only four points in the second half. Their tally could have been greater if Paddy Carolan had taken a goal chance in the first half, while Aiden Crosbie spurned another great chance after the break. In both instances from professional soccer goalkeeper Brendan Murphy pulled off excellent saves. Despite having lost two of their opening three matches the 'Wood were still in with a chance of advancing from the group, when they faced Summerhill in their next encounter. Summerhill had lost their opening three fixtures and the 'Wood must have fancied their chances of getting their campaign back on track with a victory. They opened brightly enough and led 0-3 to 0-0 thanks to three pointed frees from Ray Magee. Despite conceding a 'soft' goal the 'Wood led 0-7 to 1-3 at the break. However, their SFC aspirations went up in a puff of smoke at the start of the second half when the 'Hill notched 1-3 without reply is a six minute period. The 'Wood managed to keep their opposition scoreless for the following 25 minutes and reduced the deficit to a point 2-6 to 0-11 in the closing stages. However, it was Summerhill who got the all decisive score in the closing stages to condemn the 'Wood to yet another defeat. The 'Wood's bogey team Cortown provided round five opposition at Moynalty. In 2002 year Cortown denied the 'Wood a place in the quarter finals. This time round they plunged the 'Wood into the relegation mire. The outcome of this hard-fought fixture hinged on a six-minute spell in the third quarter, when Larry McCormack received two yellow cards and was dismissed. Cortown capitalised on their numerical advantage when they goaled to extend their lead to four points 1-8 to 0-7. While the 'Wood outpointed their opponents 0-3 to 0-2 for the remainder of the half, they never looked like overhauling Cortown's led and went under 1-10 to 0-10. The 'Wood suffered their worst championship defeat for many a long year when they were trounced 4-13 to 1-8 by Dunshaughlin at Simonstown in the sixth round. At half time they trailed 1-8 to 1-5 having led by 1-3 to 1-1 at the end of the first quarter. However, their fortunes took a nosedive when custodian Ronan Finnegan slipped and spilled the ball on the 20-metre line. It fell kindly to a Dunshaughlin attacker who dispatched the ball to an empty net. The reigning champions subsequently ran out easy winners. To their credit the 'Wood regrouped ahead of their final group fixture against Walterstown and looked to have secured their senior status for another year when they led 1-7 to 0-8 in the final moments. However, a hotly disputed penalty was awarded to Walterstown in the dying moments as the 'Wood defended with all their might. Ronan Finnegan, who had made a couple of fine saves earlier in the game, saved the spotkick. But the rebound was rammed to the net to plunge the 'Wood into a relegation dogfight. The meeting of Kilmainhamwood and Ballivor in Kells on Saturday, September 6 won't be remembered in north Meath as a classic, but the quality of fare won't matter one iota to Brian Stafford and his charges. All that mattered was the result. The 'Wood scored a deserved victory having played for most of the match with 14 men - following the dismissal of Ronan Finnegan after only 11 minutes. Their caused was helped 11 minutes from time when Ballivor had a man sent sent off to restore parity, but in truth their victory was assured from the moment Ray Cunningham, who was introduced early in the second half scored a priceless goal early in the final quarter. That goal put the 'Wood 1-8 to 0-7 ahead and out of reach of Ballivor who will now ply their trade in the intermediate ranks in 2004. By the time this article sees the light of day, the buds of optimism will be appearing again in the north Meath village of Kilmainhamwood. The players, management and supporters will be looking forward to another campaign in the senior ranks. The horror of 2003, when they almost lost their cherished senior status, should be motivation enough to fuel another successful odyssey. Tweet

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