They hide it well in Moynalty. Deep among north Meath's rolling hills, the Red and Whites have constantly managed to churn out remarkable talent. County stars, county managers and All-Ireland winners. For a relatively small club they continue to make a big impact in Meath football. In 2003, Moynalty players Jim Gallagher and Stephen Smith were part of the All-Ireland winning Meath junior football panel. Gillian Bennett was captain of the Meath senior ladies and next year former Meath under-15 and under-16 boss, David Farrelly, takes over the county's minor footballers. Kevin Donegan and Ciaran Govern represented the club on the Meath under-16 team, while Gavin Meehan donned the green and gold at under-14 level. Most senior clubs in the surrounding area would kill for such a representation at county level. On the field this year, Moynalty's juniors failed to make the knockout stages of the championship, but they won promotion from Division 5A. The league success was slightly overshadowed by defeat to neighbours Kilmainham in the final, but ultimately it didn't take away from a successful campaign. "The goals at the start of the year were to have a good run in the championship and win promotion from Division 5, so we are pretty happy with the year," admits club chairman John Brogan. The club received the Grounds of the Year award in 2002, and are planning further developments regarding lighting and car parking in the near future. The hard work of the Finance Committee also saw them clear off a major debt from the development and they can now plan ahead. Peter Rogers, Willie Govern, Kevin Donnellan and John Brogan were the men who spearheaded the work to clear the arrears. However, it is the achievements of both Gallagher and Smith that must please the club most this winter. It is a fantastic achievement to have two All-Ireland winners' medals coming back to Moynalty. Gallagher's performances at midfield were particularly eye catching and have sparked calls for him to be considered by the county's senior management. The towering Moynalty man has a great pair of hands and is a fine fielder of the ball. "He's a big strong lad, a really powerful player, and we would hope that the Meath senior management would have a look at him. He had a tremendous year and is probably as good as anything out there in the county," says John. "Both himself and Stephen have done the club proud and we were delighted to have had two players part of an All-Ireland winning side this year." And Moynalty will be hoping that 'one of their own' can lead the Royals to another All-Ireland title next year. "David Farrelly has done tremendous work with Meath at underage level and the club wish him all the best next year when he takes over the minors," adds John - whose company Coolrite sponsor the club. Moynalty's junior championship campaign got off to a tremendous start when they won their opening game for the first time in eight years by beating Dunderry. But they failed to qualify for the latter stages of the championship, finishing up third in Group C. The victory over Dunderry, 2-10 to 1-6, was followed by a defeat to Simonstown where the Navan side held the upper hand with two goals proving decisive, 2-5 to 0-9. An inexplicably beleaguered performance followed against Clann na nGael, with Moynalty guilty of conceding a brace of goals yet again. The Athboy / An Gaeltacht amalgamation ran out winners, 2-8 to 1-4. "That was played on an atrociously bad day and it was a really disappointing result for us," admits John. The defeat left the Red and Whites with a mountain to climb if they were to make the play-offs. A crunch game against championship favourites - and eventual winners - Wolfe Tones followed in early June. Moynalty put in a brave performance and realising that it was win or bust they gave it everything. However, Wolfe Tones finished strongly and their accurate forwards proved to be the difference as they ran out four point victors, 0-13 to 1-6. "We probably should have beaten them because we had two great goal chances, but the defeat left us with no chance of going any further. But we were one of the only teams to give them a really tough game this year and they said as much themselves." Moynalty's last group game was against Summerhill, and they had to win to ensure they avoided a relegation play-off. They comfortably brushed aside Summerhill to chalk up their second win in the championship, 1-14 to 0-5. The result saw them finish third in the table, joint on four points with Clan na nGael. Summerhill and Dunderry finished below them on three points apiece while at the summit Wolfe Tones were top of the pile with Simonstown in second. Moynalty dominated Division 5A and were extremely unfortunate to lose the final. They only lost one game in the opening stages of the league, when they fell to St Brigid's away. They finished top of the table and were tipped to beat north Meath rivals Kilmainham in the decider. But as is the case so often, local derbies are strange animals. The Red and Whites led by a point with only four minutes to go, but Kilmainham forced extra-time. "Bobby O'Rourke kicked over a sideline from about 40 or 50 yards out in the dying minutes to draw the game for Kilmainham," recalls John. "The match went into extra-time and they scored a couple of crucial points to win. It was devastating and everybody was extremely disappointed. "But when you look back, we still achieved what we set out to do. Obviously it would have been nice to go up having won the league, but unfortunately that's not the way it worked out." Kilmainham won the final by two points, 1-15 to 0-16. They did bring silverware home this year though in the form of the McEnroe Cup, which they won in Carlanstown. They beat Meath Hill in the semi-final of the tournament and the hosts, St Michael's, in the final. Jimmy Nevin coached them this year and made good strides with the team. Charlie Reilly and Gerry Gaynor made up the management team. "Jimmy got a fantastic response from the players and the lads put in a great effort all year. One player in particular - Adrian Lynch - deserves a special mention as he turned up for all 68 training sessions this year." Tom Lynch was the juvenile chairman this year, while Joe Curley, Gillian Bennett, Robbie Clarke and Paddy Cahill all worked effortlessly at coaching the underage teams. "Next year we will be placing as much emphasis as possible on success. We are certainly capable of making the knock-out stages of the championship in 2004," concludes John. The benefit of playing in Division 4 will also provide the team with a higher level of competition. The step up in standard will definitely improve their chances in the championship. For now they can sit back and review what has been a relatively successful year. There have been disappointments. Failure to make the knockout stages in the championship and losing the league final are the obvious blips, but they're taking it one step at a time for the moment. They have plenty of talent coming through the ranks and their Meath stars have added the belief that Moynalty can win the junior championship. It's a vital edge. Somewhere among those hills they have discovered the secret for producing a conveyer belt of talent. For the time being they're remaining tight-lipped on the matter. They hide it well in Moynalty. Tweet

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