Following their Meath JFC success of 2002, there were further visits to the winners' enclosure for Nobber this year with outright victories in the All-Ireland Junior 15-a-side and seven-a-side competitions as well as taking the All County A Division 4 League title. Later the Under 21 B trophy travelled up Proudstown Hill. There was little rest for the Matthew Ginnity Cup custodians with the squad going into Leinster campaign, which culminated in a 0-6 to 0-5 final, win over Moorefield of Kildare on their own pitch. Then it was on to an All-Ireland campaign and Monaghan side Corduff provided the 'semi' opposition with the Meath representatives recovering from a shaky start to win by 0-14 to 1-8. Nobber gave away early ground by conceding a penalty, which was netted, and the Ulster winners went on to lead by 1-7 to 0-5 at the break. But they only managed to add a single point after the change of ends with Brian Farrell adding six points to one earlier effort. The final against Kilmeena from Mayo was fixed for Cremartin, Co Monaghan, with the Connacht opposition facing a long trip from the west coast. It brought them little joy as the Meath side gained a 2-13 to 1-13 victory with a Thomas McCormack goal three minutes from the end proving to be the most important score. Boosted by a goal from top scorer Gordon Weldon, who went on to help himself to 1-4, Nobber led by 1-10 to 0-7 at the break and net minder Declan McMahon, Jackie Maguire, Andrew Hayes and Brian Farrell, who 'only' hit four points that day, were others to contribute very well. The team which brought the All-Ireland junior football honours to Nobber was: D. McMahon; P. Olwill, M. Owens; J. McCormack, P. McEntee, P. Clarke, A. O'Brien; G. Farrelly, S. Carolan; B. Heffernan, G. Weldon, J. Maguire; T. McCormack, B. Farrell, A. Hayes. Subs - P. Fox for J. McCormack, M. Reilly for Heffernan. Five months later at the end of September there was further national glory for the north Meath wearers of the black and amber with the St Jude's junior sevens title being annexed with a final victory over the host club at Templeogue. They won all of their seven games, defeating teams from six counties and the four provinces. The fine run started with a second win of the year over Mayo representatives Kilmeena, by 3-9 to 1-4. Butlersbridge from Cavan provided little worthwhile opposition as Nobber romped to a 3-10 to 0-2 to win and then there was an even more one-sided encounter as Clough-Ballacolla failed to score as their opponents ran up 7-8. Wins over St Mary's (Dublin) and Castleconnor (Sligo) followed on the way to the semi-final stage. The 'semi' clash with Cork side Kiskeam was Nobber's closest with a 'sudden death' point by Brian Farrell enough to see off the Rebel County representatives by 2-17 to 1-19 after the sides finished level after extra time in a thrilling tussle. Nobber had seven points to spare (3-9 to 1-8) in the final and Brian Farrell, who scored a total of 9-33 throughout, went away with the 'player of the tournament' award. Nobber squad and scorers - B. Farrell 9-33, G. Weldon 7-10, A. Hayes 4-6, G. Farrelly 1-8, T. McCormack 0-5, P. McEntee 0-4, B. Heffernan, B. O'Reilly 1-1 each, S. Kellett, P. Fox 1-0 each. Nobber's All-Ireland games coincided with the start of their IFC campaign and they started the latter slowly, only picking up a single point in their first three games. Club PRO George Kellett feels that "the players took their eyes off the intermediate ball, being more focussed on winning the junior competition." Nobber were unhappy with the County Board not being represented at their All-Ireland final in Monaghan and then being fixed to play Donaghmore/Ashbourne in the IFC 24 hours later. It took a late point from Jackie Maguire to give the north county side their first point in the higher-grade championship. Earlier Nobber had lost to Oldcastle and St Colmcille's and although they only snatched a point in their third tie, George Kellett is of the opinion that it was a point lost rather gained. Eventually it would prevent them from qualifying for the knock out stages with Colmcille's getting the fourth qualifying place from group B. After Andy Hayes guided them to the county JFC title in 2002, he stepped down from the position at the end of that year and was replaced by Shane McEntee who 'returned home' after being involved with a number of other clubs. The new Nobber manager picked his own selectors and opted for Gene Smith, who is the club chairman, and former Kingscourt and Cavan player Michael Faulkner, who now lives this side of the 'border.' Nobber gained their first win after returning to the IFC when defeating eventual finalists Carnaross by 2-10 to 3-6 at Carlanstown in the fourth round with Brian Farrell scoring 2-4 of the winning total. However, it was back to the losing habit for McEntee's men in the next round with Duleek outpointing them by 0-12 to 0-10. After that there were wins over Slane and St Ultan's but a place in the last eight just eluded the promoted side with the earlier win by St Colmcille's over them seeing the seasiders through. If common sense had prevailed, Nobber would have been in the quarterfinals but the County Board, in their wisdom, ruled that St Colmcille's advance because they beat Nobber in a group clash. Surely score difference should have been the deciding factor and if that was so Nobber would have advanced by the minimum margin after their 4-15 to 1-2 win over St Ultan's in round seven. However, there was consolation in that Nobber managed to move up the league ladder with their Division 4 success and as George Kellett put it, "the promotion will give us the opportunity to play our league games against better class opposition next year." They suffered defeats to Rathkenny and Longwood and were held to a draw by Ratoath on the way to the final in which they scored a 1-12 to 1-9 victory over Longwood at Bective to add the Malachy Thompson Cup to their collection of silverware. Three points in the second half from Gordon Weldon, who had earlier found the net, proved decisive in an exciting encounter as Nobber reversed an earlier defeat of 13 points despite losing influential midfielder Gavin Farrelly, who hobbled off injured early in the second half. Weldon grabbed the eventual winners' goal after 10 minutes and his side led by 1-6 to 0-5 at the break. Overall they took their scoring chances much better than their opponents in the second half during which they hit just a single wide. The Nobber team which won the 2003 Division 4 FL title was: D. McMahon; P. Clarke, M. Owens, J. McCormack; P. Olwill, B. O'Reilly, P. McEntee; S. Carolan, G. Farrelly; B. Heffernan, G. Weldon, A. Hayes; M. Reilly, B. Farrell. J. Maguire. Subs - P. Fox for Farrelly, A. O'Brien for Heffernan, T. McCormack for Reilly. Back in February Nobber's first title in 2003 was annexed with the 2002 Under 17 League Division 4 outright success. That was won with a 2-9 to 1-4 final victory over local rivals Syddan at Castletown. Andrew Hayes took the scoring honours with 1-5 and Barry McEntee also found the net in the second half after the sides had the level (0-5 to 1-2) at the break. Darren Lambe had the distinction of being the winning captain with Tom Lambe, Johnny Keogan and Christy O'Reilly the mentors. Games in that competition were 11-a-side but Nobber brought on four substitutes in the decider. Final team: C. O'Reilly; C. Barry, M. O'Halloran; B. Lanney, P. Weldon; A. O'Brien, A. Hayes; C. Halpin, A. Farrell; D. Lambe, B. McEntee. Sub - J. Byrne for O'Halloran, C. Clarke for Lanney, G. Campbell for Weldon, J. Smith for Farrell, K. Smith for Lambe. Nobber fields teams in various grades and the club is leaving no stone unturned in their efforts to groom young players for future county campaigns. The under 10s had a great 2003, winning 17 of their 18 games and drawing the other. McEntee is a name synonymous with Nobber football and Larry has done tremendous work with different teams down the years. Along with wife Aileen and Jim Halpin, he was involved with the under 10s in recent months. That young squad enjoyed tournament successes in competitions organised by the Syddan, St Michael's, Drumconrath-Meath Hill and Nobber clubs. Nobber have no shortage of talented footballers and after two memorable years, more outright successes could be in store in the coming seasons. George Kellett, one of the most efficient PROs in the county is right to be optimistic. "There is cause for great hopes for the future. We can be strong IFC contenders in the next couple of years," he remarked. "A return to senior ranks could be on the cards for Nobber sooner than some people think." Tweet

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