Cole comfort
December 31, 2003
Ten years on from their first ever senior championship success, Rathmolyon's hurlers found themselves in a battle to avoid relegation in 2003.
The club had been hoping to celebrate the anniversary of that historic triumph over Wolfe Tones with a successful campaign this year, but they endured a torrid run of results in the championship, chalking up only a single point from five outings. However, they had absolutely no luck on the way and their trainer and inter-county star Mike Cole believes they can turn the corner next year.
They were placed alongside Trim, Kiltale, Boardsmill, Wolfe Tones and defending champions Kilmessan in Group A of this year's championship. But they failed to record a single victory and on the face of it, Rathmolyon are as far away from winning the senior championship as ever.
Yet had they enjoyed any luck this year, they might well have found themselves in the knockout stages of the championship. In each of their four defeats they trailed their opponents by only one score at the final whistle, and that argues Mike, is what the players must remember for next year.
"Ultimately it was a disappointing year, because we would have set our sights higher at the start of the championship. We have a pretty young team but we felt that they might be coming into this year just at the right time and we were looking forward to a good run in the championship," says Mike.
"We lost to Dunboyne with the last puck of the ball in 2002 and they went on to contest the final with Kilmessan, so we were certainly hopeful coming into the championship this year.
"But we just didn't have any luck at all. It certainly wasn't due to a lack of effort from the players, but we started off badly and it set the tone for the year I suppose. There is such a fine line between going through and possibly facing relegation.
"We lost all of the games only by a couple of points, and although it doesn't make it any better this year, at least it shows that we weren't that far away from the other teams and we can take heart from that for next year."
Mike took on the job of training his club's senior hurlers in 2003, and although results didn't go his way, he still enjoyed the challenge of being a player-manager.
"It was great, there were no problems with the lads and I think they did respond to me. Obviously when I was out on the pitch playing it was difficult, but I had great help from my selectors Declan Regan and Dermot Ennis on the line all year."
At 29, Mike is one of the older players on the team, and brings with him over a decade of inter-county experience with Meath. The Cole name is synonymous with the club and Mike's two younger brothers - Neil and Gary - also play for Rathmolyon.
Indeed the senior panel has a real family feel, with two Murrays, two Regans, two Lynches and two Gantleys joining the three Coles in the dressing-room.
Rathmolyon's championship campaign got off to a unsatisfactory start, with a 1-9 to 0-12 draw against freshly promoted intermediate champions Wolfe Tones in late May. The green and whites would have been expected to emerge victorious but were in fact fortunate to get the draw. It was to be the only point Rathmolyon would register all year.
Following that disappointing result, Rathmolyon faced reigning Meath kingpins Kilmessan in early June, where a lacklustre first-half performance left them chasing the game.
"We started off badly and we had that problem in a lot of games this year, but we improved in the second-half and a couple of goals kept us in contention. Unfortunately though it was too little too late." Kilmessan ran out 2-11 to 4-4 winners.
Boardsmill were next up, and although Rathmolyon rattled off 2-11, they still fell three points short, with the Mill hitting 2-14. "It is not too often you would score that amount and still end up on the losing side, but it goes to show you the way our year went," laments Mike.
With a draw and two defeats behind them, Rathmolyon's season was slipping away and they needed a victory over Trim to leave them any hope of maintaining an interest in the 2003 championship.
"A win over Trim might just have left us in with a chance of a play-off place, but we ended up playing with 14 men for nearly all of the game when my brother got sent off after only 30 seconds.
"Ironically though, it was probably the best game we played all year but being a man down for that amount of time didn't
help. We just didn't have to rub of the green." Trim ran out two point victors, 0-14 to 0-12.
Rathmolyon's final game in the group was against Kiltale in Trim and once again they got off to a poor start, trailing 0-3 to 1-8 at half-time. They closed the gap to the minimum in the second-half, but Kiltale pulled away in the closing stages to win 1-12 to 1-9. Mike scored 1-6 of his side's total, but the result was all that really mattered.
"Yet again it took us time to get going and we left ourselves a lot of work to do in the second-half. It is something we will have to work on for next year."
On the county front, 2003 was a relatively disappointing year also, with off the field matters hindering Michael Duignan's Leinster championship preliminary round preparations.
"It was all very disappointing, because the argument with the County Board was stupid and certainly didn't help matters regarding preparation. It definitely had an impact in the dressing-room. I mean we went from almost beating Antrim in the league to losing to Carlow in the championship.
"It is unfortunate because the win over Laois last year was seen by many as a step forward, but now this year we seem to have fallen back again. It is a pity because Michael has never done anything wrong here; all he has done is try to improve the game in Meath."
Mike was the Meath hero last year, when he scored that now famous injury-time goal to give the Royals victory over Laois in the championship. They went on to contest a preliminary round final against Dublin, with the Metropolitans emerging victorious 1-24 to 2-12. However, in the last 12 months, Dublin appear to have pulled further away from Meath and that is a concern.
"We have always been quite close to Dublin in recent years and the games have been competitive, but they seem to have improved their structures and played quite well in this year's championship. It is difficult to know how things will go for us next year, but hopefully the players will stick at it because there is plenty of talent on the panel.
"I have had many highlights with Meath, such as beating Wexford and Offaly when they were among the top teams in the country. Obviously the win over Laois last year was great, but the All-Ireland B victory in 1993 also sticks out as one of my best memories."
And so Mike has his sights set on improvements at both club and county level next year. Certainly, Rathmolyon are capable of bouncing back in the 2004 championship. These have been barren years for the club, with their last senior championship success coming in 1996.
Mike is one of few survivors from those triumphant teams that lifted the Jubilee Cup in 1993 and 96. But he believes the lack of success should act as an incentive for the current crop of Rathmolyon stars.
"We have lost a lot of players from the 1996 team, but the lads that have come in are young and there is plenty of hurling left in this present side. Most of the lads are in their early to mid-twenties and they are hungry for success.
"We thought we were in with a good chance this year but things just didn't work out for us. However, I believe the players are good enough and strong enough to bounce back next year." And how fitting it would be if Mike Cole was the man to lead them to that elusive title.
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