The Gough and the tumble
December 31, 2003
While Slane GFC couldn't be dragged into the dock and accused of setting the world on fire in 2003, they did nonetheless take an important step along the learning curve that all clubs must negotiate to earn a seat at the top table. Centre back Stephen Gough is confident that the Boynesiders are still moving in the right direction.
An intermediate semi-final appearance in 2002 suggested that Slane were well down the road towards regaining senior status. They were expected to make a major push for promotion in '03, but in the topsy-turvy world of gaelic football things don't always work out as planned.
A disastrous start to Slane's IFC championship campaign brought the dreamers in the hillside village crashing to earth with a resounding thud and suddenly it was 'Backs to the Wall' and a desperate scramble to preserve their foothold on the second rung of Royal County football.
To their credit, Slane dug deep and emerged unscathed. Victories over St Ultan's and Donaghmore-Ashbourne either side of a draw with Oldcastle saved their bacon, so ultimately the year was a success of sorts.
Looking back on the season's events, the team's inspirational centre half back Stephen Gough is reasonably content. The young defender points out that Slane's is still essentially a young side and that realistically they're a team for the future. As such, the harsh experience of 2003 should bring them along in leaps and bounds.
People who choose to criticise Slane are blissfully unaware of how young the team actually is. A case in point: Stephen Gough was one of their most experienced players in 2003 and manfully accepted the responsibility of wearing the No.6 jersey ... he's still only 21!
Though he's young, the Slane centre back is anything but immature. He has an old head on his shoulders and talks a great deal of sense when discussing the club's present predicament. Of course, 2003 was a disappointing season coming hot on the heels of the run to the semi-final twelve months earlier, but it's certainly not the end of the world for this exceptionally young side:
"Hopes were high enough going into the new season and it was a shock to the system to start by losing three games in a row [against Carnaross, Duleek and St Colmcilles] and that put us under a bit of pressure. If somebody had told us at that stage that we'd still end up retaining our intermediate status we'd have settled for that. In the end, we were happy with the way we recovered. Beating the Ultans and drawing with Oldcastle brought us back into it and, even though we had a slip-up against Nobber, we went into the game against Donaghmore-Ashbourne knowing that a win would keep us out of the relegation dogfight."
It was a relief. Slipping back to junior would be almost unthinkable for a club with serious senior aspirations.
Indeed, Slane were still senior when Stephen made his championship debut at the age of 16 (against Navan O'Mahonys in the 1999 SFC). They were relegated that year - all energies have since been geared towards the ongoing quest for a return to the top tier of Meath club football.
For all the world it looked as though 2002 was going to be Slane's year but they came a cropper in their semi-final against Ballivor. Stephen recalls: "We set our stall out to qualify for the knock-out stages but once you get there you want to win it. To lose the game the way we did was disappointing. In the end it was a lucky goal and a point that beat us."
Looking at it now, Gough reckons that, ironically, the dart to the semi-final might have done Slane's 2003 prospects more harm than good: "I honestly believe the success of 2002 distracted us in 2003. Maybe we were guilty of believing our own hype and some of the lads thought they just had to turn up, but it doesn't work that way. There's no easy games in the intermediate championship and it takes a serious effort to win it.
"Between retirements and Stephen Carolan going away, we lost six of the previous year's panel and that was a big blow because it left us lacking in experience. I don't think we realised what we were about to come up against but we got a very rude awakening at the start of the year and we were lucky to get away with it."
Can Slane put the humbling events of 2003 behind them and win the 2004 IFC? Is that the ultimate objective - to go back up senior and stay there? "That's our ambition every year when we set out but the reality is that it's going to take time.
We have to be patient. There's no point in going senior until you're ready for it anyway and, realistically, on this year's performance, Slane aren't good enough to win an intermediate championship yet. We're still very young - nine of our team this year were U21 and there's a lot of talent coming through behind them as well, so I expect us to be pushing when all those lads come through and get a few years of first team football under their belts.
"All we need really is more experience. From the team that did so well in 2002, we lost three of our most experienced players - Stephen [Carolan] went to Australia, while Colm Gough [Stephen's Gough's uncle] and Patrick Martin both retired. These were lads who had played senior football with Slane and they were great steadying influences on the team. You can't replace men like that overnight, it takes time and we just have to be patient.
"I think the biggest difference between Slane in 2002 and 2003 was that, because of the players we were missing, we lost the physical edge to our game and that really showed in matches against the likes of Oldcastle and Nobber, who muscled us out of it. It's an area where Slane teams of the past never had any difficulty - we were always strong - but the team at the moment is very young and not yet fully developed physically, so we got pushed around a bit."
With time, this will all change. Slane are breaking their players in young and they should all have plenty of adult football under their belts by the time they're 22 or 23. A good thing surely? Stephen Gough is optimistic: "We have great players coming through and our facilities are also top class. We've carried out a major revamp on the pitch and facilities at Rossin, with new lights and work on the car park, all of which leaves the club in a healthy position.
"Some of the young lads have come in with a lot of weight on their shoulders and haven't had a chance to express themselves yet. There's great potential here but it'll just take time for the players to acclimatise. The main thing at the moment is to make sure we don't drift below intermediate."
Against such a backdrop, was it unrealistic for Slane to be targeting an outright IFC win in 2003? "I wouldn't go that far, because at the end of the day you have to set your sights high before every campaign and give it your best shot. You put out your best team and you try to win the championship. At the moment it looks like we're not good enough, but try telling us that when we're getting ready for next season! We'll be giving it everything again.
"If we fail, it won't be for want of trying and in the meantime all the lads are getting plenty of championship action, which is the main thing. Young lads like Rory Finnegan and Tommy Mackin, who are both still minors, came along an awful lot in 2003 and they're two players we'll hopefully have for a long time."
Stephen Gough played some of the best football of his young career to date in 2000, winning an All-Ireland senior colleges medal with St Pat's of Navan, as the school reached the Holy Grail for the first time. He was left corner back on that all-conquering team and his brother David (now also a regular in the Slane defence) was on the side that retained the national crown in 2001.
"Winning that colleges All-Ireland was probably the highlight so far," he notes. "It was an historic win as it was the first time the Pats had won it and it was great to be involved. When they defended the All-Ireland successfully the following year it was a wonderful achievement for the school, and it was brilliant to have David involved."
Stephen trained with the county U21s for four months in 2003, but narrowly missed the final cut. Coming from a family with a proud footballing tradition, there's a distinct possibility that he might one day wear the county senior jersey ... his uncle Colm played for club and county as did Colm's uncle Gerry.
Though he was one of Slane's top performers in '03, Stephen is not slow in spreading the praise: "Everybody played their part. Eamonn Gibney and Declan Kearns were both outstanding this year, as was Barry Moore. Even though they're still young enough themselves, they're a bit more experienced and kept the flag flying. Our captain Wayne Harding and Johnny Cullen are two others who give good leadership, but apart from that it is a very young team.
"Five of the six backs are U21 and that has to stand us in good stead at some stage in the future. In the intermediate championship, you come up against some of the best forwards in the county. Our full back William Clarke did a great job on Ollie Murphy, for example, and it's great to see things like that. We'll all have experience one day and then we'll be a force to be reckoned with.
"At the moment we are being forced into playing our young lads and that's no harm whatsoever. We're learning all the time and hopefully it'll pay dividends in the future."
Slane are U21 'C' champions
Slane won the 2003 Meath U21 'C' football championship when they beat St Mary's by 3-3 to 1-7 in the final at Duleek on Sunday November 2nd.
In a closely-contested derby encounter, Slane's ability to find the net three times over the hour proved decisive as the Donore men were left to rue a number of missed opportunities, particularly late on in the game when they panicked and went for a goal rather than taking their points.
That's not to detract from the validity of Slane's victory, however, as the victors won the day with three well-worked three-pointers.
Once they got their scores on the board, Slane defended tenaciously, surviving a late onslaught that included five minutes of injury time. Even though they only scored twice in the concluding 50 minutes or so of play, the winners kept the opposition at bay with a mean rearguard action.
Slane came storming out of the blocks with a quickfire return of 2-2 inside the opening quarter. Paul O'Brien got the opening goal, reacting sharpest after his own shot came back off the post. Stephen Goodwin added the second major when his shot caught Marys 'keeper Derek O'Brien off his line..
Points from midfielder Tommy Macken and Johnny Gibney had the winners eight points to the good but Donore stormed back into contention before the half-time whistle sounded. Peter Watters opened their account with a point in the 21st minute and the same player netted to half the deficit.
Playing into the wind, Slane held their own for the first ten minutes of the second period. But a brace of points from Watters reduced their lead to just two points and threw the cat amongst the pigeons. When Cormac Drew further reduced the gap, it was Game On.
With their once commanding lead now down to the minimum, 2-2 to 1-4, Slane were being posed some very difficult questions. On this occasion, they came up with all the right answers.
Goodwin lifted the siege with an excellent morale-boosting point and powerful midfielder Brendan Loughran supplied what was effectively the winning score, rounding off a purposeful solo surge with an unstoppable shot to the top corner of the Marys net.
The losers replied with three points on the trot, closing the gap to two points, but that was as close as they got. Their calculated gamble to go for goal didn't pay off and, marshalled by captain William Clarke, Slane's defence capably held out in the face of the desperate late rally.
It was a close game but, on the back of a whirlwind start, Slane just about deserved their victory. Afterwards, Meath's Leinster Council rep Tommy Collins presented the Paddy Cooney Cup to winning captain William Clarke.
Slane, 2003 Meath U21 'C' football champions: John Healy; William Clarke, David Gough; Rory Finnegan, Stephen Gough, Craig Smith; Tommy Macken (0-1), Brendan Loughran (1-0); Owen Feely, Paul O'Brien (1-0), Johnny Gibney (0-1); Stephen Goodwin (1-1), Johnny Reilly. Sub: Owen Connor.
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