Closing in on that shamrock day
December 31, 2003
St. Patrick's didn't win the Meath Senior Football Championship in 2003, but their campaign certainly represented one of the success stories in the race for the Keegan Cup.
After all the turmoil the Stamullen club endured, it was refreshing to see how the senior team grasped the nettle and claimed some notable scalps to make it to the championship quarter-finals where they were beaten by eventual champions Blackhall Gaels after a replay.
Of course, a fair amount of the credit for their very progressive run must go to manager Martin Barry, the former Walterstown player who guided Meath to their All-Ireland Junior Championship triumph in 2003 and who is building a sound reputation as a very astute and tactically aware coach.
But the bottom line is that the players have to do the business on the field of play if a team is to enjoy a decent run in the championship and St. Patrick's can certainly look back on the title race gone by and reflect on a campaign of progress, as well as looking ahead to the future with renewed enthusiasm.
Indeed, they can also reflect on just how close they came to reaching the last four as it took a late point from Mark Ferris to earn Blackhall a second chance in the drawn quarter-final and we all know what Leo Turley's side achieved after that as they went on to bring the young club its first Senior Championship title.
Not many people would have fancied St. Patrick's to make an impact in the championship, but considering that they defeated Trim and Dunboyne with a fair bit in hand and drew with three-times champions Dunshaughlin in their group campaign, there is absolutely no doubt that they did just that.
They were drawn in Group A, a section that also included Cortown, Dunboyne, Dunshaughlin, Kilmainhamwood, Summerhill, Trim and Walterstown, and they faced a very stern test of their worth in the opening round at Skryne against the 2002 beaten finalists Trim.
But the Stamullen outfit responded to the challenge and scored a merited 1-12 to 2-6 victory as county defender Cormac Murphy scored three points from corner-forward, the highly impressive Daithi Whyte top-scored with six points and Cormac Sullivan ruled midfield to such an extent that Trim were forced to switch Darren Fay from centre half-forward to the engine room without much success.
Martin Byrne got the goal that boosted Pat's to a 1-7 to 1-4 interval lead and they stretched that advantage to six points, before Trim got a late consolation goal.
After such a bright and encouraging start, Pat's must surely have fancied their chances of making it back-to-back victories when they met Kilmainhamwod at Rathkenny but, despite dominating the final quarter, Barry's side went under on a 0-6 to 2-6 score line as they failed on too many occasions to turn possession into scores.
Pat's needed to bounce back from that setback and they did so with a four-goal performance against Cortown in the third round at Walterstown as they won by 4-13 to 1-10. A blistering three-minute spell prior to half-time did the trick for the winners as goals from Byrne, Murphy and Whyte boosted them to a commanding 3-8 to 1-4 interval lead. Byrne got the fourth goal to seal a runaway success.
An acid test awaited in the fourth round as Barry pitted his side against champions Dunshaughlin, coached by his brother Eamonn, at Duleek. The anticipated Dunshaughlin win looked to be on the cards when they led by five points at the three-quarter stage, but Pat's responded with two goals in as many minutes from Sullivan (penalty) and Byrne and the champions eventually needed a late Martin Reilly point to force a draw (3-2 to 1-8). Sullivan had also scored the goal that helped Pat's to a 1-2 to 0-3 lead at half-time.
Next up were Barry's former club Walterstown and they inflicted a setback to Pat's qualification hopes when winning by 2-15 to 2-8 at Skryne. Pat's couldn't have asked for a more disastrous start as Senan Moylan netted for the Blacks inside the opening 20 seconds and they went on to lead by 1-9 to 0-5 at the break.
A fortuitous Murphy goal four minutes into the second-half gave Pat's some hope and Whyte also netted from a penalty, but those scores proved academic as Walterstown won by seven points.
But, once again, Pat's bounced back with commendable spirit as they inflicted a heavy defeat on one of the more fancied sides for the title, Dunboyne, in the sixth round at Donaghmore, winning by 3-12 to 1-7.
That success was achieved without the services of six regulars, including Sullivan and Ronan Kearns, but with Murphy and Paddy Muldowney superb at midfield and all the forwards scoring it turned out to be a surprisingly easy win. Whyte top-scored with 1-5 and Shane Kirwan notched two goals.
The Stamullen supporters endured many anxious moments in the concluding group match against Summerhill at Dunsany, but Pat's scraped through by 0-11 to 0-10 to secure their place in the last eight by finishing third in the section on nine points.
Getting to the quarter-finals represented a fine achievement, but the ambitions suddenly became far bigger as they faced into a quarter-final against Blackhall Gaels at Skryne.
Pat's led for the majority of the match, though the sides were level on seven occasions, including 0-5 each a the break, and the Stamullen supporters were praying for the final whistle as their side were a point in front with time almost up. But Blackhall snatched a late equaliser through Ferris and it finished 0-9 each.
Goals have a habit of winning games and that's certainly how it proved in the replay at Pairc Tailteann when Blackhall got no fewer than four of them to secure a comfortable 4-7 to 1-8 victory and a place in the semi-finals.
All five goals arrived in the second-half after Pat's had led by 0-5 to 0-3 at the end of a low-scoring opening period and the fact that Blackhall got four of them made all the difference.
A nine-match championship adventure had come to an end for Pat's, but they can certainly look back on the campaign with a fair amount of pride and satisfaction.
"We did very well under the circumstances," said selector and former player Ivan Curran as he reflected on the campaign. "There was a determination going into the championship and the lads knuckled down to it.
"However, it was near the end of March before we got the training going and that was probably a bit late. We missed out there, but the lads got stuck in after that.
"At the start of the championship we were really looking at it as a damage limitation exercise. We wanted to stay in the Senior Championship and hold onto our Division One status in the league. Anything else after that was going to be a bonus.
"However, we started the championship really well by hammering Trim in the first round, which was a bit of a surprise. We just didn't know what to expect going into that game.
"Kilmainhamwood stopped us in our tracks in the second game and we were also well beaten by Walterstown later on, but we took some big scalps along the way and getting to the quarter-finals was very pleasing."
Pat's will look back on the drawn quarter-final against Blackhall and wonder what might have been, especially as the Batterstown-Kilcloon combination went on to lift the Keegan Cup.
"I suppose we could have beaten them the first day and who knows what might have happened after that," Curran added. "We missed a 14-yard free. But you have to do it there and then. You usually only get one chance in games like that."
Curran was strong in his praise for Martin Barry and the role he played in the progressive championship run.
"The players really liked training under Martin," he said. "He tends to concentrate more on ball work which means it doesn't get boring. He's such a good man-manager as well. Even at half-time if things aren't working out he stays calm. He tells the players to do it his way and it will be fine."
After enjoying such a good run in 2003 St. Pat's can look ahead to next year's Senior Championship with renewed enthusiasm and with training likely to commence earlier, who knows what they might achieve.
On the adult hurling front, Pat's reached the semi-finals of the Div. 2 Championship, but lost to Kiltale by 2-5 to 4-10, before Kiltale went on to clinch the title.
U14 and U12s on the winning track
St. Patrick's footballers of the future did the club proud in 2003 by winning two under-age titles at Div. 4 level which suggested the Stamullen club can look forward to bright days in the years ahead.
First to lift silverware were the under-14s who won the Div. 4 Football League with a comprehensive 2-9 to 1-5 final victory over Longwood back in late May.
Pat's were in control for the vast majority of the encounter and goals from Andrew Haran and Daniel McGrogan boosted them to a five-point (2-3 to 0-4) interval advantage.
Longwood got a goal of their own in the second-half, but Pat's were still seven points to the good at the end.
Haran and McGrogan finished as joint top scorers with 1-1 each.
The St. Patrick's team in the final was - Niall Martin; Ben Baxter, Matthew McWeeney, Shane McGinty; Eoin Watson, Andrew Mooney, Damien Ryan; Alan Vickers (0-1), Stephen Dunne (0-1); Keith Traynor (0-1), Andrew Haran (1-1), Shane Tolan (0-1); Tommy Reilly (0-2), Daniel McGrogan (1-1), Philip Smith (0-1). Sub - Richard Jenkinson for Smith.
The under-12s made it a double success for the club when they also won the Div. 4 title in late June, beating Clonard by 2-9 to 0-6 in the final at Bective.
The south Meath combination were still in the hunt when trailing by 0-3 to 1-4 at half-time, but Pat's limited them to just three further points in the second period when they added 1-5 themselves to be nine points to the good at the finish.
Jack Stillman top-scored for the winners with 1-2, closely followed by Neil O'Flaherty who notched 1-1.
The victorious team in the final was - Seamus Byrne; Daniel Ryan, Sarah Curran, Barry Mooney; David Fleming, Martin McKenna, David Stafford; Keith Traynor, John Kelly (0-1); Jack Stillman (1-2), Donal Landy (0-1), Cormac Everard (0-2); Eoin Moynihan, Ross O'Sullivan (0-1), Neil O'Flaherty (1-1).
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