A league of their own
December 31, 2003
While Walterstown once again suffered disappointment in the Meath SFC, there was some consolation in the annexation of the All County Division 1 League title for the first time, with a dramatic final victory over holders Dunshaughlin.
Since the club's greatest years between 1978 and 1984 when the Keegan Cup was raised in triumph on five occasions, there have been a number of lean seasons for the Blacks with appearances in county finals sporadic occurrences. There were just two, in 1988 against Navan O'Mahonys and '91 when Gaeil Colmcille took the outright honours.
After a pretty awful campaign in 2000 during which they suffered embarrassing defeats at the hands of Seneschalstown and Kilmainhamwood in group games, Walterstown did a bit better in the second year of the new century when getting to the semi-final stage of the SFC before bowing out with a minimum margin defeat at the hands of Dunshaughlin.
Walterstown made their exit one round earlier in 2002 but again it was a case of losing their way when appearing to be on the road to somewhere with a lead of eight points being shod as Trim fought back to win by two.
In 2003 the quarterfinal stage was again the departure point for the Blacks with Simonstown Gaels pushing them out on a 1-11 to 0-11 scoreline. Frank O'Sullivan's charges were always playing catch up after being hit by an early John Lunney blitz and their task was made more difficult with the dismissal of Niall Reynolds at the start of the second half. Walterstown have had more promising footballers than most clubs in Meath over the last few years and when they captured the MFC title in 1998 lads like Gareth McGuinness, John Geoghegan, Paddy Woods, Hugh Gribben, Charles McCarthy, Christopher Reynolds and Brian McCormack were in that Delaney Cup winning side.
Most of those players were on the Blacks' senior side last year but some of the club's talent has been lost to rugby over the last few years. John Davis and Killian Kennedy opted for rugby while Brian McCormack and Ronan Conaty are others who have sampled the oval ball game.
Walterstown should eventually benefit from the huge development in the Johnstown area with hundreds of people, many from Dublin, moving into the area over the last few years. One Dub who has already made his mark is Senan Moylan, full forward on the senior team.
The former St Vincent's, Dublin clubman, in his second year with the Blacks, scored a total of 5-26 in seven games in the SFC but failed to register in the quarter-final. He suffered a loss of form around that time and was dropped for the league final before being brought on for the second half during which he shot two crucial goals.
During Walterstown's heady years, surnames like Barry, O'Brien and Reynolds were very much to the fore and in more recent times the McCarthy's have made their presence felt. John, who gained All-Ireland minor and under 21 honours, is the longest serving of the brothers while Charles and Justin were also key members of the club's senior side in 2003.
After making his well-earned breakthrough onto the Meath senior team, Charles McCarthy turned in some quite exciting displays for his club and county over the last few months. The Blacks also defeated Dunshaughlin in the SFC, by 0-10 to 1-5 with Charles McCarthy and Senan Moylan the main contributors as Frank O'Sullivan slipped one past his old teammate, Eamon Barry.
O'Sullivan was in his second term as Walterstown manager after former favourites like Pat Reynolds, Gerry Reynolds, Paddy Carr and Ollie O'Brien struggled to steer the team in the direction of the Keegan Cup which has become a stranger out around Johnstown.
After a 1-12 to 0-9 win over Cortown in one of the first games in the 2003 Meath SFC, it was suggested that "they will need to keep their feet on the pedal of they are to realise their full potential."
A report of the second round success over Dunshaughlin suggested: "On occasions in the past the Blacks have contrived to turn wine into water but there was no fall in the home straight this time as triple champions Dunshaughlin suffered a rare enough domestic defeat."
After the narrow out pointing of Summerhill (0-11 to 0-9), there were a couple of setbacks for Frank O'Sullivan's charges with Dunboyne and Trim both inflicting defeats on them. Of course, the bigger groups made it difficult for any half decent team not to reach the last eight and Walterstown eventually stumbled through.
O'Sullivan was assisted by Paul Reynolds and Seamus Lanney and they suffered a blow at the end of the group stages when losing reliable full back Gareth McGuinness (nephew of Meath county star of the '60s and '70s Jack Quinn) to injury.
The experienced Donal Kennedy was drafted into the number three position and after Walterstown scraped to a minimum margin win over Kilmainhamwood at Kells, it was back to Pairc Tailteann for their last outing of the 2003 SFC and they never managed to hold the lead against Simonstown Gaels.
Walterstown have one of the strongest sides on paper in the county but, of course, championships are not won on paper and themselves and Trim are probably the biggest underachievers in the Meath SFC over the last few years.
But the Division 1 League triumph was some consolation and it was a first time for Walterstown to claim this title, having lost to Ballinlough by 1-6 to 0-12 in the 1999 decider at Carlanstown.
The Tommy Mooney Cup was annexed with a 3-4 to 1-8 victory over Dunshaughlin, who, like a number of contestants on The Weakest Link, went away with nothing, having swept the decks the previous year. It was a first senior outright success for Walterstown since their Feis Cup success in 1988.
After captain Joey Farrelly had given Walterstown an early lead, they trailed for most of the first half but were on level terms (1-2 to 0-5) after Justin McCarthy netted the first goal on the half hour. Veteran Ian Kearney sent in a long ball and full forward Christopher Reynolds set up the scorer.
The experience of a player like Paddy Reynolds is big plus for Walterstown and the dual All-Ireland winner is liable to be selected in the half back line, at centrefield or in the attack. He was at right halfback in the league decider and to his right was Mark Farrelly.
However, Farrelly was unfortunate to be shown a straight red card by referee Noel Martin 25 minutes into the second half. Dunshaughlin were leading by 1-7 to 2-3 at that stage but Walterstown showed their mettle by hitting back for a goal and a point.
Senan Moylan, who is a fireman in Dublin, contributed 2-1 after coming on. He shot his first goal from the right in the sixth minute after the restart following a pass from Justin McCarthy.
That was followed by a rocket of a goal from Niall Kelly but there was to be no denying Walterstown. Their third goal came on 56 minutes with the tall Moylan fielding a long delivery from Charles McCarthy and the substitute blasted to the net.
That left the board reading 3-3 to 1-8 and the lead was increased when Moylan passed to Justin McCarthy for the corner forward to shoot over. There was plenty of drama to follow at the pavilion goals.
Although there were some anxious moments for Walterstown, they held out to claim the spoils. Niall Kelly fired a shot against the bar and then Paddy Reynolds took a follow-up attempt by Dermot Kealy off the line.
Although Kelly stroked over Dunshaughlin's last score from a free, he was denied a late late leveller when referee Martin sensationally disallowed a free awarded in front of the posts.
Walterstown had just three scorers in the final. After captain Joey Farrelly got their first point, Justin McCarthy grabbed 1-2 and Senan Moylan weighed in with 2-1. Veteran Paul Browne, who has given admirable service to the club down the years, came on at the end for a late piece of the action.
Remarkably it is nearly 20 years since Walterstown captured the fifth of their SFC titles and they should put in a special effort in 2004 as they bid to bridge the gap. The Blacks will be one of the main contenders for the Keegan Cup in the coming months.
The team which brought Walterstown the 2003 Meath All County A Division 1 Football League title was: Mark McGrane; John Geoghegan, Donal Kennedy, Niall Reynolds; Paddy Reynolds, Mark Farrelly, Ray Reynolds; Charles McCarthy, Joey Farrelly; Alan Reynolds, Hugh Gribben, Paddy O'Brien; Ian Kearney, Christopher Reynolds, Justin McCarthy. Subs - Senan Moylan for Kearney, Brian McCormack for O'Brien, Ronan Conaty for Alan Reynolds, Paul Browne for Ray Reynolds.
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