Athboy - Rathcairn's under 14 team came tantalisingly close to pulling off a league and championship football double this year. Juvenile chairman Stephen Mangan reviewed an exciting year for the club's young guns.
Traditionally Athboy have been perennial under achievers at juvenile level. Despite the best efforts of the players and mentors it just wasn't happening on the field. It was a point that wasn't lost on Juvenile Chairman, Stephen Mangan.
Stephen also recognised that there was a possible pool of untapped juvenile talent a few miles away at neighbouring Rathcairn, who only field at adult level. Three years ago Stephen, Peter McDonagh, Anthony Leavy, Michael Griffin, Donie McLoughlin and Mairtin Mellett decided to canvass the Rathcairn area in an attempt to bring its young footballers into the Athboy fold.
Despite the short distance between the two clubs - they are both in the parish of Athboy - it took a while to sell the idea to the youngsters. "We'd love to play but we don't know anybody from Athboy" was a typical response at many doorsteps. Undeterred the canvassing continued until the floodgates finally opened.
Last year the Athboy - Rathcairn under 14 team recorded a notable football league and championship double in division three. It was a just reward for the players and of great satisfaction to Stephen and his cohorts.
Backboned by Joseph McDonagh, Ciaran Smith, Brian Quirke and Mark Swayne, survivors of last year's triumphant team, Stephen felt the team could handle the move up to division two this time round.
"We knew we would be coming up against stronger teams this year, but we felt the nucleus of the team was strong and we could do very well. We lost a few lads from last year's team but we had lads like Seanie Bell, Paddy Geraghty, Aaron Hennessy, Kieran Griffin and Kevin Conneely to come in so we felt would be there or there abouts."
Athboy - Rathcairn received a walk-over against Ballivor in their first scheduled outing in the championship, before going on to record a comprehensive victory over Ratoath in round two. "Joseph McDonagh, Ciaran Smyth, Stephen Mellett and Owen Smith all played well. The backs were particularly impressive on the day," Stephen added.
That victory set up a semi-final meeting with Moynalvey and once again the Athboy - Rathcairn lads weren't found wanting. In another comprehensive victory, Mark Swayne, Damien Tuite, Joseph McDonagh, Brian Quirke and Conor Duffy all shone in what turned out to be an easier than expected victory.
In the final Athboy - Rathcairn met Walterstown at a windswept Pairc Tailteann in Navan. "There was a very large support from both clubs, which was great to see. It was a very close match. It was point for point all the way. Walterstown pulled ahead in the last five minutes but late points from Marke Swayne, Joseph McDonagh and Damien Tuite saw us home by 0-9 to 0-7. Swayne's point was unbelievable. He ran along the end line and kicked it over with the outside of his right foot and over the bar," Stephen purred.
The only blight on the under 14 team's season was losing to Curraha in the league final. "Curraha beat us in the final. They got us on a bad day and we went under by two or three points. If I am not mistaken we won all our games in the league except for the final," he explained.
Despite the league setback, it was generally a very exciting and profitable year for the club. Stephen revealed: "We started an under 10 team for the first time this year and we won our division. That was a big achievement."
At the time of writing the club's under 13, under 15 and under 17 teams were still involved in the respective competitions. Steve elaborated; "We have a great crop of young players at all grades at the moment and we have very high hopes for the current under 15 team."
This year Athboy formed an under 12 girl's team for the first time. "We were late getting the team together so all we were able to do was organise a series of challenge matches for them. We also organised an under 12 tournament which they won. Next year we hope to field and under 12 and under 14 team in the championship," Stephen noted.
There is now a really discernible buzz about the underage set-up in the club and Stephen feels that much of the success can be attributed to the club's mentors. "They have been absolutely wonderful and their commitment deserves great praise," he quipped.
Dermot Carney, Paul Whelan and Walter Fox handled the under 10 team with kidgloves this year. Donie McLoughlin and Michael Griffin nurtured the under 12 and 13 teams. Stephen, Peter McDonagh and Padraig Joyce were at the helm of the under 14s. Christy Kelly, Mairtin Mellett and Anthony Farrell guided the under 15s and under 16s, while Sean Carrigy, Peter McDonagh and Padraig Joyce looked after the under 17s.
This year Athboy amalgamated with Bective in the minor championship but the club is is now hoping to go it alone in 2003. Stephen explained: "We hope to go it alone next year and build for the future. We have a good stream of young talent coming through and were are hopeful we could win a minor championship in three or four years time."
Next year the club is aiming to revitalise its underage hurling structure now that the foundations for future footballing success have been laid. "We have the mentors in place with the underage football teams and we want to do the same with the hurling. However, we will need to get more people involved. In that respect we are hoping that people will come forward and get involved.
"We have shown what can be done with the football and I firmly believe we can do the same with the hurling, but you need dedicated people on the ground. We can replicate the success if the will is there," Stephen concluded.
Athboy hurlers bite the bullet
While the footballers of Athboy made many waves in 2002, it was a thoroughly miserable year for the hurlers. Having gained a return to senior ranks at the end of the 2001 season, the Athboy stickmen failed to get going in '02 and suffered the ignominy of instant demotion back to intermediate grade.
The mood in the Athboy camp was pretty good at the start of the 2002 season. By virtue of a comfortable IHC triumph, they had re-booked their rightful place amongst the Royal County's hurling elite. The feeling was that they had successfully turned things around and were now heading in the right direction again.
Imagine the disappointment, anguish and frustration felt by everyone associated with the club, therefore, when their latest campaign culminated in relegation and a return to the No Man's Land of Meath intermediate hurling.
Ultimately, Athboy surrendered their senior status when losing a relegation play-off against the previous year's senior finalists Trim. This was their final battle of a trying season but, in truth, it was elsewhere that the war was lost. They got off to a bad start and didn't show anything resembling their true form until late in the season, by which stage the damage had already been done.
When they did click into gear to teach Boardsmill a lesson, it was simply too little too late.
As club secretary Seamus Flood concedes: "It was a very disappointing year. We were full of hope going into the season and that's what makes it even harder to bear. We thought we'd do really well, but it didn't work out that way at all.
"Our aim was to win a couple of games in the championship and consolidate our position but we got off to a poor start and were under pressure right from the word go. We even had our chances in the play-off against Trim but we never took them and that was pretty much the story of our season."
Athboy's championship was already off to the worst possible start when they lost to the O'Mahonys by seven points (1-14 to 1-7) over June Bank Holiday weekend. Three weeks later, Dunderry provided the opposition and yet again Athboy came up short, losing this time by four points, 1-12 to 0-11.
Another defeat was suffered in mid-July when Kiltale proved far too strong for the flagging Athboy lads, 1-18 to 3-5. And Athboy also came up short against would-be county champions Kilmessan.
Their only victory in the group was against Boardsmill on August 18th, 2-12 to 1-9, but it was too late to avoid a relegation play-off as the '01 intermediate champions finished bottom of their group with only two points from a possible ten.
Neighbours Athboy and Trim clashed in the 2002 Martin Donnelly & Co Ltd SHC relegation play-off on October 20th and it was the Trim men who edged a low-scoring game, 1-6 to 1-4.
"We just didn't get going until it was too late," says Seamus. Defeat of Boardsmill in the final championship game gave Athboy some kind of hope - but they could hardly have asked for more capable play-off opponents than Trim!
It was as difficult a game as one could expect at that level and defeat left Athboy frustrated for the second time in three years: "We're traditionally a senior club and we're not at all happy about going down to intermediate again. We had been senior right through from 1955 until 2000 and it was a real blow to go down. We hoped that we were heading in the right direction again when we came back up, but it looks like we still have a bit of work to do before we're back on track."
What went wrong? "We just don't have a strong enough panel. Any time we lose players through injury we tend to struggle. There are some good young lads coming through but they need a few more years.
"The population is growing in the area but we're not feeling the benefits of that - not at adult level at least. We're doing really well at underage, however. Our footballers in particular had a very good year at underage. For some reason, the football seemed to be a lot stronger than the hurling in 2002."
What's the target for next year? "We'll have to hope and pray that the lads get interested and give it a big effort and go out and win the intermediate championship again. We need to get back up to senior and hopefully unearth a few new players as well.
"I don't believe the standard of hurling in the county at the moment is as strong as it has been. Any team that's prepared to put 100% commitment into it could win a senior championship. It's there for whoever wants it and it'd be great if Athboy could start challenging again. We haven't won the senior championship since 1972, which is far too long...
Athboy is synonymous with Meath hurling, providing the County Board with one of the Royal County's premier hurling venues and boasting a proud tradition. It's against such a backdrop that their determination to rediscover former glories becomes obvious.
"The atmosphere in the club at the moment is the complete opposite to last year. It was really upsetting to go back down and we're very disappointed," says Seamus.
"If they had played as well in the earlier rounds as they did against Boardsmill and Trim, then they'd never have been in trouble in the first place..."
But surely Athboy are good enough to make an immediate return? "No disrespect to any of the other teams in intermediate, but we feel that we should be winning the championship next year. If we didn't win it, it could leave a real dampener on things. It's still a very young team. Generally, they're in their mid-20s, with a few older lads."
And things are looking up at underage level: "We have a new principal in the National School, John Brennan, and himself and Mary Burke - who had been working on her own there for the past ten years - are putting a lot of work in. We're starting to head in the right direction and all we need now is a bit more effort from the lads. The effort hasn't been there in the past, but hopefully that's about to change."
Expect Athboy to bounce back instantly...