Eoin Carroll played a primary role in bringing the junior championship to Curraha in 2001. This year he and his teammates made the treacherous step up to intermediate football and survived. Once more Carroll was a key part of the Curraha team in 2002 but when approached by The Meath Yearbook for an interview the unpretentious 23-year-old thought somebody was playing a practical joke on him. He is relaxed and easy-going but had to be convinced somebody genuinely wanted to interview him. However his laid-back approach to life hides a determined and proficient footballer on the field, who still in his early twenties is likely to improve further. He is one of four brothers to have played for the club, and to the best of his knowledge, his dad played with Curraha also: "My brothers Alan, Liam and Paul were playing with Curraha so I just went down and played as well. As far as I know my dad played with them years ago but he played with an awful lot of clubs in his day. He played with clubs in Meath and a few teams in Dublin as well, so I guess you could say he has had more clubs than Tiger Woods," he jokes. Indeed the Carroll brothers were the backbone of the title winning side in 2001 and continued their respective roles in 2002. Liam, the goalkeeper, Alan the free-kick taker and Eoin the full forward. As for the year just gone, although dissatisfied with his own personal performances Eoin is delighted Curraha remained up in the grade: "We didn't get on that well this year in the early games, losing a few in a row, and I didn't play particularly well. So we struggled during the first couple of matches certainly. We played Duleek in the first game and got beaten by four points. I scored a goal that day but we still lost 0-12 to 1-5. "However overall it was still a good achievement to stay up intermediate in our first year and I thought we did very well to make the step up and we improved as the championship went on. I think we could have beaten Duleek and Castletown in our opening two games but things didn't go our way and that's football." Curraha endured a terrible start to their championship campaign with defeats to Duleek, Castletown and St. Colmcille's. Their game against Rathkenny in August was make or break for the men in green and gold and they carved out a 0-11 to 0-10 victory. Had they beaten Slane at the end of that month Curraha would have finished much further up the table but on the day, they were well defeated 1-13 to 0-5: "We got hockeyed by Slane in Donore at the end of August. They hammered us and that pretty much put us out of it and left us with no chance but we still remained up. We stayed intermediate this year but next year we will have to improve and hopefully the experience will stand to us," he states. However it is likely they will have to go into championship battle next year without the services of Meath legend Brian Stafford, who coached the team to junior success: "As far as I know Brian is leaving and he will be a huge loss. I'm not sure who we will get to replace him but I heard Bobby O'Malley's name mentioned so we will just have to wait and see what happens. "But Brian will be a massive loss to the club if he goes and he will be missed. He is a very good trainer and not only that but he does all the simple things effectively. He is one of the best players to have ever played for Meath so straight away he had our respect when he came in. He is also a very nice fella, really sound and straightforward. I think he certainly got the best out of us in the last few years and whoever comes in to train us will have a hard job replacing him. "Personally he gave me a lot of tips in the last few years and certainly improved my game. He played in the same position as me so he could advise me on different things and he would do often, so he was a great help," admits Eoin. Curraha also won three, drew three, and lost five games in the league and maintained Division 3A status for another year. So all in all they achieved what they had hoped to in both league and championship and should be capable of building on the experience for next year: "We were safe in the league and remained up at intermediate so it wasn't that bad I suppose. Intermediate football is a lot harder than junior, and the step up is tough. I was a bit disappointed with my own performances but I suppose it was hard coming off the year before when we won the junior championship." Ah yes, the junior championship, the third most sought after title in the county and the one that Curraha earned in 2001. A year on and it is still hard to get away from, because it meant so much to so many in the club. The players deserved it, as did all those associated with Curraha, such as their hard-working and obliging secretary Michael Kelly to name but one. It is a championship win which will not be forgotten for many years in Curraha and when they talk about that final, they talk about Eoin Carroll's man of the match display. Curraha took on Wolfe Tones in the decider and after a 0-10 to 2-4 draw in the initial encounter, Curraha ran out 1-13 to 1-6 victors, with Carroll scoring four points. Looking back now he admits he has never seen a Curraha team play as well as they did in that final. "Winning the junior championship was super. I suppose the whole year was tremendous but the second day against Wolfe Tones in Navan was just brilliant. I certainly can't remember us ever playing so well in all my time on the team. Everybody was superb and on the day we all just clicked, but we had said after the drawn game that we had to play better in the replay and we did. "Even along the way in getting to the final we had been average and never played exceptionally well so we just said it had to happen, and thankfully it did in the replay. In the second half more than any other time we just blew WolfeTones away and that was it. And they were a very good team even then and when they get to intermediate football they will probably be stronger and better than us, which is funny. But they really do have some smashing players and are very difficult to beat," he acknowledges. However 2001 was Curraha's year and Carroll says it was because every player made a huge contribution, and although he was the man of the match in the final, they would not have progressed to that stage had it not been for the entire panel: "Not only did I have a good year in 2001 but everybody on the team played well and it was our best season without a doubt. Every single player turned out good performances." Carroll also spent some time with the Meath juniors this year and although he was not allowed make an impact, he still enjoyed his time in the set-up: "I went with the juniors for eight or nine weeks but it didn't happen for me unfortunately. There were about seven or eight of us just dropped before the Offaly game down in Tullamore. Meath were very unlucky that day because they were 0-8 to 0-0 up at one stage but threw it away. I was actually down there at the game because we were only dropped that night when we met up. But sure that's the way it goes, no point on dwelling on it," he shrugs. And as for next season Carroll believes the team can progress further than they did this year: "I think if we get a good run going next year we will definitely get to the knock-out stages of the championship. But intermediate is a lot tougher than some people think. We thought the junior was very hard to win but this is a step up from that. "I do think we are strong enough for intermediate football though. There is a very good group of players but whether the interest is present is another thing altogether. I mean everybody likes a few drinks or whatever but you still have to put in the commitment with the team and not overdo it. Here in Curraha we have about eight or nine players that would be classed as very, very good footballers. We also have some good young players coming through but it remains to be seen whether or not the interest is there. But we do have the capability and we will give it a shot," he insists. Soccer will occupy Eoin Carroll's time over the next few weeks until the club get back to training, so there is no time to relax. The Gaelic football season is over, as is the interview, and one wonders if he believed I was a journalist in the first place. Either way it is unlikely to concern Eoin, and the next time he pulls on the green and gold Curraha jersey, he will simply carry on regardless. Underage Our Under 12's won their division 3 championship this year and our under 14's won their division 3 south league. Our under 12's team is made up of the following players: Brian Smith, Pauric Hanrahan, Anthony Dowling, Kevin Mallon, Stephen Carey, Jeremy Harrington, Darragh McGrain, Mark Battersby, Sean Prenderville, Ruairi McEntee, Neill Macken, Neill Shortall, Mark Canavan, David Coyle, Keith Carey, Loran Hickey, Sean Laffey, Patrick Coyle, Liam Hogan, Brendan McGroary, Phelam Dowling, Vincent Collins, Jack Hogan and Karl Delaney. Round 1 - Lost to St. Pat's by 1 point Round 2 - Beat Ballinabrackey Round 3 - Beat Athboy Round 4 - Beat Bective Round 5 - Beat Na Fianna Semi-Final - Beat Bective by five points in Skryne Final - Played Na Fianna, Score Curraha 3-9, Na Fianna 1-6 This Under 12 team has won this competition for the last three years and Sean Prenderville was Man of the Match in their Final. There was a presentation night in Swans Pub with John McDermott (Meath Team), Pat McEnaney (Referee) and Paul Carberry (jockey) presenting the winners with their medals. Under 14's Team Won their Div 3 South League Under 14 team: Brian Dowling, Brian Marrion, Colm McGearty, Jeremy Harrington, Ailbhe Hensen, PJ McMahon, Mark Battersby, Sean Mallin, Gavin Coyle, Patrick Marrion, Terry Hetherton, Andrew Tully, Sean Prenderville, Oisin Farrell, Karla Macken, Gary Egan, Jason Plount, Callum Donnellan, Mark Canavan, Sean Clarke, David Coyle, Anthony Dowling, Kevin Mallin and Simon Auther. Round 1 - Beat Ratoath Round 2 - Drew with Na Fianna Round 3 - Beat Moynalvey Round 4 - Beat Ballivor Round 5 - Beat Ballinabrackey Semi-Final - Beat Na Fianna after drawing with them in round two Final - Beat Athboy, Final Score Curraha 1-9, Athboy 1-6. Has to be one of the best matches this year. Curraha were beaten in the final last year by Athboy so it was nice to come out winners this time round. Under the watchful eye of their mentors Pat Coyle (trainer), Tony Dowling (chairman), and Eddie Battersby (Secretary) both the Under 12's and the Under 14's went on to win their respective finals. The Under 10's so far this year have done well with the League only starting in August so it is too soon for us to say how far they might go. We also have an Under 13s and Under 15s for the first time this year. Tweet

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