Better late than never!
December 31, 2002
Free-scoring St. Michael's attacker Daithi Regan was drafted onto the Meath Senior panel for the first time in 2002, making numerous appearances in the National League. Here he reviews his debut season with the 'Royals' and runs the rule over St. Michael's mixed fortunes in the Junior Championship.
Daithi Regan is a late arrival to the senior inter-county scene. Having represented Meath from under 14 right through to under 21 many supporters felt the St Michael's sharpshooter had the ability to take the step up in class and progress onto the senior panel. However, the call never came.
Daithi never gave up the hope of representing Meath at senior level, although he admits he thought the chance had gone. When the opportunity finally came, he grabbed it with both hands. "I was very surprised when I got the call-up. Obviously I was delighted because I thought my chance had gone," he recalls.
The 25-year-old continued: "I was playing senior football for St. Michael's when I was 15. I have been a scoring forward on every team I have played so I was confident I could continue to do that with the Meath team."
Daithi made noteworthy contributions in the League against Waterford, Wexford, Monaghan and Carlow and although he didn't make an appearance in the Leinster Championship or the All-Ireland qualifiers he is hoping to nail down a regular place in 2003.
"I don't know if I'll be on the panel but I am very hungry to get back in there and give it another go. I want to train hard and hopefully I will be able to establish my place on the team," he explains.
The step-up from club to inter-county training came as a shock to the system to the St. Michael's man. "I have the height of respect for the lads that have been on the panel for the last five or six years. The training is very hard and very tiring. It is three nights a week plus a game at the weekend. But you have to give it that type of commitment if you want to win anything."
Meath's defeat to Donegal in the All-Ireland qualifiers sent shock waves throughout the country and many pundits were quick to pen Meath's obituary. Daithi revealed that the Donegal defeat really rankled in the Royals' dressing room. "That defeat really hurt us. We felt a few decisions didn't go our way on the day. Donegal should have put Dublin away the first day and Dublin were unlucky to go under to Armagh."
He continued: "I don't think there is an awful lot between four or five teams and it is too soon to be writing off this Meath team."
Graham Geraghty's retirement from the inter-county scene will deal Meath's 2003 prospects a serious blow, but Daithi is hoping the Seneschalstown sensation will have a change of heart. "We are all hoping that Graham will reconsider his decision. We are hoping that the break will do him good and that he will come back again next year fighting fit and raring to go."
On the club scene Daithi was disappointed that St. Michael's didn't progress from their group in the Junior Championship. "We have a very young team, but we felt we could go all the way this year, so when we didn't get out of the group it was disappointing. Nevertheless it was a good experience for the younger lads (Daithi is now a veteran of the team at 25) and we can build on that next year."
Pitted in the same group as Bellewstown, Moynalty, Moylagh, Wolfe Tones and Bective, the north-Meath outfit were quietly confident of making the knock-out stages. "We felt we had the beating of Bellewstown, Moynalty and Bective and it turned out that way," Daithi explained.
They got their campaign off to a great start beating Bellewstown 1-12 to 1-6 in Round One and Moynalty 2-10 to 0-10 in Round Two. "I felt we didn't play particularly well in either of those games. However, a win is a win. The Moynalty victory was very sweet because it was a derby match. We were all up for that one because they relegated us two years ago."
The single point defeat to Moylagh 1-9 to 0-11 in Round Three still sticks in Daithi's throat. "We conceded a goal and a point in the last 10 minutes. We just couldn't get the ball by the middle of the field to get the equaliser," he recalled.
The meeting of St. Michael's and Wolfe Tones in Round Four now took on a new significance following the Moylagh defeat. "We knew that a defeat would put us out of the Championship. It was my worst performance of the year. We played them in Drumbaragh on a Tuesday night. Meath beat Louth in Navan on the previous Saturday night and we had been training extremely hard before the Louth match. I just didn't feel right on the night," Daithi admitted.
That defeat meant that their final fixture against Bective had no bearing on the group and that Wolfe Tones and Moylagh would progress to the knock-out stages. For the record St. Michael's scored a predicted victory.
While St. Michael's failed to make the knock-out stages, Daithi believes the club made progress this year. "There are an awful lot of young lads on the team like John Farrell, Daithi Reilly, John Barry O'Reilly, Derek Flood, Christopher Flood, James Farrell and Eddie Carroll. They are only 17 or 18 and will have learned a lot."
He continued: "Those lads only came on the scene last year (when they were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Meath Hill) and you can see the improvement in them this year. It takes a couple of years to make the step-up from underage level."
Looking to the future, Daithi is confident that the team can build on its experiences over the past two years and win a Junior Championship in the near future. "We have to be looking to win the Junior Championship in the next few years. Hopefully we can win it next year. We have a lot of young talent coming through. Martin O'Connell has been retiring for the past four or five years. Hopefully he'll stay around for another year or two to help us win it," he concluded.
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