Daylight robbery
December 31, 2002
Walterstown's dream of winning a first Senior Football Championship in 18 years was alive and very well 12 minutes into the second half of their quarter-final against Trim at Dunsany. They led by eight points and were playing high quality football despite kicking 10 wides.
A semi-final place looked very much on the cards, but it all went wrong as they managed just two points from there to the finish, conceded three goals, the last of them to Darren Fay, and lost by two points.
Trim's never-say-die attitude had to be admired, but for Walterstown it was a sickening defeat, particularly as they had looked to be in total control for so much of the game. The big hope for the Blacks must be that they will have learned the lessons from such a bad experience and will appreciate that you don't stop playing until the final whistle sounds.
Walterstown had reached the last eight of the championship by emerging from Div. C on five points from a possible six. They opened the group stages with a one-point (2-8 to 1-10) victory over St. Patrick's and had two points (2-8 to 0-12) to spare over Oldcastle second time out, before drawing with Seneschalstown (0-9 each) to leave them level with their neighbours at the top of the table, something that also happened in Div. 2 of the All-County 'A' League.
A toss followed to decide first and second position in Div. C of the championship and Walterstown ended up being paired against Trim. They led by 0-7 to 0-5 at half-time, but took over completely in the second period, playing some superb football, and when they held a commanding 1-11 to 0-6 advantage with 18 minutes remaining, thanks in a big way to a Senan Moylan goal, they were odds-on to book a semi-final ticket.
The rest, as they say, is history - painful history - as Trim rallied and scored those three crucial goals to stun the Walterstown camp and win by 3-9 to 1-13 to advance to the last four.
Ian Kearney, the long-serving Walterstown player who has been part of the senior team since back in 1986, lined out in that match and was as disappointed as anybody at the end. His one big hope as he reflects on the sickening defeat is that the team will have learned a very valuable lesson from the whole experience.
"There was something about this year that made me think we could go places in the championship," said 34-year-old Kearney. "Things looked to be coming right and we knew we had a good squad of players to choose from. We struggled in our early matches against both St. Patrick's and Oldcastle, but won each of them narrowly, and our drawn game against Seneschalstown was a typical Walterstown - Seneschalstown encounter.
"Then against Trim in the quarter-final we never looked like losing. I know hindsight is a great thing, but looking back on that game we should have done certain things to tighten everything up when holding such a healthy lead. Personally, I should have dropped back into defence. We were stupid really.
"But the main hope has to be that it will prove a valuable
lesson learned for the team. It proved that you can take absolutely nothing for granted in football, even when you have such a big lead and appear to be in total control. Who knows, but a win in that particular match might have been the making of this team. But you live and learn."
Kearney, who was a member of Sean Boylan's Meath senior panel between 1989 and '93, just missing out on winning an All-Ireland medal in '88, still dreams of getting his hands on that elusive Senior Championship medal after suffering the agony of defeat in the finals of 1988 to Navan O'Mahonys and '91 to Gaeil Colmcille.
"We are a year older and a year wiser and I feel we have a good squad of players there, most of whom are young with the exception of myself and Paul Browne," added Kearney, who made his debut on the county senior team when Meath beat Monaghan in the National League at Navan in 1989. "We would also be very hopeful of getting some players from the Junior B team that lost this year's final to Summerhill.
"However, I feel the young lads haven't honestly believed up to this stage that we are good enough to win the championship, though I felt there was more belief among them this year.
"I would really love to win a Senior Championship medal. I remember losing those finals in '88 and '91 and thinking that I still had plenty of time to win one. It still hasn't happened, but I'll stick at it, though it's not getting any easier and I really feel it the day after a match."
Walterstown also held high hopes of success going into the Junior B Championship as they fielded a team with a nice blend of youth and experience, including former Meath senior player Alan Browne who lined out at full-forward. It surprised nobody when they advanced to the final, but they were edged out by Summerhill at Dunsany.
Summerhill, also with a mixture of young and more experienced campaigners, used wind advantage to telling effect in the first half and led by seven points (1-6 to 0-2) at the interval, but Walterstown had cut the deficit to three points with a little over 10 minutes to play, thanks largely to a fisted goal from top-scorer Browne after a long delivery from Ciaran Harten.
They pressed desperately in an effort to salvage the situation in the closing stages and put the Summerhill defence under enormous pressure, but the 'Hill defended heroically and were still three points to the good at the finish (1-9 to 1-6).
The Walterstown team in the final was - K. Reilly; J. Geoghegan, C. Harten, J. Farrelly; P. Reynolds, A. McGuinness, E. Carroll; A. Reynolds, C. McGrane; P. Stafford, R. Conaty (0-1), D. O'Brien (0-2); M. Mohan, A. Browne (1-3), S. Callaghan. Subs - M. McGrane for Stafford, J. King for Farrelly.
Walterstown's third string enjoyed quite a progressive run in the Junior C Championship, but bowed out of the title hunt when losing a play-off to St. Mary's by 3-12 to 1-9, having earlier drawn with the Donore side (0-10 each).
At juvenile level, the Walterstown under-14 team reached the Div. 2 Knock-out final and had the great thrill of playing in Pairc Tailteann in late June. But they suffered defeat, going down narrowly by 0-9 to 0-7 against Athboy/Rath Cairn after holding a 0-4 to 0-3 lead at the interval.
Athboy/Rath Cairn turned in a storming finish which brought a flurry of late points to claim the title.
Full-forward Conor Daly scored six points for Walterstown, who played some very attractive football, and despite the defeat, it was a performance that augured well for the future.
The Walterstown team in the final was - D. Kennedy; B. McGrane, E. Kelly, J. Dowdall; J. Coogan, C. Hennelly, C. McMahon; C. O'Sullivan (0-1), D. Maguire; C. O'Reilly, M. Kennedy, R. Barry; B. O'Dowd, C. Daly (0-6), F. Cosgrove. Subs - M. McCormick for O'Dowd, A. McLoughlin for McMahon, D. Callaghan for Hennelly.
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