The world and his mother know that Cortown are a coming outfit. However, the problem for 40-something club stalwart Francis Smyth is that the talked-about blue riband success for the one-time division five club can't come quickly enough. The temptation to take things easier is likely to be tapping on Francis Smyth's psyche with an even greater intensity this winter. For a footballer, hitting the forty mark is a bit like a marathon runner running up against the co-called 'wall'. Psychologically and physically, things become just a tad more difficult to get to grips with. Still, even at 41, our man Smyth still packs a powerful punch from his customary midfield berth, still affords Cortown options from the bench if need be and, God damn it, would be instantly picked up by most other senior clubs in the county if a transfer system existed even if he were to be used only sparingly. Time waits for no man though and the big, strapping Cortown player has every reason to feel his age these days, especially given the pace manifest in the modern game and the mobility required of the participants. It's a long time, after all, since short trousers, Mungo Jerry, black and white telly and total football a la Cruff and co were all the rage. A lot of water has gone under the bridge since Francis first kicked a ball in anger for Cortown way back in '75. However, that said, the memories of last autumn's sorry championship exit are likely to stick in his cerebellum longer than most currently residing in his archives. That single point defeat to Walterstown in the quarter-final of the championship still hurts like hell. Indeed, it may well come to pass that the angst and frustration Francis has since suffered in the aftermath of his club's quarter-final defeat to the blacks may well have a greater capacity to strangle Francis's will-power and appetite for the game he loves than the ravages exerted by old Mother Time. However, of all the players currently plying their skills on Meath's premier, Cortown's Smyth can be guaranteed to keep his nose appropriately close to the grindstone and his shoulder just inches away from the wheel. That's been his modus operandi over the course of more than 25 years of service to his native club. Francis doesn't attempt to put a tooth in it as he reflects on the manner in which Cortown exited the blue riband competition in 2001. "I'm convinced we deserved to win and would have gone through to the semi-finals only for some very debatable refereeing decisions. It's a divil to get beaten in the way we did after ten months of hard training. In fairness, their 'keeper made a great save late on from Gordon Codd and we missed a couple of frees near the end too. We still should have won though." It would have been sweet revenge for Smyth and co if they had managed to down match favourites Walterstown for it was the 'town who famously knocked Cortown out of the championship in 1999 after a tension-filled replay. The controversial nature of Cortown's exit this year was compounded in the hearts and minds of club members by the relative shock of it all for all and sundry connected to the club fancied their chances of making it into the last four at least. "We set out at the start of the year to go the distance. You have to set your horizons high and we did just that. Our league form in the run-up to the start of the championship had been indifferent but a lot of our defeats were by just the odd point or two and we had to play without the injured Glen Loughran for quite a few of those early league matches," Francis explains. And things did indeed go to plan in the group stages with a fair scalp being collected in the opening tilt with victory over neighbours Dunderry, a team that had beaten Cortown earlier on in the league. Next up was Dunboyne in Trim - a game which ended all-square when the Nigel Crawford-powered side knocked over a point in the dying minutes after the match underdogs had missed a hatful of chances to wrap the game up. Cortown have traditionally been renowned for their fighting spirit and tenacity and these attributes were exhibited to the full in their next game. "We were lucky to get a draw in that one," testifies Francis, winner of Junior Championship medals in 1981 and '93 plus an Intermediate Championship honour in '96. Indeed, things looked extremely bleak for the yellow and greens as Navan O'Mahony's threatened to run away with the spoils having built up an eight point lead midway through the match only to be caught on the post after a magnificent fightback by Cortown. Having reached the senior championship semi-final stage in 1997 and the quarter-finals two years later, Cortown had, by 2001, accumulated enough of a championship pedigree to make their aforestated lofty ambitions credible and justified. Sadly though the wheels came off the Cortown wagon in a big way thereafter in the quarter-finals against Walterstown. A tilt at the Feis Cup and a rearguard action to stay in the top flight was all that was left to concentrate the minds of the Cortown faithful in the wake of the Pairc Tailteann setback. Hampered by a bout of the flu, Francis didn't feature in the Cortown side in their final championship game. He had, therefore, a bird's eye view of the proceedings. A couple of months on and he's still hurting, still can't fathom out just why refereeing standards continue to fall, just why rules are enforced by the whistlers in such an inconsistent fashion. "I think a lot of the problems centres around the fact that while football has become a lot faster and players have become so much fitter in recent years, referees haven't kept pace with these changes. "There are some excellent refs in Meath but some are not as fast or as fit as they should be. Having said that, I wouldn't condone any intimidation, shoving or pushing of refs." Anything to do with the interpretation of the rules that particularly irks him? "I think the man in possession doesn't get the benefit of the doubt half enough times. If a player has the ball and is trying to make ground but is being tackled by three lads, he is invariably pulled up for overcarrying. Ordinarily Francis likes to view the glass as being half-full rather than half-empty but as far as the bigger picture to do with Meath football is concerned, the Phoenix Park-based Garda and now Navan resident says there's quite a bit that needs fixing. "I've no grievance with any player who makes the county panels at whatever levels but 90% of the players playing club football in the county are being short-changed because the emphasis is always on the county scene. "Clubs are trying their best to promote football among the youngsters and to make the game attractive to them. Youngsters want to play on a regular basis but the club scene is being whitewashed every single year in deference to the chase for provincial and All-Ireland honours. "The club scene is the poor relation in Meath and I can only see the situation getting worse when the new national league format comes into play in the new year. "I feel there's a great need for a home and away system to be brought into play as far as league football in Meath is concerned. Such a system would give players a lot more games throughout the year. "It's very frustrating for club players when a situation arises, like it did this year for us, whereby four months elapsed between the time of us playing the last game in our group and the quarter-final match with Walterstown. That's not very helpful when you're trying to keep fellas motivated, interested and on the boil." Brother of other noted Cortown clubmen Declan and Colm, the affable husband of Carolina and father of three (Peter (10), May (8), John (6)) is fulsome in his praise of the long-standing work at underage level of local schoolteacher Tony Coogan and of Brian Murtagh and Ger Hanley at senior level over the years. He reckons that the talents all three have nurtured could yet see Cortown crack it at senior level in the coming seasons: "There's definitely enough talent in the club to win a senior championship but it will depend on how much commitment the lads give in the coming seasons. If the lads apply themselves, then they have the skill and the overall talent to do the business in the not too distant future." Watch this space! Tweet

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