Farrells Field
December 31, 2001
One of Drumconrath's longest serving and most committed members is Jody Farrell. Royal County spoke to him about his 40-year involvement with the club.
For more than 40 years, Jody Farrell has been totally committed to the Drumconrath cause. Now into his 78th year, he remains as involved as ever, successfully combining the role of club president with that of groundsman.
"Being groundsman keeps me really busy," he says.
"It's a job that takes up a lot of time but someone has got to do it. Since we opened the second pitch for the underage teams earlier this year, there's extra work to be done but I'm coping so far," he adds.
Farrell became groundsman following the official opening of the Drumconrath pitch in 1984 and has been in the position ever since.
"It's a job nobody wanted at the time and I took it on the basis that I would only have it for a year or two. I never thought I'd be groundsman for 17 years. I've been talking about quitting it for a long time now but I'm still here. I would probably have given it up long ago only for the people who come up to you and tell you you're doing a good job. It's always nice to be appreciated for what you're doing."
Jody, who has been club president since 1996, hails from a musical background and it wasn't until he was in his late teens that he started to take an interest in football.
"My father Peter was a great accordion player and was well known around the local area. My first love was music and I played the drums for many years. It's only in the last 20 years that I have really got deeply involved in the GAA," he explains.
Despite being a Drumconrath man, Farrell never played with the club. He worked in nearby Killanny, Co. Monaghan in his younger days and it was there that he played his football.
Jody recalls that the football in Monaghan was "tougher" than in Meath back then but he doesn't think that this is any longer the case.
"The football was very physical in Monaghan in those days. Nowadays, though, I would say that there is a similar brand of football played in both counties. I can remember the 1949 All-Ireland success being a big turning point for Meath football. Everyone young lad in the county wanted to play football after that."
When Jody first got involved with Drumconrath around 1960, he felt that there was a tremendous buzz in the club.
"Even though we never had that much success, there was a great atmosphere in the club in those days. There still is a very good atmosphere but I think back then there were more people willing to become involved behind the scenes. It's much more difficult to get people to give up their spare time these days."
Farrell really came to prominence in Drumconrath in the mid-1980s when he trained a number of successful underage teams. During that period, he guided Drumconrath/Meath Hill to two under 14 championships and four league titles. A number of the players involved in those successes backbone the current Drumconrath intermediate team.
"It was a privilege to have trained those young lads," he says.
"They were a great bunch of players and I can still remember the celebrations after they beat Moynalvey in one of those finals. I haven't trained any teams since but it gives me a lot of satisfaction to see most of those players still playing for the intermediate team."
Jody has seen a lot of talented players don the Drumconrath jersey down the years. PJ O'Halloran, who was a regular on the Meath senior team during the 1970s, was one of his favourites while he also rates current players Paddy Reilly, Peter Tighe and Shane Byrne very highly.
The season just past will not be remembered fondly by Drumconrath supporters. Dundalk man Peter Fitzpatrick, who guided the red and whites to junior championship success in 1996, returned to the club as trainer. The results were encouraging in the early part of the year with Drumconrath faring well in both the league and championship.
In their first championship outing, Drumconrath defeated north Meath rivals Rathkenny but then lost to Ballivor. They recovered to beat Moynalvey but their hopes of qualifying for the knock-out stages were eventually dashed by St. Ultan's.
St. Ultan's had built up a decent lead by half-time but Drumconrath displayed admirable character to draw level in the closing stages. However, former Meath star Colm Coyle secured the victory for Ultan's with a late winning point.
"I think some of the lads lost interest after the St. Ultan's defeat," Jody opines.
"They looked good in the early rounds of the championship but the heads seemed to drop after the St. Ultan's game. They had been on course for promotion to Division One of the league as well at that stage but they ended up finishing down in fourth or fifth place. I think it was the third year in-a-row that the club narrowly missed out on promotion."
Farrell acknowledges that Drumconrath have seen better times but he remains hopeful for the future.
"We're a very small club and when we lose three or four players, as what happened last year, we're going to struggle. But there is a lot of good work being done at underage level to keep the young lads coming through.
"The Drumconrath/Meath Hill under 17 team was very strong this year. Hopefully, we'll see a few of those lads on the intermediate team before too long."
Jody's great interest in the Drumconrath/Meath Hill underage was once again reflected this year when he donated the cup for the under 10 tournament. The tournament, which was run off during September, proved to be a resounding success with teams from Drumconrath/Meath Hill, Nobber, Castletown, St. Michael's, Syddan and Rathkenny all taking part.
"It was great to see the enjoyment the youngsters got from the tournament. What was also great to see was the number of parents who attended the games," he concludes.
Under 10s keep the flag flying
Another disappointing year for North Meath red and whites. So much was promised after the 1996 junior win over parish rivals Meath Hill and our first two years playing intermediate football. The slippery slope back to junior has been avoided once again we became also rans in higher grade.
Hope was high with Peter Fitzpatrick from Louth back at the helm and a good start in the ACFL 2A was followed by a first round championship win over Rathkenny. But narrow defeats by Ballivor, St Ultans and Na Fianna finished our involvement.
Once out of the championship our league form dipped and for the first time since 1997 we weren't in the shake up for the top two places.
Our parish underage teams at U14,U16 and minor never raised a gallop while a great run by our U12 finished in a semi-final replay defeat by St Cianans.
The U10s did us proud by winning the Syddan tournament. After losing the final the previous two years great satisfaction was got from this thrilling one point victory over Castletown. For the first time we ran our own U10 competition The Farrell Cup.
Paul Tighe added his considerable talent to the Meath minors and Terance Skelly and Dermott Lyons wore the green and gold at U14 level.
Farrell Cup
Drumconrath/Meath Hill proved tops in North Meath U10s after winning the Farrell Cup on All-Ireland weekend in Drumconrath. This followed success earlier in the year when they also won the Syddan U10 tournament.
The Farrell Cup which was donated to the club by Jody Farrell is an old cup won by his father in 1918, '19 and'20. It was originally a music cup but Jody decided to give it to the club in order to promote U10 football in the North Meath area.
The tournament was run over six weeks on a round robin basis involving six clubs. The hosts, Rathkenny, Syddan, Castletown, St Michaels and Nobber. In the league Rathkenny finished tops after beating Drumconrath/Meath Hill in the final series of games the week prior to the finals themselves (score 2-8 to 2-6). Rathkenny's only dropped point was in a low scoring first round tie draw with Castletown (1-2 apiece).
The final tables read
P W D C pts
Rathkenny 5 4 1 0 9
Drum/Meath Hill 5 4 0 1 8
Castletown 5 3 1 1 7
Syddan 5 2 0 3 4
St Michaels 4 0 0 4 0
Nobber 4 0 0 4 0
The format for finals when 1st v 2nd, 3rd v 4th and 5th v 6th.
St Michaels versus Nobber game doubled up as Division 3 final as neither club could improve their standing.
Division I Final
Drumconrath/Meath Hill 4-6 Rathkenny 3-8
Drumconrath/Meath Hill avenged their two point defeat the previous week to win the Division 1 final after a tense and thrilling second half which nearly saw a comeback by Rathkenny. The overall balance and team play by the hosts eventually overcame the individual brilliance of some of the Rathkenny players in the first running of this tournament. A close final was anticipated but a dominate first half display was the key to the host's success. One reason for this was the great marking job done by Drumconrath/Meath Hill's Martin Tully on Rathkenny's strong midfielder Stephen McCabe.
The game opened with two Drumconrath/Meath Hill goals both set up by half forward Oran Finnegan and finished expertly by Brendan Lyons and Ross McGrath. Rathkenny came back strongly with four unanswered points. Drumconrath/Meath Hill stopped the rot with a free by Gramhne Tighe and points from M Tully and deadly duo Lyons and McGrath. A point from a long range free by McCabe was answered by another well taken goal by McGrath to leave it 3-5 to 0-4 at halftime.
The second half opened with two Rathkenny points but a point from G Tighe left seven still in it. Rathkenny piled on the pressure with McCabe having a bigger influence assisted by Barney Lenihan and the outstanding Donal Keoghan and this resulted in three Rathkenny goals to put them two points ahead with time almost up. Drumconrath/Meath Hill fought back and a brilliant individual goal by Matthew Byrne and a point from a free by Tighe after a foul on himself left two points in it to the host side.
The drama wasn't over and one last Rathkenny attack resulted in a thunderbolt shot by S McCabe which was brilliantly turned over the bar by Drumconrath/Meath Hill goalie Enda Martin to save the day and leave the minimum between two very even sides at the final whistle. All 16 players used starred for Drumconrath/Meath Hill not forgetting the subs who each played their part over the Round Robin series.
Scorers Drumconrath/Meath Hill; R McGrath 2-1, B Lyons 1-1, G Tighe 0-3, M Byrne 1-0, M Tully 0-1.
Afterward Jody Farrell presented the cup to Drumconrath/Meath Hill captain Graham Tighe and the Man of the Match Award to the outstanding Donal Keoghan of Rathkenny.
Drumconrath/Meath Hill panel
Team; Enda Martin, Conor McEntaggart, Emmet Matthews, Darren Traynor, Niall Reilly, Niall Tully, Alan McEvoy, Graham Tighe, Martin Tully, Oran Finnegan, Matthew Byrne, Simon Martin, Darren Farrelly, Ross McGrath, Brendan Lyons. Sub: Darren Ó Connor for S Martin.
Panel; John O'Halloran, Joseph Myles, Peter Halpin, Keith McConnell, Patrick Dunne, Niall Murtagh, James Duff, Bernie Duff, Alilce Martin, David O'Halloran, Dara McGrath, Conor Martin, Darren Martin, Niall Martin, Eoin Martin, Mark Halpenny, Patrick Crosby and Conor O'Halloran.
Best for Rathkenny S McCabe, B Lenihan and Keoghan
Division 2 Final
Castletown 1-12 Syddan 0-8
Favourites Castletown made up for losing the Syddan tournament final to win the Division 2 Drumconrath/Meath Hill U10 final played in Drumconrath. Syddan stuck to their task well but Castletowns' over all strength ensured that the plaque for the winners went Castletowns way. Half time Castletown 1-5, Syddan 0-3
Division 3 Final
St Michaels 3-9 Nobber 2-6
St Michaels strong first half display after which they led 2-7 to 1-0 enabled them to secure the spoils in the Division 3 final. They needed it as Nobber came back in the second half with some terrific football but a late St Michaels goal ensured they hung on for victory in sunny Drumconrath on All-Ireland final weekend.
Drumconrath/Meath Hill would like to thank the clubs involved for the smooth running of the competition, Mr Jody Farrell for supplying the cup and Man of the Match award. Kevin Fitzsimons for the plaques, trophies and medals and referee Sean Kerly.
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