In 1988 when the Dunderry club officially opened their grounds former chairman Tommy McCormack contributed an article, at the end of which he expressed the wish "that in the near future senior status be attained in both codes." Tommy's wish was granted before he passed away in 1993. Sadly he was not around when the SFC title came to the parish for the first time two years later and would have been particularly proud in 2001 when Dunderry reached the SHC final for the first time as well as getting to the 'semi' stage of the SFC. As the respective campaigns went on, hopes were high that both the Keegan Cup and the Jubilee Cup could be brought back to Horan's. In the end both headed in other directions, but still it was a splendid achievement to get so far in both, especially in the hurling. Navan O'Mahony's, in 1985, is the only club to have celebrated with the two trophies in the same year. Apart from Dunderry, Trim and Dunboyne are the only others in Meath to presently hold senior status in both codes. Although Dunderry only became a serious hurling force this year, there is a tradition of playing the 'small ball game' going back to 1920. They won the JHC in 1934, defeating Dunboyne in the final, and two of that team, Paddy Boyle and Jack Loughran, are still alive. Curiously that victory did not lead to further successes and Dunderry stopped fielding hurling teams in 1936. The game was not revived in the parish until 1977 when men like Sean and Tommy Weldon and John Joe Maxwell laid the foundations by getting under age teams up and running. Then in 1980 Tipperary native Jim Hickey became involved as trainer/coach and titles at under 13, 14, 16 and minor levels were garnered. In '86 junior 2 championship honours were annexed with a 0-13 to 1-5 final victory over Trim with a young wing forward called Tommy Dowd sending over five points. Then in 1987 a gap of some 53 years was bridged with a JHC triumph and of that winning side - Wolfe Tones were defeated by 1--5 to 1-3 in the final - Tommy Dowd, John Brady, John Joe McGourty, Eamon Howley and Paddy Leavy are the links with the team which lost out to Trim after a replay in the 2001 SHC decider. Dunderry's efforts in fielding successful teams in both football and hurling teams were recognised with the County Board giving them the 'club of the year' award for 1987. That year they contested six finals, three in each code, winning the JHC and MHC finals as well as a Division 3 League title in football but lost the IFC decider to Oldcastle. Dunderry took the last step up the ladder in 1991 when capturing the intermediate title, again at the expense of Wolfe Tones, with a 2-10 to 1-4 final victory in the final played in Athboy. A 2-7 to 0-1 interval lead laid a firm foundation for the victory with Mick Molloy and Eamon Howley finding the net early and late in the first half. Philip Cahill, one of the club's dual players, sent over five points and, as in 2001, Tommy Dowd was at centre back in 1991. Ned Howley was also the manager for the success of 10 years ago with Donie McGourty a player, selector and team trainer. The fact that Dunderry won the JHC 2 title for the second time with their second string in 1999 was an indication of how far they had progressed in the 'small ball game.' Players like Tommy Dowd, John and Ger Brady and Philip Cahill, who scored five points, were among those who contributed to the 1-13 to 3-6 final victory over Dunboyne at Pairc Tailteann. Dunderry's SHC hopes received a big boost when Tommy Dowd made himself available for the senior side. The former All-Ireland football winning captain's younger brother Kevin had made a name for himself as the family's best known hurler, being a regular on the county team. However, Tommy has made no secret of his love for hurling and, free from inter county football commitments, he played a big part in the surprise run by the side in black and white. Former Meath county coach Tom Ryan was called in as trainer and ground skills were practiced under lights at the MDL soccer grounds outside Navan during the winter months. Another fillip for Dunderry hurling in 2001 was teenager Ivan McCormack's elevation to the county team. The accurate forward made his mark in the local SHC, scoring a total of 1-40 in eight games. Eleven of the points came in his side's opening round tie against Rathmolyon at Kildalkey as a surprise 2-20 to 2-8 victory was gained. That was followed by a 0-10 to 0-8 success over Longwood at Trim. Dunderry were flattered by the margin in their 4-12 to 0-9 victory over Wolfe Tones with the four goals coming in the closing stages. The result meant that they needed just one point from the last two group games, against Killyon and Kilmessan, in order to qualify for the lost four. They gained two in the 0-9 to 0-6 win over Killyon and there was little to play for in the 1-2 to 2-12 defeat to Kilmessan. Dunboyne were fancied to end the Dunderry run but after leading for most of the way, Ned Howley's charges finished the stronger with a fortunate goal from a free by Ivan McCormack putting them ahead before John Brady, McCormack and Keith Callaghan sent over points. Dunderry did well to gain a draw with Trim (1-11 to 0-14) in the initial final clash before the holders outscored them by 1-13 to 0-8 in the replay. After trailing by five points early in the second half the first day, the men in black and white fought back and in added time at the end Tommy Dowd gave them another outing when sending over a spectacular equaliser. However, the underdogs failed to serve up a repeat performance a fortnight later as their more experienced neighbours led by double scores (1-7 to 0-5) at half time and at full time. Still it was an admirable feat to get to the Jubilee Cup decider in part due to their attention to proper preparation, which some other hurling teams in the county don't seem to bother with, paving the way for the fine run. It was strange to see Dunderry having more SHC outings than SFC games. Brian Murtagh's charges had five championship games and won three and lost two. After leading by 1-6 to 1-1 in the first half of their opening game against Cortown, Dunderry lost their way a bit for the rest of the opening round encounter at Pairc Tailteann as the 'no hopers' scored a shock 3-8 to 1-12 victory. Dunderry were without Tommy Dowd but could have no complaint as their opponents did not have their county under 21 star Glen Loughran. Although Dunderry got their best known player back in attack and recovered from the initial setback with victories over Navan O'Mahonys, Dunboyne and Trim, their large proportion of young players found out that is a bit more difficult to land a senior title than under 21 championships. Although Murtagh's men served up some quite attractive football with younger players like David Callaghan and Damien Clarke among the most consistent performers and a lean Barry Callaghan showing useful form, they again fell in the home straight. After being lucky winners against Dunboyne and cruising past a dreadfully inept Trim side, they again slipped up at the penultimate hurdle. A 1-8 to 1-11 loss to Skryne was a fifth semi-final defeat since gaining promotion to the top grade in 1990. Like Kilmainhamwood before them, Dunderry lacked 'that little back extra' which Dunshaughlin found in the final. They were also short of attacking power and Tommy Dowd missing a few scores in the second half proved costly. With the 1996 All-Ireland captain coming to the end of his career and other long serving stalwarts in black such as Sean Kelly and John Brady also not getting any younger, Dunderry are going to have to work very hard to repeat the SFC success of 1995. It is indeed surprising that they failed to repeat that victory with better all round teams in subsequent years. Indeed Dunderry may have a better chance of bringing home the Jubilee Cup than the Keegan Cup in the next few years. Still their footballers should be able to consolidate their senior status at the very least in the foreseeable future. The Dunderry team which lost to Trim in the replayed SHC final: B. Fitzsimons; E. Stephens, M. Horan, J. J. McGourty; D. Clarke, E. Howley, D. Callaghan; K. Dowd, J. Brady; P. Gorey, P. Leavy, I. McCormack; T. Dowd, K. Callaghan, T. Leavy. Subs - M. Molloy for P. Leavy, T. Doherty. The Dunderry team which lost to Skryne in the SFC semi-final was: M. Kelly; N. Howley, D. Callaghan, P. Darcy; C. Harte, K. Dowd, G. Newman; B. Callaghan, S. O'Rourke; E. Murray, K. Callaghan, J. Brady; D. Clarke, B. Newman, T. Dowd. Subs - S. Kelly for Murray, E. Howley for G. Newman, T. Conaty for S. Kelly, D. Newman for Darcy, and S. Harte for B. Newman. Tweet

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