Champions two years ago, last four losers in '00 and beaten finalists in 2001, and the underlying feeling in Skryne is one of vast underachievement. Is it now win or bust for a club dogged by expectation? The extent of the expectations around the parish of Skryne can be accurately gauged by the fact that the champions of '99 - beaten in the semi-finals of 2000, and at one stage further on the first Sunday of November gone - can lament the last two years as patently unsuccessful. Champions of the county on ten occasions since 1940, Skryne have now been beaten in the Meath senior showpiece an incredible 17 times. Whether that points to an inherent weakness in their armoury is irrelevant and untrue, but it remains indubitable that this is a club perennially expected to deliver and, for whatever reason, delivery is as uncertain as a Pony Express parcel. No-one would dispute that Skryne are firmly ensconced in the upper echelons of Meath club football - they have been for years - and many would have acclaimed them as undisputed kingpins had they overcome Dunshaughlin in early November. After the shock defeat to Kilmainhamwood in the semi-final of 2000, Skryne were fancied by many to confirm their status as the best with county final victory over Dunshaughlin, who had exploited the slip-up to win their first title 14 months previously. Skryne, however, were beaten by a deal more than the three-point scoreboard margin suggested. But for a Ken O'Connell goal in the second half - their second and last score from play during the hour - they would have been out of touch long before the hour-mark approached. Yet again, they began their championship campaign as outright favourites for the title, the general consensus reading that they were at least final material last year when upset by Kilmainhamwood and that, had the cards fallen differently, they could have been aiming at a third successive title. Their already forceful battalion of troops had been strengthened during the winter by the acquisition of potent forward Brian McMahon from Clare, who had arguably been the Banner's most impressive player in the Munster final defeat to all-conquering Kerry the previous summer. His contribution, it was hoped, when offered in tandem with the singular gifts of Trevor Giles and John McDermott, and the array of talent that made them perpetual favourites, could propel Skryne from constant challengers to undisputed champions. For the greater part of the year, things passed according to plan, the only semblance of a slip arriving when Syddan held them to a draw in the group stages. Having comfortably qualified for the knock-out stages with facile victories over Oldcastle (by nine points) and Gaeil Colmcille (by 23), they then got the better of Kilmainhamwood and Dunderry on the road to the decider, their performances - characterised by comfortable indifference - promising that better was to come, should they require it. In the final, they were compelled to visit the well, and found it dry. Questions remain to be answered, hanging like a brimming cloud over this most expectant of clubs. Could a team who paired John McDermott with a different partner at midfield for almost every game expect the engine-room dominance required to carry them to the senior title? By next summer, Mac will be 32 and, while the absence of winter training with Meath undoubtedly helped his cause in the year just gone, he does not have too many more senior campaigns in his legs. Undoubtedly, he remains one of the most important players in the Skryne set-up, his pedestal of influence hardly shared by anyone other than Giles. His ball-winning talents, though understandably fading from their almost unparalleled heights, are still among the best in the country, while his leadership is one attribute that can never suffer ruination at the hand of time. Admittedly, concerning the need for a settled backbone, the quarter-final hamstring injury to regular centre back Ronan Mulvaney hardly helped matters, but the spine of Skryne's side was hardly settled before then - who could have guessed the identity of McDermott's partner or, for that matter, the holder of the vital centre forward berth, on any given day? Giles, Mick O'Dowd and Brian Smyth all manned the Number 11 spot at various stages, hardly the optimum state of affairs if continuity holds the recipe for success. The form of Giles, also, caused some debate in the run-up to the final. In both club and county colours, this was far from Giles' best year, but he could not be expected to reproduce an impeccable level of form indefinitely. Troughs stumble in on every player's career, and it is to be hoped that he will put this one behind him quickly. Few doubt that he will; class is permanent, form temporary, goes the adage. His stationing at centre back on the team late in the year, after Mulvaney's injury, also gave rise to the formulation of contrasting opinions, from both Skryne followers and others. It has long been mooted that Giles himself considers centre back his favourite position. It allows him an expansive view of the pitch and that eventuality, when he gets ball in hand, would surely be as tasking a conundrum as any opposing team might wish to confront. But the centre half back berth packs with other responsibilities, something that, it has been suggested, could rob one of the country's most gifted playmakers of the time and space needed to create. When the situation - Skryne's starkly apparent flaccidity - demanded a greater Giles influence higher up the pitch in the second half of the county final, he was asked to station himself closer to the Dunshaughlin goal in an attempt to stir the attacking unit into something resembling the necessary cohesiveness. It didn't work, but then again any plan conceived in panic can suffer the same fate. Giles could yet become a great in the position, but it may take a complete restructuring of his game. That he has the talent to complete the transition is without question; whether Skryne can afford to lose his influence closer to their opponents' goal, though, is far from certain. If Skryne are to recover from the disappointments of the last 18 months, and regain the championship they last won in 1999, they will need to maximise their assets. The men in the famous royal blue were keen that 2001 would see atonement for their lapse against the 'Wood a little over a year ago; if negativity were to prevail, they would lick their wounds and retreat into their shell, lamenting another missed opportunity. But that will not happen. After the last two summers, the identity of the top sides is clear: Skryne are second best behind the two-time champions. Many clubs in Meath would consider such status as something to cherish. Not this one. Not a club with such traditions, such heritage; nobody in the current set-up will allow themselves to be tarred with the second-best brush. No team will relish the prospect of facing them in the 2002 championship, when vengeance - on the playing-fields at least - will doubtless be high on their list of priorities. And the fact, for players, mentors, followers, is that, after two summers of acute disappointment when sustained tilts at the title yielded no tangible end result, nothing less than outright success will suffice next summer. Tweet

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