Three close-calls prevented 2000 from being the most amazing year ever in the career of Barry Lynch. In the end it just turned out to be unforgettable. For once, pre-season training shouldn't be so hellish. Hardly heavenish either but certainly easier. As we face into the New Year and contemplate the new football season an abundant reserve of fitness is the benefit Barry Lynch has accrued having enjoyed, or should that be endured, such a busy 2000. It was busy and exciting and memorable for Lynch and with a bit of luck there could have been widespread success; there was involvement with Meath U21s, Meath Juniors and an appearance in September in the Junior 'B' final. Sounds sort of incongruous that, Meath U21s and Junior 'B' final in the same sentence. But the Kilmainham midfielder made a marvellous impact last season and is determined to capitalise on that in the coming season ahead. If we were to piece together chronologically Lynch's 2000 first up would be his exploits with the Meath U21s under Paul Kenny in the spring. But we'll begin at the end and Kilmainham's narrowly rebuffed attempt to capture the Junior 'B' championship, something they've been threatening to do for a number of seasons now. Lynch was Kilmainham's main inspiration throughout the season as they recovered from a poor start (defeat to Na Fianna) to record three victories and book their place in the championship semi-final against Clonard. It was to be Kilmainham's most impressive performance of the season. "In 1999 Clonard gave us one of our toughest games," says Lynch. "We only beat them by two points so we knew they'd be a difficult challenge. But we played a brilliant match to win by 1-15 to 0-5. Everyone played well that day." With a vastly experienced Dunderry just edging out St Patrick's in the other semi-final the men from the Navan-Kells road were reasonable confident of causing an upset in the final. Alas, it wasn't - though it nearly was - to be. Kilmainham gave a wonderful performance on the day, full of determination and attacking spirit, as exemplified by their young county man who was described in the Meath Chronicle's match report as "magnificent". However, it just wasn't enough and they eventually went down, agonisingly, by 1-10 to 2-6. Dunderry's tenth point came four seconds from time. It could have all been so different, believes Barry Lynch, had Peter Curran, their defensive pivot, not been sent off by referee Noel Martin. It was certainly the turning point of the game. "Peter got booked early on which was mystifying because it wasn't a dirty challenge at all," opines Lynch. "His sending off was hard to understand in general, and it was a great blow to us. We were three points up at the time and Peter was giving Sean Kelly a torrid time. He was covering everything from centre half back. But from then on we were on the backfoot." At that stage it was 1-6 to 2-4. In a tight finish, what ultimately told against Kilmainham was their lack of experience. "Dunderry weren't as nervous as us. They had a number of old experienced heads on their team like Sean Kelly and John Brady - in fact they had seven players who won a senior championship in 1995. We didn't have that level of experience and at times in the game, that showed," says Lynch. It wasn't the only final defeat Barry Lynch experienced during 2000. The Leinster U21 final with Meath was another. People were surprised to see this fella from lowly Kilmainham, who is available for the U21s again next season, lining out alongside the likes of Nigel Crawford but he took to it like a duck to water. It all began in November 1999 when he was invited to trials by Paul Kenny. He was hoping more to get his foot in for 2001 but ended up with, if you like, everything in. In his first game against Sligo, in a tournament, he scored 1-3. First impressions lasted. When Denis Kealy picked up an injury prior to the Leinster semi-final against Laois the Kilmainham man was given a starting jersey by Robbie O'Malley. "He only told me two days before the game and I didn't get a wink of sleep that night. I was thinking I'm going to be overawed here because it's a big step up from Junior 'B'." That wasn't the case, however. He performed well as Meath defeated Laois by 0-12 to 0-7. He was a half-forward but a typical Meath half-forward. Half the time in the half-backs. Meanwhile, half of Kilmainham went down to Newbridge to cheer him on. He had to concentrate on playing instead of trying to spot his friends and family on the hill. With Denis Kealy coming back for the final against Westmeath, Barry wasn't sure if he'd be starting. But at the expense of Charles McCarthy, he was. It bolstered the belief that he had made a real impression with O'Malley and Kenny. "I wasn't half as nervous for the final as I was for Laois. Having beaten Laois who had won so many minor titles in recent years, we were expected to beat Westmeath. Having seen their semi-final we knew we had a good chance especially if it was a dry day. "Woke up on the day anyway, and it was a dry day. But on the way to Tullamore it started to lash. We changed our studs, went out, and there were 12,000 supporters at the game - 11,000 from Westmeath!" In a tough, scrappy game Meath enjoyed enough chances to win but it wasn't to be for the Royal County. Westmeath dug in and ground out a one point victory to become Leinster champions again. "We all felt we should have done better and there was immense disappointment in the dressingroom afterwards. I really felt for some of the lads who knew it was their last chance to do it for Meath at U21 level." Lynch was also part of Eamon Barry's Meath junior side. Having beaten Kildare by 0-17 to 2-10, they surprisingly lost to Wexford in the Leinster semi-final. Barry cites complacency as one of Meath's problems that day. "We went out there thinking all we had to do was turn up. But we conceded three sloppy goals in the first half and we never get back with them. What made it more disappointing was the fact that we knew we could have went all the way. Peter Curran was involved for Meath last season when they got to the All-Ireland final. He said that this year's panel was stronger." Funny, but what was a wonderful season for Barry Lynch has led to an article all about defeat. Actually, it's hardly funny at all, unless you're from Dunderry, Westmeath or Wexford. "It's been 12 months of pure football," he says. "I've learnt a great deal, especially from Bobby O'Malley who is a great coach. And I'm really looking forward to the coming season. "Our lads," he says, referring to Kilmainham, "will have learned a lot from the experiences of 2000 and I think we'll be there or thereabouts next year, especially with Peter O'Toole training us for the full season. "For me," says Barry, "the spirit of our club is summed up by Patsy Walsh who's been playing on the team since '87/'88. He's a hell of a footballer and fitness-wise he defies age. He's looking forward to next year more than anyone." Tweet

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