Considering the circumstances surrounding their year, Duleek did remarkably well to preserve their intermediate status in '99. Kenny McDonnell talks about this year and next with Royal County. After going close to outright glory in the intermediate championship two years in succession in '96 and '97, 1999 was a second summer of underachievement for the men of Duleek. In what has generally been described as one of their worst years ever, their championship campaign fell just short of disastrous and was compounded by a terrible run in the league, eventually resulting in relegation to Division 4. Kenny McDonnell, one of only a handful of survivors from the junior-winning side of '95, is candid in his summation of the year. "Ah, it was absolutely terrible, one of the worst years for a long time. We couldn't seem to get anything going, and nothing went right for us at all. We didn't get much luck, and lost two or three games by just a point." Duleek lost by the minimum margin to Rathkenny, Donaghmore/Ashbourne and Bective and defeated Moynalty and St. Brigids to leave them one point clear of a relegation play-off. Considering this year as a whole, losing their trainer early on, avoiding relegation must be seen as some measure of success, but there is no denying that they were unfortunate to lose so many games by a single point. "We got a fella from Doonbeg in Clare in to train us at the start of the year," recalls Kenny, "but it ended up that he only stayed for a few months. He said that if the lads didn't give the commitment, he would go, and there was no real commitment all year. He walked out then because of the lack of interest, and things were really bad at that stage. After that, a couple of the lads in the club took over the training, but it was always going to be hard to get everybody going, especially after not doing well over the first few games." The opening round saw Duleek come up against Rathkenny, who were strongly fancied to advance from the group. In a low-scoring game, Rathkenny got the crucial goal, eventually winning by 1-6 to 0-8. It was to be the start of troubled times for Duleek; for the remainder of the championship, they could find no meaningful rhythm, and in the end did remarkably well to avoid the ignominy of relegation. The most important match for the club all year was the group game against Moynalty, when victory was vital if the club were to leapfrog St Brigid's in the catfight to escape the drop. When the chips were down, Duleek found the form that had eluded them all year, running out convincing winners, much to the chagrin of Ballinacree side St Brigid's, who were consigned to relegation by the result. In a humiliating league campaign, Duleek were odds-on for relegation after a playoff from early on, as they became detached from the remainder of clubs in Division 3. They were unable to turn their fortunes around sufficiently to avoid the drop to Division 4, and junior teams will make up the majority of their rivals in league action in 2000. When McDonnell reminisces about the good times that visited the parish for three successive summers between '95 and '97, the first thing he points out is the amount of changes in personnel in the interim. "I think there were about ten different players playing on the team this year than in those years, with myself, Bartle Lenihan, Colin Duignan and Stephen Murphy in the minority who had played in the big games of a couple of years ago. My brother Karl would have been playing as well, but tore ligaments in his knee at the start of this year and missed the whole summer. He's over that now, though, and will be back fighting fit again next year." Duleek won the '95 junior championship with victory over Drumconrath , and in their first year in the higher grade surpassed all expectations by reaching the final. In an absorbing match against Cortown at Navan, Duleek led by five points at one stage, but were eventually beaten, depriving them the opportunity of attaining senior status. A year later, as yet showing no signs of any negative reaction to the defeat in the '96 decider, they returned to the intermediate final, where they faced a Dunshaughlin side that had lost five semi-finals in the nineties. Duleek were slow from the starting blocks, and the match was over before they knew it, with the scoreboard at the final whistle little short of embarrassing. McDonnell, who missed most of the summer of '97 with a groin injury, returned in '98, but it didn't take him long to realise that the appetite of the players had receded considerably. "After losing two finals in a row, and especially being annihilated in the second one, everybody was absolutely rattled; it was always going to be very hard for anybody that took over from Eamonn Barry to raise us again. It takes a lot to get over the disappointment of that, and a good few of the lads as good as packed it in after that. It's a real pity, but after losing two years in a row, it was always going to be very hard to get it going again." Kenny laments the fact that many players from the successful Duleek underage teams of which he was a part do not now play any gaelic football. "We won the under 14 league and the under 15 championship, and they got to the under 17 final. Of that team, only a few, such as Mark Cudden, Neil Barry, Declan Farrell, Michael Ferguson and Pauraic Byrne still play. After how well we did for a couple of years, you would have expected that a few more would have come through, but it's a pity that they didn't." Prior to his family moving to Duleek, Kenny lined out for St Mary's of Donore, though he has been living in Duleek for over a decade now. An excellent underage footballer, he was part of the Meath minor team that was beaten in the Leinster semi-final by Dublin in '95. "We had a very good team that year, and were expected to do very well after beating Offaly and Louth. But we made a couple of mistakes against Dublin, and lost out. It was very disappointing, because we really thought that we would do fairly well." This year, Kenny followed in his brother's footsteps by making the Meath junior panel. Though he played no part in the side's protracted run to the All-Ireland final, he was very disappointed to lose out to Waterford in the decider. "It was a terrible feeling, after getting so close, but a few mistakes in the last couple of minutes gave Waterford their chance, and they took it very well. The lads put in a lot of effort all year, and everyone took it very seriously, so everyone was very disappointed after the match." It will be back to club commitments next summer for McDonnell, and despite the poor year endured by Duleek in'99, he is confident that things can be turned around. "If everyone gets together, and decides to put it in, I have no doubt that we can get back to where we were a few years ago. The buzz that the three finals brought to the parish was great and no-one will ever forget winning the junior championship in '95. If we can get something going, we could get back to that level again." The club will have a new manager for the coming year, and there is no denying the size of the task he faces. But Kenny McDonnell is hopeful that the new man can help bring the good times back to Duleek. Tweet

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