Frank Dempsey looks at the proud traditions of the Kildalkey club and the bright future that is ahead of them. Although Kildalkey contested the senior hurling championship semi-finals of 1997 against Rathmolyon and 1998 against Kilmessan they will regard this year's failure to reach the knockout stages as a disappointment. Last year's semi-final loss was their third of the '90s having fallen at the same stage in 1994. When they went down to Wolfe Tones by the narrowest of margins and failed to reach the semi-final one wondered if perhaps these groups of players would ever make the breakthrough. With a few exceptions the bulk of the current senior hurling team have been around since the late' 80s. Their first near miss came in 1988 when they failed narrowly to Trim. Two years later in 1990 they again failed to Kilmessan at the final hurdle. That team was back boned by a group of players including the Potterton's, the Davis's and Sean Kealy. That record in the decade has helped to establish them as one of the top clubs in the county. It is obvious from talking to club secretary Paddy Reilly and a man heavily involved at underage level Pascal Carr that the foundations are being laid for the future. Those foundations can probably be traced back to 1996 when Kildalkey defeated Kiltale to win the Under 16 B championship. That success has already produced a number of new up coming stars, Gary McNally and Daniel Fagan broke into the senior ranks in 1998 and Fergus McMahon the dual player needs no introduction to hurling fans at the highest level. Final Stages While not enjoying the best of good fortune the achievement in reaching the final stages of numerous under age competitions this year will undoubtedly bear fruit in the future. Many clubs would be delighted to get to any final in any one year. But their record in spite of winning no silverware is one that the club can be proud of. It reads as follows: Under 11 final versus Killyon, which they lost by four points, Under 13 final against Moylagh which they lost by two points, under 14 semi-final against Longwood was lost by the narrowest of margins and in the under 16 final they went down to Dunboyne again by four points. They reached the semi-final of the minor against Killyon while joined with Boardsmill. They also reached the Under 21B final where they went down to Drumree. 1999 also saw them reach the Junior Hurling semi-Final where they lost to the eventual winners Navan O'Mahonys. Paddy Reilly the current Chairman of the club, who's history stretches back all of 50 years when he started wearing the famed blue and white hoops in 1949, is optimistic for the future. He remembers the good days when they won the Junior Hurling Championship in 1950 followed in 1951 by their only Senior Hurling Championship. Then in the early '70s they went senior after winning the Intermediate Championship and have remained in the senior ranks since then and that is one of the proudest boasts of the village side. Paddy is however optimistic for the future and praises the good work being done at underage level particularly by Pascal Carr. "There is a lot of good work being done at underage level and that should bear fruit in future years. It may however take a little time to get to the point of winning a senior championship with these new players but we have to plan for the future,"states Paddy. History and Tradition Talking to Pascal Carr leaves no doubt as to the usefulness of the history and tradition that attaches to Kildalkey. He is however also aware of the benefits to young players of winning something themselves. "We would love to win one of these underage competitions in the near future to encourage the youngsters to continue playing and set their goals at winning another senior hurling championship for Kildalkey,"adds Pascal. When one looks at some of the players over the years that Kildalkey have produced, one can understand the sentiments expressed by Carr. Lets look at a couple of such players for example, probably top of the list comes Pat Potterton, now in the twilight of what has been an illustrious career. It's not always appreciated that Potterton has a unique place in Meath hurling. He is the only Meath hurler to have won a Railway Cup Hurling Medal on the field of play. He also was a leading light on the inter-county scene and was one of the main cogs on the Meath team of the late '80s up to the mid '90s that won the county's only All-Ireland Senior B Hurling Championship. Another idol that the youngsters can look up to is Seanie Kealy. He is still playing and was a member of that same Meath team. Another of Seanie's big highlights was being honoured as Hurler of the Year in 1998. Among the current batch of players that these youngsters already have to look up to is Fergus McMahon who is a current star with a very bright future. Although still only in his early 20s he has already represented Meath at all levels in both codes. With stars of that quality to look up to and perhaps one or two underage wins in the next few years, the present young hurlers of Kildalkey will rise to the challenge and keep the club firmly to the forefront of hurling in the Royal County. Tradition holds firm Hurling tradition counts, well most of the time as Kildalkey's under 16's proved when overcoming the stern challenge of new boys on the block St. Pat's in an exciting 1998 B Final played at Kilberry on St. Patricks day last. At times the Pat's youngsters looked like creating a major shock leading 0-5 to 0-3 at the break and extending this advantage to five points, 1-6 over 0-4 midway through the second period. Enter the Kildalkey management at this stage and the introduction of Mark Skelly who notched two goals in seven minutes. A further tally of 2-6 was added by his teamates. Kildalkey went on the rampage and ended victorious by 13 points on a scoreline of 4-10 to 1-6. Best for the winners were Padraig Geoghegan who contributed 1-4, Tommy Masterson, Maurice Keogh, Michael Potterton and Skelly. The winning Kildalkey team was: G. Kelly; T. Masterson, S. Corrigan; K. Leavy, M. Keogh, G. Geoghegan; W. McNamara, T. Fox; P. Geoghegan, M. Doran, M. Potterton; M. Skelly, C. Potterton. Sub: M. Skelly Tweet

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