One of the county's most respected hurling men is Kiltale's Noel Keating. Here, the Tipperary native chats to Royal County about his career, his involvement with Kiltale and his fantastic achievement in guiding Meath to Under 21 and Junior All-Ireland glory this year. What a year for Kiltale's Noel Keating! Not only did he succeed in guiding Meath to a second successive All-Ireland Junior Hurling title, he later steered the under 21s to an All-Ireland 'Special' final win over Kerry. Since arriving in the Royal County over 30 years ago, Keating has made a massive contribution to Kiltale and Meath hurling and has an outstanding track record as a manager. Noel Keating's love for hurling was instilled in him at an early age. A native of Ballyneill, situated just outside Carrick-on-Suir (Maurice Davin, the first President of the GAA also hailed from the same area), Noel played with Carrick Swans before arriving in Meath in the mid-1960s. He lined out for Trim for a number of years before joining Kiltale with whom he won junior and intermediate honours in the early 1970s. After completing his playing career, Keating ventured into management. In 1982 - his first year as Kiltale trainer - he delivered the senior championship. Kiltale retained the senior championship the following year and added the Feis Cup in 1984. It was undoubtedly the most successful period in Kiltale's history and unsurprisingly, a period which Keating holds fond memories of. "Those were great days for Kiltale and it was marvellous to be part of their success. We had great players like Paddy Kelly, Ger and Mickey Regan, Richie Melia, the late Robbie Melia, Tommy Cummins and Harry Donovan at our disposal. Most of the lads played gaelic and soccer as well and things were going well on those two fronts also. It was a wonderful time for the area overall," he recalls. In 1985, Keating became manager of the Meath under 21 hurlers and has guided them to five Leinster 'Special' Championships since then. This year, Keating's charges landed the All-Ireland crown, achieving a memorable 3-10 to 2-11 victory over Kerry in a final played at Toomevara, Co. Tipperary. En route to winning the All-Ireland, Meath came through a number of testing games, none moreso than the Leinster final against Wicklow. Having needed a late point from Ronan Fitzsimons to force a draw at Trim, the Royals emerged as deserving six-point winners in the replay at Arklow. Meath's prize for winning the Leinster title was a showdown with Dublin in the championship proper four days later. Keating's men gave an excellent account of themselves, only losing to the Metropolitans by two points. Their feats has provided tremendous encouragement for the future of Meath hurling. Noel became involved with the Meath junior hurling team in 1997 and has brought them to three All-Ireland finals in the intervening period. In his first year, Meath lost the decider to Monaghan but exacted sweet revenge in '98. The Royals retained the All-Ireland crown with a completely different team last August, Tyrone's first team being their victims in the final. In retaining the title, Keating called up veterans Paddy Kelly, John Gorry and Martin Smith, players who had backboned Meath's All-Ireland 'B' Championship success in 1993 (Noel had been part of John Davis' backroom team at the time). "Without the experience of the three lads, I don't think we would have retained the All-Ireland," he says. "It was a great achievement because we had to replace the '98 team with a new bunch of players. It just goes to show the strength in depth that exists in Meath hurling." Keating is fulsome in praise of the roles played by his under 21 and junior selectors Dessie Ferguson, Liam Kerrane, Sean Colgan and Kevin Mullen. He also compliments the efforts of Tipperary hurling star Liam Cahill who trained both teams. The Kiltale clubman is keen to point out that he has always received good support from the County and Hurling Boards when it comes to preparing county hurling teams. "There's a perception out there that the County Board doesn't have much interest in hurling. That's completely untrue. The County Board have always been very helpful to both myself and the players. They are just as ambitious as any of us to see Meath hurling being successful," he explains. While disappointed with Kiltale's failure to make an impact in the 1999 senior championship, Keating is hopeful of an upswing in fortunes over the coming years. "It was all about consolidation for Kiltale last season and the wins over Dunderry and Boardsmill were enough to keep us up. We have an ageing team at the moment and it's going to take time for the younger players to filter through. Realistically, I don't think Kiltale will get back to winning championships until the balance between youth and experience is right." For now, however, Noel Keating can put his feet up and reflect on his wonderful achievements during 1999. Next year promises new challenges and no doubt Keating will once again rise to them magnificently. Junior camogie crown for Kiltale Kiltale went one better than last year when they came from eight points behind to land the Meath junior camogie crown after a tense and tight battle against Donaghmore/Ashbourne at Stamullen. The scoreboard read 3-2 to 2-3 when he final whistle ended. Two goals gave Donaghmore/Ashbourne a dream start and they appeared to be well on their way to victory as they opened a 2-3 to 0-1 interval advantage. Kiltale, however, improved dramatically in the second half and goals from Louise Adams, Marie Clare Hickey and Mary O'Brien turned the game on its head and gave them a lead which they maintained until the end. Meath Co. Board chairperson Brigid Carney presented the cup to the victorious captain Freda O'Leary. Kiltale - M. Ni Laoire; D. Smyth, M. Smith, L. Bannon; D. Dixon, D. McGann, C. Ni Laoire; M.C Hickey (1-0), S. Smih; M. O'Brien (1-0), A. Gilsenan, F. O'Leary; M. O'Reilly, L. Adams (1-2), P. Gilsenan. Sub - W. McCormack. Tweet

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