Moylagh's poor record in county finals came back to haunt them in '99, but that bogey will surely be laid to rest in the near future. It was just like old times for the people living around the Knocklough, Dromone, Gortloney, Loughcrew and the Skerry Cross areas of north Meath on Sunday October 31st. Their beloved Moylagh footballers were back on the big stage. After years in the wilderness, the men in green had returned to Pairc Tailteann for a Meath championship final day, the junior decider where opponents St Pauls stood between St Olivers and another step back up the footballing ladder. And things just do not change as two items represented themselves to this writer. As in days of yore, Moylagh folk were there in their many hundreds, as enthusiastic as ever. However, their terrible record on final day again stood the test of time as the other set of Saints from some 50 miles away just held out, 0-11 to 0-9 following 60 minutes of exciting stuff. As in the junior final of '68, when Flathouse (the forerunners to the present Pauls club) and as in a number of occasions during the early '70s, Moylagh bowed out, went under when things could have turned out much more positively. Ironically in the final that Moylagh should not have won, the 1975 intermediate showdown with Dunshaughlin, when the black and ambers played their north Meath opponents off the field what happened? Moylagh St Olivers (Blessed Oliver became Saint Oliver that autumn) knocked in two late goals and practically robbed Noel Curran's men. Another miracle perhaps. Back to '99 though and our message to Moylagh. Worry not, you will take that elusive junior crown - if not next season, then very shortly indeed. One important fact the pundits overlooked in the lead up to and in the aftermath of this year's clash of the Saints, was Moylough's much lower age average. They conceded years and vital experience all over the field. And yet came within a whisker of bringing home the Matthew Ginnity Cup. A strong gale and associated showers blew down from the Hospital end of Pairc Tailteann and Pauls gained its first advantage. Two early points suggested that the men operating in the Clare colours would build up a significant advantage. However, white flags from the boot of right winger Padraig McCormack soon dispelled such notions. Indeed, after a long period of cancelling each other out, full forward Barry Hanlon actually put the north Meath combination ahead. Moylagh were playing extremely well at this stage, but the Pauls dug deep and scraped together a 0-6 to 0-3 interval lead. One always had the suspicion that St Pauls would perform much better into the storm. They found it hard to play the long ball game, which the conditions demanded and true to form the future champions, despite another brace from Hanlon, played their best football on the turnover. At one stage, the lead was increased to 0-10 over 0-5 and Clonee could even afford the luxury of a missed penalty. It was this passage of play in the middle portion of that second half which was to prove so costly for Moylagh. Probably Damien Hobbs' penalty miss had that wakening up effect and they subsequently placed the Pauls goalmouth under a period of intense siege. Hanlon struck for two more white flags and fine individual efforts from McCormack and young Justin O'Reilly now swung the initiative their side's way. Danny Growney was winning good ball at midfield and a draw looked a possibility. But Moylagh as they say, had shot their bolt and St Pauls enjoyed the game's last score. No fault though on the likes of safe keeper Declan Traynor who kicked so well into the wind in the opening half. Full back Colm Fanning got tremendous length into some of his clearances and with experienced corner backs Declan Flood and Enda McNamee, formed the side's strongest line. Carl Clinton was solid right through at centre half and received good support from wing defenders, the O'Reillys, Ronan at number 5 and Carl. Danny Growney, a county under 21 and senior panellist is Moylagh's big name player and he can be happy enough with his performance on the day, and especially after operating in an area where the opposition were inclined to overcrowd. J.J. Brody played at midfield on the outstanding Moylagh team of the '70s and it was good to see son Damien continue the family tradition. With Growney, he creates a formidable partnership. The right side of the Moylagh attack proved the most dangerous and certainly the most productive. Padraig McCormack struck for three fine points and brought the St Olivers faithful to life with one great 100 yard solo during the second period. Inside him Justin O'Reilly only really got going in the final ten minutes. But Justin is a mere 16 year old and was a regular on the Meath under 14 and 16 teams over the last couple of seasons. Here is a lad of great potential and perhaps the Moylagh selectors erred in not giving him a more versatile role out the field and away from the shackles of a tight marking corner back. We talked of the Brody connection re '75 and '99. One of the stars of that terrific comeback nearly a quarter of a century past was full forward Kevin Hanlon. Sadly, high fielding Kevin passed away in the lead up to the Pauls match but he would have been proud of his son's contribution. Barry, also a full forward, kicked a total of five points. He probably should have placed one of his second half efforts under rather than over the bar, following a decisive Moylagh move but overall, Hanlon caused the St Pauls backline numerous problems. Making up the attack were centre half forward John Oliver Egenton, left half Peter Agnew and left full Patrick Kenny. Experienced Eugene Coyle made a brief second half appearance. There is another plus factor which supplements our early theory of Moylagh winning this competition in the very near future. The men in green ran out onto the Pairc Tailteann turf without two of their key players. Down native, captain and midfield star Eamonn Campbell and sharpshooting Angus Fanning were huge losses. Fanning had struck for five points in the semi-final win over Dunsany. Incidentally Carl Clinton wore the captain's armband on final day. That semi-final win over championship favourites Dunsany was probably Moylagh's best performance of the year. A terrific second half comeback saw them outscore Jimmy McGuinness' men by 1-15 over 2-8. Ratoath, as in '98 were just pipped 0-10 to 0-9 in the quarter finals. In their group section the north Meath men had big wins over Meath Hill in the opening round, Kilbride and Bellewstown. However, St Peters Dunboyne and Curraha proved tougher nuts to crack and Skryne even had the audacity to overcome the future finalists 1-8 to 0-10, following an exciting hours football at Bective. Teacher Al O'Donoghue, as he did during the '70s, was team manager while Brendan Dolan, John Martin and Martin Growney acted as team selectors. John Mulvany from the Ramor club in Cavan acted as team trainer and he was a very useful addition. Moylagh GFC made an important decision some years past. Prior to then the local boys played their underage football with the parish team Oldcastle. Success was achieved by all accounts but many within the Moylagh community felt that some of their own were not getting adequate football. Hence a youth section of the club was formed and while winnings on a large scale were never going to become reality, progress has been smooth and the Moylagh youngsters have held their own. But more importantly, the work in the juvenile section has already made an imprint on the adult teams. Young Justin O'Reilly promises to be the first of many. A county under 14 in 1997, Joe Melia gained similar recognition in 1998. Incidentally again, Joe's father is well known Moylagh personality Ollie. Ollie viewed the game from the Pairc Tailteann sidelines as a serious injury curtailed his activity. We wish him well in his recovery. Ollie Melia's good friend Sean Fox also has a couple of good gasuns on the way up. Tradition matters in Moylagh and just like their fathers, uncles and brothers before them the Foxs, Melias, Traynors, Floods, Growneys, Brodys, McCormacks, Hands, Gralls and Hanlons will have another big day with their club. The Moylagh team in the final was - D Traynor; D Flood, C Fanning, E McNamee; R O'Reilly, K Clinton, C O'Reilly; D Growney, D Brody; P McCormack 0-3, J O Egenton, P Agnew; J O'Reilly 0-1, B Hanlon 0-5, P Kenny. Sub - E Coyle. Durkin's treble destroys Dunderry ladies It's goals that count. Just ask Celeste Durkin or more importantly Dunderry who although notching two more scores than their Moylagh counterparts, fell foul to a hatrick of goals from diminutive corner forward Durkin. In an exciting game her scores proved decisive as the North Meath outfit came out on top by a scoreline of 3-6 to 1-10 late last year at Carlanstown in the women's Division 2 final. Best for the winners were Claire Coyle, Anne Briody, Eileen Rahill, Orla Martin and Durkin. The winning Moylagh team was - C. Baugh; C. Coyle, M. Briody, L. McCormack; B. Smith, A. Briody, C. Rahill; E. Rahill (0-2), T. Gibney; O. Martin (0-3), P. McCormack, N. Grall; G. Brady, M. Henry (0-1), C. Durkin(3-0). Tweet

Most Read Stories