Once again the gaels of Clonard were forced to endure final defeat heartbreak. Royal County talks to Manager Gerry Flanagan about the year gone by. The optimist - he who looks on the bright side of life - from Clonard will recall 1998 as a good year for the south Meath club. Meanwhile, the pessimist - he to whom the glass always appears to be half empty rather than half full - will reflect on the year gone by as a disappointing one. Both have a valid point to argue. The loss to Trim in the Junior B final (0-9 to 0-6) was a crushing defeat for the simple reason that this time Clonard genuinely had a realistic chance of taking the Royal Meath Cup. In 1996 a talented Seneschalstown second string proved to be the rock on which their championship aspirations perished at the same stage, while eventual champions Curraha knocked them out of contention last year in the semi-final. Clonard lost the final because they depended too much on Tony Roche for scores - the corner forward put his name on the losers' entire total. His forward colleagues must share some of the responsibility for a lack-lustre performance in front of the posts which ultimately may have cost them the title. For the 1998 campaign, Clonard opted to bring in a new manager in an obvious attempt to get the best from a group of players who had hitherto been blatantly underperforming. Gerry Flanagan was the man who, while in charge of Curraha, masterminded Clonard's exit at the penultimate stage of last year's competition. An approach was made to the Meath minor selector by the Clonard committee and he decided to accept the invitation. Early signs gave him encouragement for the year that lay ahead. "We had high expectations at the start of the year," reveals Gerry. "Preparations started in early February and it was obvious from then that the players meant business. Facilities were at a premium but that did not deter our determination and the players responded in large numbers." He continues: "Personally I enjoyed my year with Clonard, but felt sorry for the players and officials alike, who with limited resources battle hard against the odds year in year out. If there were All-Star awards for club officials - the names of Joe Gannon, Jim Campbell and Leonard Farrell would be high on my list. "As for myself, 70 mile round trips three times a week was very demanding, but making so many new friendships, in places like Clonard, Skryne and Curraha somehow makes it all worthwhile as life is all about people." Clonard opened their 1998 campaign with wins over Syddan and Castletown (the 1997 defeated finalists). Trim gave them a taste of what was to come by defeating them in the league section, but the team, who sport the Clare jerseys, bounced back to guarantee a quarter-final spot at the expense of Kilmainham. St. Pat's provided the opposition in the quarter-final and were comfortably accounted for by a team which was growing in confidence with every outing. The momentum was maintained at the penultimate stage when Gerry Flanagan's charges produced their best performance of the year to qualify for the decider with Dunderry losing out. Despite that earlier round defeat at the hands of Trim, confidence was high in the Clonard camp that they could redress the balance. "We had high hopes going into the final," the Rathfeigh resident explained. "As coach I listened to the weather forecast every day during the previous week hoping for good playing conditions on the Sunday, but it was obvious as time went by that we were in for dreadful weather. "As our players were a bit tense and were likely to take a while to settle down we decided to play against the elements if we won the toss. But Trim threw our plans askew by calling correctly." Gerry's predictions that his team would take a while to settle was spot-on as it took 16 minutes for Roche to open his side's account - by which time Trim were two points up on the scoreboard. But Clonard, aided and abetted by the wind, began to make their advantage count and two further scores from Roche gave them the lead. Trim restored parity, 0-3 to 0-3, and both added another point to their tally to enter the half-time break all square. The were some worried faces among the large Clonard faithful at the interval, but when Roche regained the lead with his fifth point in the opening minutes of the second period, their anxiety turned to jubilation. Unfortunately, it was shortlived. Trim came back strongly, while all Clonard could muster was yet another free from Roche with 18 minutes remaining. They had more chances. At the end of the third quarter, David McGuinness came to the rescue of Trim when he cleared off the line from Ian Callaghan following good work from intercounty hurler Mark Gannon. As they went in search of an equalising goal in injury-time, once again Gannon found Callaghan in space but the Trim defence regrouped in time to thwart his effort. And so the curtain came down on yet another year when Clonard came so close yet so far. "I thought the team showed tremendous courage and determination in the second half when their backs were against the wall. With a bit of luck they could have got a goal to force a replay. Unfortunately it didn't work out that way but I have no doubt that Clonard's day will come sooner rather than later." The Clonard team which lost to Trim was as follows; D. Campbell; P. O'Rafferty, M. Mulvin, K. O'Rafferty; P. Boland, A. Lynam, W. McEvoy; F. Heavey, F. Hoey; N. Walsh, M. Gannon, A. Campbell; I. Campbell, E. Campbell, T. Roche (0-6). Subs - P. Donlon, A. Farrell , B. Leech. Tweet

Most Read Stories