If ever there was a player that epitomised the spirit which exists in Moynalty then it's Thomas Og Lynch. Here he chats to Royal County about the reasons behind the club's poor performance in '98 and their prospects of winning the Intermediate championship in the near future. Wholehearted, committed, reliable are all adjectives that spring to mind in describing Moynalty's long serving Thomas Og Lynch. Since a ten year old, he has worn the red and white of the north Meath club with a pride some clubs could only wish for. Silverware, while always welcome, was never a motive. If it was Thomas would have hung up the boots long before now. In the early days there was success. A junior championship souvenir and Div. 4 League medal were garnered in 1987 and '88 respectively. Since then however, medals and trophies have been a scarce commodity around the north Meath footballing stronghold. Now approaching the twilight of his career, an ambition to steer Moynalty to an Intermediate championship success burns deep within. One last hurrah if you like. But at 29 years of age many would argue that it's a little premature to be writing his football obituary. The Moynalty faithful will be looking to the likes of Thomas to spearhead their challenge for years to come. The Red and Whites didn't enjoy the best of years in '98. But their poor form in the championship masks the fact that circumstances contrived to deal them a cruel fate. Injuries deprived them of the services of four or five of their more accomplished players. "We were struck really badly with injuries," Thomas recalls. "And a rural club like ours can't afford to be losing anyone. It's alright for a town team because they have the pick, but when you're working with a panel of 25/26, losing some of your better players can have a disastrous effect on the year." Thomas, himself, was the victim of a serious injury in 1997 which confined him to the sidelines for the majority of the year. With a full compliment, Moynalty would be a real handful for any intermediate side in the county. In players of the calibre of Damien Lynch (Thomas' brother), Stephen Smith, Paul Govern, Ben Smith, and Thomas they possess the nucleus of a team capable of mounting a serious bid for Intermediate honours. The Bank of Ireland Kells official echoes these sentiments. "It's true that we have a fierce amount of talent. A lot of the lads would have played with Meath at some level or another. It's a very young panel mainly aged between 17 and 23. Myself and Ben Smith would be the oldest. "They have enjoyed a fair amount of success recently, winning U17 and minor championships. If they put in the effort there's no doubt that the material is there to win a championship." As Thomas mentions Moynalty players have been a permanent fixture on Royal County sides in recent times, himself included. His performances with the Meath/Cavan border club attracted the attention of the Meath juniors selection committee and he was a member of the side which contested the 1996 All-Ireland decider with Cork. That shoulder injury prevented him from collecting his second Leinster medal in '97 but he returned to the green and gold this year. Unfortunately Offaly proved to be the rock on which their championship aspirations perished at the quarter-final stage. Thomas was introduced as a substitute for Drumconrath's John Carey. What went wrong against the Faithful County? "They were very strong," he replies. "To be honest they whipped us. Since I started playing with the juniors I had never come across as strong a team. Coming out of Navan after that game I said that they would be hard stopped, and that is the way it turned out as they reached the All-Ireland final. He continues: "They had a big advantage over us. They were allowed play their second best team. They had players from Edenderry and Ferbane, eight or nine of them were members of their senior panel and they were training over the winter months under Tommy Lyons. They were just way too good." Can Meath bounce back in 1999? "I'd expect that we'll come back big time. Unfortunately we won't have the Kealys from Dunshaughlin who will be a big loss but there are enough good players in the county to win another Leinster title." The junior competition has come in for its fair share of criticism recently. There has even been calls from some quarters to do away with it. The affable Lynch believes such a move would be a mistake. "Unfortunately the junior competition doesn't get near the same support as the seniors, but for intermediate and junior players in Meath it's a very valuable competition. It gives us a chance to represent our county which we wouldn't get otherwise. It gives us an opportunity to play a higher standard of football and for me personally it was an honour to put on a Meath jersey." An interest in football was instilled in Thomas and his brother Damien (who was a member of the Meath minor panel three years ago) by their father Jim who sadly passed away in 1984. As passionate a man about gaelic football as one could hope to meet, his two sons have inherited his love of gaelic football. "He lived for football and was heavily involved," remarks Thomas. "A regular occurrence was ten lads piling into the back of his Volkswagen heading off for a match. He never missed a county game." Married to Margaret, Thomas has two sons of his own, Carl and Ben. No doubt those two will be out kicking ball just as soon as they've mastered the basics . . . like walking and talking! In the meantime though, all Thomas' efforts will be channelled towards helping Moynalty win that elusive intermediate title. Will 1999 be the year? Time will tell. Tweet

Most Read Stories