Been there done that
December 31, 1998
He enjoyed the good times, he braved the bad but one characteristic unified Liam Smith's career with St Mary's and Meath. That characteristic, which will never die, was his sheer love for the game.
So in Donore they say farewell to the man they will never forget. The guv'nor. At 40, when life, they say, is just beginning, Liam Smith has decided to bring his football boots to a museum. This year marked his last in the colours of St Mary's and, appropriately, it was a good one; the correct culmination of 22 seasons which were up and down but never dull or non descript. They will miss him, indeed they will; just like he will miss them.
When Liam Smyth first played for St Mary's junior team, he was a raw 17 year old. Elvis was still alive. Many of today's team were not even born. But still, it was not Liam's longevity that has made him a Donore legend; such a grand status requires attributes less, well, less commonplace, like enviable talent. With his nimble feet and astute forward play, Liam indeed boasted gifts that were worthy of green cheeks. He was strong but he could also fummox defenders with a swerve or a feign. In fact, it was probably his natural ability, combined with his profound passion for the game, which allowed him to continue when the legs were slowing down and hatching mutinous plots. Ability will always bait out age. Smith was banging them in right up to - and including of course! - the day he said goodbye.
The day of the swansong was the Junior final in Pairc Tailteann, against Drumree, the curtain raiser to the Oldcastle/Dunboyne senior decider.
One cannot but come to the conclusion that a final, full of flag-waving glee, was the fitting denouement to a career that reached the ultimate peak of two senior All-Ireland medals in succession.
Fitting, too, that Smith, in the corner, pounced for the first St Mary's score of the game, a glorious goal! He was a predator to the end, notching a total of 2-9 in his last championship campaign.
But that final game ended in loss. With sadness, in a disconsolate dressingroom, he unlaced his playing boots for the last time.
Since then, the expected mixed emotions of the mind have argued the pros and cons of this weird retirement lark.
"It's going to be funny, alright, not training and looking forward to a game," he states. "But I think it was the right time to go. There's a lot of young lads in the club coming through and it would be unfair to deprive them of their chance."
Smith is the field historian for Donore's fortunes, 1976-1998. Before his goodbye game, he had played in two previous Junior finals ('78 & '79) as well as two Intermediate deciders ('83 & '85). 1979, however, was the only occasion when Donore's thirst for success was quenched by a sup from the cup. They had a good team in the early eighties. With a larger slice of luck, they might have joined the senior ranks. He remembers the opportunities well, sums them up economically. "In '83 we led Moynalvey at half time but just didn't deliver in the second half."
Eerie connotations to September 1998.
But what about '85? "That was our real opportunitity," Liam laments. "We should have put the Harps away but they came back and got a draw. Something happened before the replay which he remembers. It was pain. That's something you don't forget?
"I played with Meath in between the two games against the Harps and I got hurt in a challenge. A bone in my shoulder was displaced and I needed an injection before the replay."
The current Lannleire manager enjoyed a nine year career in the green and gold of the county, helping Boylan's side amass more titles than a European aristocrat. For the likeable Smith, Meath's maiden victory, in the 1984 Centenary Cup, was the highlight of those good times. He was a regular then before the emergence of Flynn, Stafford and Beggy, limited his appearances in the championship.
"Winning the Centenary Cup was the beginning of that Meath team. That's when we felt we were possibly onto something big. But still, we lost the Leinster final to Dublin and the following year Laois beat us. It wasn't until the emergence of a few more players that we started winning those vital games."
The demands were rigourous and forbidding but there was no motivation needed when it came to playing for Meath. The pride in wearing the green jersey sufficed always. He remembers the fraternal athmosphere of that Royal camp, speaks glowingly about the great characters and leaders who embodied the very essence of Meath's unquenchable spirit, men like McEntee, Lyons, O'Rourke and, of course, at the top table, Boylan himself.
He sums up nicely those memorable times: "It was great," he says, "to be part of one of the best Meath teams ever."
He was part of others too, of course: in the beginning he was on the Meath VS team that lost the 1977 All-Ireland final; having departed the senior set-up he also played in two Junior All-Ireland finals against Cork and Kerry in the early nineties.
At St. Mary's he's been part of everthing for nearly a quarter of a century.
At the end of the 1996 season, having spent 17 years at Intermediate, St Mary's decided to regrade to the Junior ranks. Intermediate was demoralising, victory becoming as rare as hen's teeth. It was felt the team needed nurturing, needed the confidence that winning brings.
"We got some heavy beatings around then," recalls Liam, "against the likes of Cortown and Blackhall Gaels both of whom are senior now. In two seasons we only won one game. It wasn't doing us any good. Going to junior was the best thing we could have done. We only lost one game in the championship this season and we have more lads fighting for their place on the team."
Last year St Mary's made it to the junior semi-final, this year to the final. Liam feels it's probably better that they haven't bounced straight back up.
"Intermediate is a big step us. There's a lot of very strong teams at that level. Personally, I think the extra year in the Junior grade will do this team the world of good. It will give them the opportunity to grow together and build up slowly. I don't think Intermediate would suit them yet."
But a victory against Drumree would have been a great way to go out, Liam admits.
"It's a pity we didn't win because it would have been a grand way to go out, but it wasn't to be. I think what told against us was our inexperience. We did well in the first half; we could have gone in five points up but Drumree got a goal just before half time. That gave them a real boost for the second half and they never really looked back.
"It was an experience that will hold this team in great stead."
Liam Smith can talk about experience: he has been there, done that, and he has enjoyed the voyage. Satisfied and fulfilled, he has rowed to the shore of rest.
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