St. Michael's has proven to be a home from home for Jim O'Reilly. Royal County chews the fat with a North Meath stalwart. When stalwart Nobber clubman Jim O'Reilly decided to throw in his lot with neighbouring St Michael's back in 1989, he reckoned he'd reached his 'best before' date. Deep inside him he honestly felt also that what was left in the 'oul tank wasn't perhaps sufficient to fuel too many more campaigns on the field of play. Not that O'Reilly, arguably one of the best club footballers in Meath over the course of the 'eighties, didn't wish to contribute to the 'Michael's cause, mind you. Gaelic football, the amateur game that it is, wasn't the be all and end all for the then 33 year old stopper anyway and the move was a purely rational one with no roots in anything other than simple logic. The natural-born Kilbeg man had taken up residence, at the family's former home place in Kilbeg in 1980 and the farm had begun to be quite a handful to manage. In addition, his kids were starting to play with 'Michael's and he felt he owed the club a helping hand. The wholehearted, honest clubman could also have been forgiven, at the time, for finding the 20 mile round trip to training sessions and home matches in Nobber that bit tiresome after nine constant years of hitting the road. The fact that his homeplace in Kilbeg was a mere training spin away from the 'Michael's pitch was neither here nor there and was an irrelevance in his decision to join the Saints. Parish jumping is a long shot away from being Jim O'Reilly's number one sport. Always and ever a GAA stalwart the young O'Reilly lived with his family in Kilbeg 'till he was nine years of age. The move thereafter, along with his mother, father and his four brothers, to Nobber was ironic only because of what was later to transpire. The farm which his father retained in Kilbeg, upon the family's relocation to Nobber, is managed and owned these days by Jim and his wife Bernadette, a sister of former Meath star Colm O'Rourke. Proud father of two boys and two girls, Jim busies himself looking after his burgeoning dairy farm. On the the GAA front, meanwhile, he satisfies himself with helping out at underage level at St. Michaels. Both occupations, it seems, measure up to veritable labours of love. Latterly a senior selector with his adopted club (along with Robbie O'Connell), Jim says that while he enjoyed tremendous times with Nobber, he couldn't have imagined that his stay with 'Michael's would prove so satisfying or rewarding... at least not so quickly. "Certainly, winning the Intermediate Championship title with St. Michael's shortly after joining them in 1989 ranks as probably the highlight of my football career. "At that point in time I had given up hope of winning another medal and I could never have imagined that I could have been so lucky in my first year with the club but that's the way it turned out," Jim reflected. A textbook full back whose resilience and stoical nature made him a team manager's dream ticket, the extremely approachable dairy farmer departed the Nobber scene around the same time as famed county midfielder Gerry McEntee bid adieu to his native club. "We had some good times at Nobber nonetheless but we ended up being just that bit short of what was required. "Maybe we lacked that wee bit extra quality that we needed to transform us into a team capable of winning the senior championship and hence the two semi-final defeats in '83 and '86. "It was hugely frustrating obviously for everyone involved in the club in those times and the two defeats in the semi-finals were body blows which Nobber found it very hard to overcome in the years after," Jim explained. The successor at fullback to long-time Nobber stalwart Michael Monaghan, the now 41 year old reflects back on what he confirms was a thoroughly enjoyable career at club level. He's unashamedly envious (understandably so) of the kudos earned by those of his peers who secured regular berths on successive Sean Boylan trained Royal County senior teams over the years. Jim admits that, in hindsight, perhaps he ought to have given the 'oul football lark at inter-county level a bit more of a lash when he was at his prime. "When I look back at my time playing football, I do tend to regret the fact that I didn't put more effort into commanding a place on the county panel. "In all honesty though, I hadn't much of a gra for the county scene at that time and compared to my efforts with Nobber, playing for Meath didn't mean nearly as much to me. "I don't know whether or not I would have been good enough to secure a regular place with the Meath seniors but I wasn't prepared to put in the effort or give the county scene the commitment, so that was that." In fairness though, given the man's intensely passionate commitment to both Nobber and St. Michael's over the years, one can readily understand just how dispassionate and even cold the county scene may have appeared in contrast to the parochialism he was used to. "I was pleased to beat the Dubs and win a Leinster Junior medal with Meath in 1990 but I never got the same buzz out of playing for the county that I got from being involved on the club scene," Jim admitted. As it was the club scene delivered three prized medals to the lion-hearted defender. An Intermediate Championship medal won with Nobber in 1980 was followed by Feis Cup honours two years later while the aforementioned '89 triumph with 'Michael's put the tin hat on a wholly enjoyable innings for the affable clubman. Those triumphs vied for the times that were in it with disappointments too but O'Reilly knows that the Forest Gump thesis on life is more than well reflected in the world of Gaelic games. He remembers, for instance, Noel Curran, father of Dubs star Paul, giving him the run-around in the 1977 Intermediate Final. Playing against the likes of Ken Rennicks in the '80 decider against Bohermeen Harps was something else, he moots, while sharing a dressingroom with proven footballers like PJ O'Halloran was a distinct honour, he adds. It might have mattered to the bold Jim back in the eighties that the likes of O'Mahonys and Walterstown played the part of spoilsports to perfection but, in hindsight, and now with the sort of calm, mellowed, measured recollection that only the passing of time brings, Jim says that the sport and craic that the game afforded him over the years was the best reward he could ever have earned. That said, he lets it slip that his ambition and that of his Nobber team-mates was stoked and fuelled to the last by undying belief that they had the capacity to win the senior championship at some stage but that it wasn't to be for Nobber. Retired from the playing fields for the guts of four years now, Jim would earnestly like to see his sons John Barry (14) and Felim (10) and his daughters Brita and Aine attain the same sort of satisfaction from Gaelic games as he certainly did. To that effect, he is happy, these days, to help out with the St. Michael's underage troops. Anyway he is keen to continue putting something back into the game he graced for so long. Selfless to the last, that's Michael's club Jim O'Reilly. Late double gives St Michaels girls minor crown Injury time goals from Wendy Flood and sub Trina Doherty clinched victory and the '97 minor football title for St Michael's ladies. They overcame a gallant Dunsany side by a scoreline of 4-6 to 3-8 in September last at Kilberry. It all looked so different for the North Meath girls with time running out, losing by 3-8 to 2-4. But the Michael's knotched 2-2 in the remaining minutes to emerge victorious by a single point. Good performances for the winners came from Mary Costello, Lisa Keenan and Wendy Flood. The winning St Michaels Team - S Carolan, L Lynch, C Sheridan, D Lynch, M Carr, E Lynch, D Daly, M Costelloe, S Lynch, S Carpenter, L Keenan, A Fitzsimmons, S Mooney, W Flood, A Carolan. Sub: N Carolan for Mooney Tweet

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