St Patricks are to the 90s what Dunderry were in the 80s, an Intermediate final nightmare. Royal County reviews the year and argues the future is bright. Most memorable matches usually have a down side in that one of the participants ends up as losers. St Patricks filled that role at the end of the thrilling 1998 Meath I.F.C final and it was not a new experience for the Stamullen club as it was their third defeat in the decider in the 90s. They lost to Ballinlough by 0-11 to 1-9 in the 1991 final and also fell at the last hurdle the following year when Donboyne triumphed by 0-8 to 0-4. Both of those winners made fine progress in the senior ranks, notably Dunboyne while Pat's still find the return to the top grade in which they acquitted themselves quite well in the early 80s so elusive. The latest disappointment, a 1-8 to 0-12 reversal to first time IFC winners Blackhall Gaels, must have been particularly galling for '98 panel members like David Mooney, Noel Collier, Patrick Rothwell, Kevin Ludlow, Cormac Murphy, Neil Lennon, Ciaran Duffy, Peter Sullivan, Martin Kirk, Ivan Curran and Niall Russell, all of whom suffered similar let downs in the early years of the decade. Another players from the 1991-92 finals, John Sullivan junior, was a selector with the team being captained by young brother Cormac, who played at centre back, midfield and full forward during the campaign. Pat's have been knocking at the senior door consistently between 1992 and '98 and many felt that it would at last be opened as they put some indifferent form of the early rounds behind them to build up an impressive five game winning run. Christy Moore's charges probably went into the October 18th decider as favourites but once again they ended up in second place on a big day. Two other East Meath sides were drawn in Division A of the '98 competition with Pat's who faced one of them, St Colmcille's in the opening round at Bellewstown. The Stamullen side won by 0-10 to 0-5 but one of the local newspapers proclaimed 'Pat's Not Impressive' in a headline. They beat opposition who played with 14 men for over three quarters of the game. Moore's men certainly made heavy work of the task in hand. They missed a penalty when Daithi Whyte shot wide and Peter Sullivan drove a shot against the bar. Colmcille's were within a goal of their more fancied opponents coming up to the end of the hour before Noel Collier and Cormac Sullivan sent over late late points to leave it double scores. Pat's were back at Bellewstown two weeks later when other local rivals, Duleek, were forced to come from being four points behind with seven minutes to go to gain a 1-10 each draw in a game played in difficult conditions. Niall Russell and Peter Sullivan were both forced to hobble off injured towards the end of the first half but the Stamullen side overcame those setbacks to go ahead with a goal from veteran Ivan Curran at the start of the last quarter. Martin Kirk, who showed up most prominently along with the two Cormacs, Murphy and Sullivan, put Pat's four points to the good before Duleek rallied to get a point out of the encounter. The third round encounter with St Brigids turned out to be little more than target practice for Pat's as they romped to a 3-17 to 0-6 victory over the north Meath side. Peter Sullivan took the individual scoring honours with 1-8 and Ivan Curran grabbed 1-2. Then followed a much more serious test and one which the Stamullen outfit failed to pass. They were outpointed 0-13 to 0-16 by an emerging Drumconrath side at Walterstown. It has been suggested that the IFC generally provided better fare than the SFC and this was a very well contested and interesting tie. It was 0-7 apiece at half time and after going ahead early in the second half, Pat's were mainly playing catch up for most of that period. With three points dropped after four outings the prospects of Christy Moore's side of reaching the semi-finals did not look great. Rathkenny were setting a hot pace in Division A and had four victories under their belts when facing Pat's at Seneschalstown on August 16th. The title hopes of the East Meath side were revived in no uncertain manner as a stylish display earned an emphatic 1-17 to 0-8 victory. Martin Kirk and Donal Curtis were sent off late in the first half and it was 0-11 to 0-3 at the break. The side in white and green continued to dominate and with the aid of a goal from minor David Flaherty the advantage became 1-14 to 0-3 in the third quarter. Then came two runaway successes for Pat's. The first of them was at the expense of Moynalty at Seneschalstown as 10 players contributed to the 3-25 total with the losers replying with 1-5. Pat's rattled off 21 scores in the second half after leading by 2-5 to 0-5 at the break. Cormac Sullivan (1-3), Daithi Whyte (0-6) and Barry Campbell (0-5) were the leaders of that rout. Another followed at Donore a week later with Syddan being hammered to the tune of 4-13 to 0-6. The fact that a defeat by St Colmcille's in the previous round ended Syddan's hopes of qualifying for the closing stages took much of the gloss from the fact that Mickey McQuillan (Syddan's coach) was opposing his home club. Cormac Sullivan, now at full forward, netted twice in the opening quarter as a 4-3 to 0-2 advantage was built up. With David O'Flaherty and Sean Harris adding goals, it was 4-6 to 0-4 at the interval. With Drumconrath and Rathkenny finishing level in their clash a three way play off to decide two qualifying places became necessary. Pat's were drawn to meet Rathkenny and while the margin was much closer, they earned a 'semi' spot on 0-14 to 1-8 scoreline at Walterstown. Qualification was achieved despite kicking 17 wides. Eleven of those came in the first half during which Daithi Whyte had a weakly hit penalty kept out. It was 0-7 to 1-2 at the break and Pat's kept their noses in front in the second half with Ciaran Duffy in good form at midfield and James Hughes, Ronan Kearns, Whyte and Peter Sullivan who came on as a substitute early in the game, putting in prominent contributions. The winners finished the game with 14 players after Ivan Curran was sent off in the closing stages. Castletown, who had marched through Division B with only a point dropped, to Ballivor, provided the semi-final opposition to Moore's men who hit the right note, winning by 0-14 to 0-12 at Walterstown. Pat's trailed by 0-6 to 0-8 at the break but the switching of Cormac Sullivan from full forward played a big part in enabling them to have the better of the second period. David O'Flaherty sent over eight points and Noel Collier, Cormac Murphy and Peter Sullivan were others to play prominent parts as the club advanced to a third IFC decider in the 90s. St Patricks played their part in making the final against Blackhall Gaels memorable. A Cormac Sullivan goal left them half time leaders by 1-4 to 0-6 and then the county goalkeeper was again moved out to midfield with Neil Lennon going to full forward. Peter Sullivan had the sides level for the sixth time on 50 minutes but subsequently they only managed a David O'Flaherty pointed free in reply to two scores at the other end. Few except Blackhall supporters in the attendance of 3,000 would have quibbled had the match gone to a replay but disappointment was to be the Stamullen club's lot once again. But the side is young enough to come back and claim a title which nobody could begrudge them. Players like Cormac Murphy, Peter and Cormac Sullivan, Daithi Whyte, Noel Collier and Martin Kirk, who have worn county jerseys over the last few years, deserve to perform on the Meath senior club stage and could well make that dream come true in the last year of the century. Eleven of the side which started the final against Blackhall Gaels were 26 or under with six of them in the Under 21 bracket. Five of the latter lined out in attack in the final, so time may be on the side of the present Pat's team. Players like Whyte, O'Flaherty, Ray Russell and Barry Campbell are only just out of the minor ranks and carry a lot of future hopes as Pat's bid to make the long awaited breakthrough. The St Patricks team which sent so close in the 1998 IFC final was : David Mooney, Noel Collier, Paddy Rothwell, Kevin Ludlow, James Hughes, Cormac Murphy, Ronan Kearns, Neil Lennon, Ciaran Duffy, Daithi Whyte, Ray Russell, Barry Campbell, Peter Sullivan, Cormac Sullivan, David O'Flaherty. Subs: Ivan Curran, Martin Kirk, Paddy Mooney. Player Focus Name: Cormac Sullivan Date of Birth: 29/4/77 Height: 6'3" Weight: 14st 6lbs Club: St Patricks County: Meath Notable Sporting Achievements: (Gaelic) 1 All-Ireland SFC, 2 Leinster U-21, 2 Leinster Junior, I Leinster Senior (Other) Meath underage badminton championships INter county debut: National League v Cork 1996 Toughest opponent: Darren Fay Favourite grounds: Croke Park Hobbies: Golf, Swimming, Music Favourite players: Maurice Fitzgerald, Martin O 'Connell. INfluences on your career: My family The high point of your career to date: All-Ireland 1996 Biggest Disappointment: All-Ireland U-21 1997 Other players with a promising future: Enda Grogan, Daithi Whyte (both Meath) Ways of improving the game: Video replays and more authority to linesmen and umpires Dislikes about the GAA: Ticket allocations Do you have any relatives involved in gaelic games: My father is an ex-Meath Minor Board Chairman while my two brothers have represented Meath at all levels winning Leinster and All-Ireland titles Person you would most like to meet: Jim Carrey Favourite personal saying or term of abuse: "Just one for the road!" Pet Hates: Smoking Favourite music/Film: Jerry Maguire Ideal date: Michelle Pfeiffer How would you like to be remembered: Successful - in sport and life Tweet

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