Some years ago Boardsmill were the kingpins of Meath hurling but in more recent times football seems to have taken over as the main focus in the club with two championship titles gained and notable progress being made in the big ball game. After the Junior C FC triumph in 2003, there was heartbreak for the footballers in the royal blue jerseys the following year when a late penalty goal by St Vincent's undone their brave bid in the Junior B decider. But Boardsmill went one better in the grade when just edging out St Brigid's on the day before last September's Tyrone-Kerry All-Ireland final. The victory represented another step up the ladder for the team so well coached by Dessie Hamilton, who along with Mick Leonard and Anthony Reilly, has done such splendid work for football in the small club. It was a special success for the Hamiltons with son Keith having the distinction of captaining the team on the way up to the highest junior ranks. That was achieved with a 1-10 to 1-9 victory over the opposition from Ballinacree with Hamilton junior scoring six points of the winning total. "We have been waiting two years to get back here and it's great to win it after the disappointments of the past,' he said in his acceptance speech. The Hamiltons were bridging a gap of 21 years with Dessie being on the Ballivor team which won the Junior B FC title in 1984. Three years before that he helped Ballivor gain IFC honours. However, he regrets missing out on a possible outright success in the SFC in 1973. Dessie Hamilton was a flying forward when Ballivor scored a shock semi-final success over defending champions Seneschalstown, who had lifted the Keegan Cup for the first time in 1972. But he had a flight to Canada, where he was domiciled for a few years, booked and despite efforts by club members to persuade him to delay the journey, Dessie missed the final. Navan O'Mahonys narrowly defeated Ballivor and now over 30 years on Hamilton wonders if the outcome would have been different had he been in Navan on final day. Of course, it's all crumpet in the clouds but now Dessie has rueful regrets. Fast forward into the new century and Dessie reflected on the near miss in 2003. "That hit us really hard and the lads just could not lift themselves the next year. They didn't put in a 100 per cent effort. But there was a different attitude this year and the team got it going again," he said. "Although we were in a tough division with a few second teams from senior clubs in it, we decided not to train too hard as we were confident of getting into the quarter-finals. When we got there we began to take things a bit more seriously. Most of the footballers also play hurling but there was a lot of emphasis on football in the club this year," added Hamilton. In the group stages Boardsmill lost narrowly to 2004 beaten finalists Walterstown, who had trounced the 'Mill no less than 14 points in a quarter-final clash, and were held to a draw by St Patrick's. The Blacks beat the 'Mill by 0-9 to 1-5 in a third round tussle last May. The game against the Stamullen club's second string ended 0-10 to 1-7. They had beaten St Paul's and Trim in their first two games and got back on the winning trail with a 1-14 to 2-7 victory over south county rivals Clonard. Eoin Dunne netted their goal, Keith Hamilton sent over five points and Bernard McLoughlin raised three white flags. A quarter-final spot was booked with a 1-8 to 0-6 success over Cortown at Kildalkey with the winners finishing well with three points. Boardsmill were finding their form at the right time and they turned on then style in the 0-18 to 1-9 win over Na Fianna in the quarter-final clash. Dessie Hamilkton thinks that was the best display of the campaign by his charges. That put them through to meet Walterstown and they atoned for the previous two defeats at the hands of the Blacks with a 2-5 to 0-6 victory at Dunsany. "We were a little lucky in that game, it was a bit of a dog fight but we learned a lot from the first game against them," said the Boardsmill boss. That was a sweet success for the men in blue and white and remarkably they got their entire total in the first half, at the end of which they were well on the way to another final when leading by 2-5 to 0-3. They started brightly with the long-serving Alan Ashe sending over two early points. Danny Coogan fisted a delivery from Keith Hamilton to the net and after Hamilton kicked a brace of points Stephen Gibbons grabbed the second goal Walterstown put on a lot of pressure in the second half but they only managed to add three points. The Boardsmill defence excelled with Gerry Jones, Eoin Dunne and Paudie Guy standing out. The final at Pairc Tailteann provided an exciting encounter for the enthusiastic crowd and after taking the lead on two minutes, Boardsmill were always ahead apart from a brief spell in the second half and finished up as 1-10 to 1-9 winners. Captain Keith Hamilton led by example, winning a lot of the ball around midfield and sending over six points, four of them from frees. The county junior kicked two splendid long range points from play in the first and his side led by 0-7 to 0-3 at the break. Boardsmill showed their mettle in the second half when regaining the initiative after St Brigid's drew level soon after the restart and after the men from Ballinacree edged in front on 40 minutes. It was 0-7 to 1-4 four minutes after the resumption and Brigid's replied to a Keith Hamilton converted free with two points to lead by 1-6 to 0-8. At the end of the third quarter substitute David Farrell grabbed a vital goal for Boardsmill seconds after joining the action as he finished to the net following a scramble in front of the posts. After that Boardsmill sent over two more points to three for their opponents with Alan Ashe and Keith Hamilton completing the winning total. After receiving the cup from Meath's Central Council representative Brendan Dempsey, Keith Hamilton said it was an absolute honour to be captain as the club made it to the highest grade of junior football "On todays performance any of the lads could have the honour," he said. "While there was little between the teams in the final, I think we just about deserved to win. But it was an agonising time at the end, waiting for the final whistle," the manager reflected. Play was stopped during injury time when Danny Coogan received a head injury and was stretchered off. The veteran full forward later left hospital to join in the celebrations. "I was very nervous when St Brigids got a late late 45 because St Vincents got their winning goal following a 45 in 2003. I was so delighted when the final whistle was blown, I thought I'd never see the cup," said Dessie. The celebrations were in Kielys in Trim. Publican John Kiely is a generous sponsor with the club holding the weekly lotto as well as other get-togethers in the premises. Dedicated club member Eddie O'Brien missed the final because of illness but panel member and son Daniel brought the cup to Navan Hospital. Boardsmill can look forward to the step up to junior A ranks and their manager 'will test the waters and see how we get on in our first year up, there is no point in making wild targets. But most of the players in their early 20s, Boardsmill could well make a bold bid to get up another rung of the ladder. The Boardsmill team which was on duty in the 2005 Junior B FC final was : Stephen Masterson; Gerry Jones, Paul Dunne, Seamus Guy; Eoin Dunne, Stephen O'Toole, Thomas Leonard; Keith Hamilton, Vincent Guy; Paudie Guy, Stephen Gibbons, Thomas Reilly; Alan Ashe, Danny Coogan, Reamonn Cribbin. Subs -David Farrell for Paul Dunne, Eric Cribbin for Ashe, Bernard McLoughlin for Coogan, Joseph Cotter, Daniel O'Brien, Darren Lacey, Sean Reilly, Mark Reilly, John Flood, John Mitchell, Ian Darby. Older GAA supporters in Meath will remember when Boardsmill were a strong force in hurling in the county. They won the SHC for the first time in 1958 and the Jubillee Cup was regained in 1964. The '70s was a very successful decade with further triumphs in 1971, '73, '74 and '75. But the last few years have been quite lean for hurling in Boardsmill and in the 2005 SHC they won just one of their five group games. That was gained in a 3-9 to 1-7 success over Longwood. They may take some encouragement from running eventual champions Killyon to three points (2-11 to 0-14) in the second round. Boardsmill hit 14 wides in that game and will be hoping to improve their performance level in hurling in 2006. One wonders if football or hurling will get the lead in the club's feature in the 2006 Meath GAA Yearbook Tweet

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