The 2005 Meath intermediate hurling championship produced a number of surprises as both the favourites for the title exited at the semi-final stage. Kilskyre were one of those sides to bow out at the penultimate stage and captain Seamus Byrne told the Royal County GAA yearbook of the club's disappointment. It is a well-known fact in the county that hurling is very much secondary to football mainly due to the success of the county footballers down through the years. For any dual club, football usually takes priority and Kilskyre are no different as they have had to live in the shadows of sister club Ballinlough most of the time. However, Seamus revealed that was certainly not the case this year as a mammoth effort by the hurlers and a poor championship run by the footballers culminated in a major interest in the intermediate championship. "There was definitely a bigger effort placed on the hurling this year. I suppose its the same in any club when you struggle for a few years, its hard to keep the interest level up to scratch and that's what happened in the football," said Seamus. "We also got a new manager in the hurling as Benny Murray was in charge and he made a huge difference when he came in. Benny has won loads of hurling championships with Trim and knows what it takes to win a championship. He instilled a belief in us that we could go all the way and once the players starting believing the same, it was a huge boost to us," he added. Kilskyre began their campaign for the year against neighbours and fierce rivals Gaeil Colmcille. Rumours were abound that the Kells men had not got together before the match and this filtered through to the Kilskyre players who possibly thought a win was a forgone conclusion. That was not the case and the rural club can count themselves fortunate to come away from the match with a draw as Gaeil Colmcille looked the more impressive throughout. "It was not the start we hoped for and maybe we were a bit complacent, but matches between ourselves and Kells are always fairly close. The main thing is that we weren't beaten on the day," stressed Seamus. The black and amber faced a tough task in their next encounter as Dunderry, who had been relegated from the top flight the previous year were the opponents in a match that would see Kilskyre's year take off. In a high scoring encounter, late goals against Dunderry ensured that Kilskyre took the points and Seamus admitted that the result gave them a huge boost. "Yeah, the win against Dunderry really gave us the belief that we could win the championship. Every year you go out thinking that we can go all the way, but it was different this year as our approach to training was totally different, Benny brought in new routines and made the training more interesting, he definitely upped the bar." With a massive belief in the squad that the intermediate title could be annexed, numbers at training were impressive for such a small rural club and Seamus believes that this was due to the new manager and the chairman of the club. "Our chairman Christy Smyth deserves great credit for all the work he has done in the last few years and he was instrumental in bringing Benny in, which was a major coup in itself," he said. Kilskyre's next opponents were a Wolfe Tones side that they have had many great battles with in the last few years. When the sides met in the intermediate final three years ago, it was the Kilberry outfit that triumphed. However, an impressive display by the North Meath side saw them win comfortably as Meath footballer Peader Byrne was on top form scoring 2-2 from play to preserve Kilskyre's unbeaten record. Blackhall Gaels provided the opposition in the next encounter and the Batterstown outfit proved to be tough opponents and despite entering the match as favourites, Kilskyre were relieved to pick up their second draw of the championship. "Blackhall are a very good side and they have a lot of young players coming through the ranks. The important thing is that we didn't lose and we were still on top of the group," added Seamus. Not for the last time in the campaign, Kilskyre would meet Na Fianna and goals were the order of the day as Benny Murray's charges managed to score six, with four of those coming from the impressive Ronan McGuinness. Some of the corner forward's goals were worthy of being scored on the highest stage as Kilskyre recorded a seven-point victory. With two games remaining in the group stages, Kilskyre were guaranteed a place in the semi-finals, although the placings in the top four determined who played who in the knock out stages. The North Meath side comfortably saw off the challenge of both Donaghmore/Ashbourne and St Peter's Dunboyne to cement their place on top of the group and Seamus admitted that going through the early rounds unbeaten was a pleasing factor. "It definitely gave us great confidence coming through the group unbeaten and especially the win over Dunderry, which we were delighted with. There was great enthusiasm at training and numbers were always very good," he added. When the group stages were finally completed, Na Fianna, who finished in fourth place were the opponents in the semi-final. Having already defeated the Enfield outfit in the earlier rounds, Kilskyre were favourites to advance to their second final in four years. The match was fixed for Boardsmill and a large attendance turned out to watch this enthralling semi-final. Murray and his selectors Colm Lynch and Fergus Higgins knew that the group match between the sides would count for nothing and that goals would not be as easy to come by. Kilskyre were dealt a blow with the news that Peader Byrne would be unable to field due to a knee injury, but confidence was still high in the camp that a place in the final could be secured. A Derek Muldoon free early on settled Kilskyre's nerves, but both sets of defences were well on top as scores were hard sought. In a tight opening half, it was the black and amber who lead by the minimum at half time. The second half saw Na Fianna come more and more into the match. A head injury to Bary Smyth forced the full back off the field and the loss of such an experienced player proved detrimental to Kilskyre. A long ball into the Kilskyre defence was not dealt with and Na Fianna pounced for the only goal of the game. There was still plenty of time for Murray's side to get back in the match as they trailed by three points with 10 minutes to go. However, panic seemed to set in among the players and they were intent on going for goals when points would have been a better option. Na Fianna held on despite being under tremendous pressure in the dying minutes and Kilskyre's years was at an end. It was a bitter blow to a side that never really played to their full potential in the semi-final and Seamus admitted the loss was a case of the same old story. "We didn't expect to loss to be honest. Peader was a big loss, but we fell into our bad habits of going for goals when we should have held our heads and taken our points. We seemed to sit back too much early on, when we should have been more in front. "It's all the more disappointing as we really put in a huge effort this year. Our performance in the semi-final was well below par and we know we can play a lot better. You can always improve and we will be looking to do that next year. "We have a lot of talented hurlers here, while there are young lads coming through and along with the more experienced players, we have a good blend. Hopefully, if Benny is still in charge, Kilskyre will win the intermediate championship next year," pointed out Seamus. Tweet

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