Kiltale's interest in this year's senior hurling championship may have once again ended at the semi-final stage, but the club continues to head in the right direction. Kiltale captured the minor hurling title in 2005 and top forward Peter Durnin believes it may not be too long before a SHC title is annexed. Peter has burst on to the senior scene over the past two years and has impressed many followers of the game by his impressive displays. Only two years ago, he gave a man-of-the-match display in the junior hurling final at the tender age of 16. 2004 saw the youngster make the breakthrough to the senior side and what an impact he made as Kiltale made the senior semi-finals only to be comprehensively defeated by Kilmessan, who went on to win the championship. Many may have felt that the defeat to the then county champions would be a major setback to the club, but Peter revealed that despite the disappointment of being beaten so easily, the players were determined to make amends this year. "It was very disappointing to lose to Kilmessan by so much. We never really got going on the day. Kilmessan just destroyed us, but to be fair, we didn't put up much of a fight at all," said Peter. At the start of the year, Dublin native Dave Foley was appointed manager of the side in place of Cyril Maguire, who was instrumental in the club's rise from the doldrums. Foley is well known in Meath hurling circles as he guided Rathmolyon to two SHC triumphs during the nineties and Peter revealed that right from the start, the new manager meant business. "Dave is a very good trainer. The training was very tough, but it was enjoyable and that was the main thing. He had us up running on the beach in Laytown early in the year. He adapted a very professional attitude towards training and this rubbed off on all the players," added Peter. The draw for the senior hurling championship saw Kiltale in the same group as Killyon, Longwood, Rathmolyon, Boardsmill and Navan O'Mahony's. It was a tough group with all sides having realistic ambitions of reaching the semi-finals. Kiltale would meet Killyon in the first match and although preparations had gone according to plan, the result was not favourable to Kiltale as defeat was the outcome. "Killyon are a very good side. They are strong physically and have some very good hurlers. We found it hard to cope with them and were disappointed to begin with a loss. It was not the start we had hoped for, but we can't really complain about the result." Longwood were the next opponents for Kiltale, who were forced to line out without their star player as the small matter of the Leaving Cert stood in the way during the month of June. "I didn't get to play against Longwood as the Leaving Cert had started. The lads played very well on the day and we ran out easy enough winners on a scoreline of 2-14 to 0-12. "It was also around this time that I decided to opt off the under-21 county panel as I couldn't give the commitment during the exams but fortunately I was asked back later in the year," he added. The win over Longwood was soon followed by an eight point win over Rathmolyon that restored Kiltale's chances of reaching the semi-finals as the group was wide open. With two matches remaining, Kiltale needed two wins to ensure a second successive year in the semi-finals. A terrific start against Boardsmill paved the way for a comfortable victory as Kiltale recorded a 3-17 to 2-5 win and with O'Mahony's left to play, confidence was high on reaching the last four. "After being beaten by Killyon, we really knuckled down and worked hard. Dave installed a belief in us that we could at least reach the semi-finals. The Rathmolyon match was tough, but that was a big game to win. Boardsmill weren't going to great at the time and we had an easy win over them. We knew then that a win over O'Mahony's would see us through and we went into that game very confident." Despite Navan O'Mahony's being already eliminated from the championship, the town team made Foley's side work hard for their place in the semi-final. A major feature of this match was the point taking of Kiltale's forwards who recorded 0-17 during the game. "The game against O'Mahony's was very tough. We never really got going at all, but luckily scraped through and were looking forward to playing in the semi-final once again," he added. Kiltale's determination to do well was evident at training throughout the year when between 30 and 40 players turned out on a regular basis, while a number of top quality challenges were played to aid their preparations. The semi-final draw meant that Kiltale would face Kildalkey in the last four and Foley's troops were quietly confident of reaching the final. "I suppose we were glad to avoid Kilmessan in the semi-finals. We knew we had a real chance against Kildalkey. It was always going to be a close game as we are fairly evenly matched," stressed Peter. The match itself couldn't have been any tighter as Kildalkey midfielder Sean Heavey held his nerve and converted a late free to send his side into the 2005 Meath SHC final following a hard earned win. Kiltale looked to have secured their place in the final as they dominated for the majority of the match. John O'Donoghue opened the scoring for Kiltale in the opening seconds and they led from this moment right up until Heavey converted the all-important free. Kildalkey only managed three points in the opening half. However, Kiltale looked sharper and with Robert Donovan, Peter, Cathal Sheridan and Donoghue all finding the range, they were well worth their 0-7 to 0-3 lead at half time. The Village needed a lift and they duly got one early in the second half when veteran forward Nicky Potterton rifled the sliothar past Kiltale goalkeeper Ollie Regan. Kildalkey followed the goal up with two points by Heavey to give them real hope. Kiltale refused to lie down and six unanswered points left them four points in front with ten minutes remaining. With just four minutes left to play, Kildalkey scored their second goal to close the gap to one point. A Pat Potterton free levelled matters at the end of normal time and then Heavey was handed the opportunity to become the hero of the hour as he sent over a free from 65 yards leaving Kildalkey fans delirious and Kiltale fans bewildered. "It was a devastating blow to lose like that. Kildalkey got their goals at the right times as it looked like we would pull away. We threw it away in the finish and it will take a while to get over that," said the youngster. It was not all doom and gloom for Peter as a week earlier, he was part of the Meath Under-21 side that won the All-Ireland 'B' championship when the Royal County won an epic battle against Carlow that saw extra time needed to separate the sides. Kiltale's year was not over yet either as their junior and minor teams reached their respective finals. In the minor semi-final against Rathmolyon an impressive 3-7 scored by Peter saw them through to the final where they would meet St Peter's Dunboyne. The final itself was played as the curtain raiser to the senior hurling final. And if ever a player was to play a captain's role then it was Peter Durnin who rose to the occasion. The teenager gave an oustanding display and finished the match with a personal tally of 2-5 as Kiltale came from behind to win the match by 3-10 to 2-7. The Kiltale team which claimed the MHC was: S. McGann; P. Heapes, I. Douglas, P. Mahady; T. J. Lynch, D. Donoghue, C. Farrelly; P. Garvey, W. Mahady; A. Donnelly 0-1, P. Garvey 0-2, T. Kane 1-1; D. Walsh, P. Durnin 2-5, D. Smyth 0-1. Subs - B. Reilly, J. Weldon, M. O'Sullivan Tweet

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