Rathkenny made 2005 a year to remember by scooping the all-county Division Four 'A' league title on the last Saturday of September. Full forward Richie Timmons, who delivered seven of his side's eleven-point tally in the defeat of Kilbride at Walterstown, reflects on a satisfactory year for the Red & Black. Rathkenny have every reason to be content with their season's work. They achieved one of their stated pre-season objectives by clinching promotion to Division Three of the all-county league, garnering silverware to boot by virtue of a thrilling 0-11 to 1-7 defeat of Kilbride in the Div.4 final at Walterstown on Saturday September 24. While they may not have made the desired impression in the intermediate championship, the Red & Blacks set down a clear marker for future campaigns and will benefit immensely from playing their bread and butter football at a higher level in 2006. All in all, the club's 2005 season review makes for happy reading. Richie Timmons' '05 form was a genuine plus. The full forward returned from injury to produce a match-winning performance in the league final, kicking over all but four of his side's eleven-point haul against Kilbride, enough to give Rathkenny a one-point victory and a long-overdue piece of adult silverware. The winners opted to play with wind assistance in the first half-hour and took an opening-minute lead courtesy of Owen Elliot. From there, they maintained superiority on the scoreboard right up until the final whistle. Timmons had landed three points by the tenth minute and John Curtis's point put the Rathkenny men 0-5 to 0-2 ahead on 19 minutes. Further scores from Timmons and Curtis gave the winners a four-point interval cushion, 0-7 to 0-3. Early minors from Timmons and David Donegan on the resumption gave Kilbride plenty to think about and another Timmons brace (42, 45) left Rathkenny five points clear (0-11 to 0-6) going into the final quarter. With former Meath goalkeeper Mickey McQuillan lending experience along the line, Rathkenny were clearly the better team for most of the hour. They led by four points on three separate occasions and were six points to the good when Timmons registered his sixth score on 43 minutes. However, they failed to score in the closing 14 minutes and almost let their opponents back into it. Anything other than victory for the Black & Red would have been a travesty. A 57th-minute Kilbride goal set up a pulsating climax but Rathkenny defended superbly in the closing minutes and held out admirably before captain Thomas Rowan accepted the Malachy Thompson Cup from County Board secretary (and proud Rathkenny clubman) Barney Allen. Upon receiving the trophy, Rowan paid tribute to selectors Gerry Gavigan, Paddy Timmons and Tommy Martin as well as trainers Donal Curtis and Glen Carpenter. Richie Timmons made a huge contribution to the victory with an array of impressive scores from frees and open play. Does he agree that the league final success made it a year to remember? "It did to a certain extent. Our plan was to win the league and reach the knockout stage of the intermediate championship, and I'm sure we'd have achieved the second part as well but for injuries at vital times. But there's nothing we can do about that now and we're pleased to have won a trophy." Rathkenny showed in the league what they are capable of. Their performances suggest strongly that they could feature in the business end of impending IFC campaigns, and playing at a higher level in the league will enhance their prospects. They kicked off their 2005 intermediate championship programme with a 1-10 apiece draw with would-be champions Duleek in a game that could have gone either way. That result in itself speaks volumes for the potential inherent in the current Rathkenny team. Rathkenny also defeated Ratoath (2-8 to 0-13), Slane (1-9 to 0-10) and Na Fianna (1-15 to 3-4) in the knockout competition, but it was the one-point loss suffered at the hands of Gaeil Colmcille in mid-June that would come back to haunt them when the eight quarter-finalists were determined. Frustratingly, Rathkenny narrowly failed to make the cut. "The Duleek game was a huge one for us as they had been in the 2004 final and it was a good opportunity for us to test ourselves and see how good we were," Richie reflects. "We should have beaten Kells and that was a very disappointing result. The points we dropped in that game cost us dearly. "We normally get the better of Syddan down through the years but we had four or five men missing for that game and didn't perform as we can. We had them on the ropes at one stage but didn't take our chances and gave away a lot of soft scores in the second half. I think the result would have been different if we'd had our full team. "We went on to beat Na Fianna in the last game but both sides were already out of contention at that stage. There was nothing to play for except pride in that match, but we wanted to win it to keep our momentum going for the league and we were very happy with the victory, even if it was our last championship outing for another year." The league, meanwhile, was going much better. Rathkenny recorded impressive victories over the likes of Meath Hill, Kilmainham, St Brigids, Drumbaragh and Moylagh to steal to the top of the table and book their place in the Division Four decider. By qualifying for the final they were already assured of promotion to Division Three, but Rathkenny wanted to go up with some silverware to show for their season's endeavour. One notable blemish along the way was the June 2 defeat to Kilbride (1-8 to 0-10), a result that added intrigue to the final. The game provided Rathkenny with a perfect opportunity to set the record straight. Which, of course, they did. Richie believes that delivering the league title was the least the Rathkenny players could do in 2005: "We were really looked after as a team. The training went well and Mickey McQuillan was brought in to lend an extra bit of know-how towards the latter stages. We were looked after 100% and the club even brought us away for a weekend. After that, it's up to the individuals to put in the effort and this year they did. "Our minors, who are joined with Castletown and play as Parnells, also had another good year. They won the minor out again and there were nine players from Rathkenny on that team, a few of whom have already progressed onto our first team." As Rathkenny hadn't won an adult competition for 21 years, the Division Four league victory was greeted with both enthusiasm and relief: "It was a big thing to us," Richie notes. "Once you're in the lower divisions it can be difficult to get out and we're just glad to have moved back up to Division Three. We were struggling to get out and it went down to the wire again. We hadn't won an adult title since the junior 'A' in 1984, so we'll definitely take this! "The final was a good occasion to be involved in and it's nice to keep things ticking over in the club." The free-scoring forward is confident that Rathkenny can go on to make a major impression in the intermediate championship inside the next three years: "If everybody is fit and available, we can definitely get to the latter stages. Once you get that far, it's anybody's. A lot of our minors already have some first-team experience and they should come on a lot in the coming seasons. The older lads on the team are still playing good football too, so we'll be expecting to give it a big push in the next couple of years. To be realistic, we might not do it next year but we'd definitely be looking at winning an intermediate championship inside the next three years. "Wolfe Tones have moved up and they've done really well even though they're a fairly light team. Meath football was different years ago but they have shown that, if you move the ball fast, you can compete at senior level in the county these days." Richie Timmons broke into the Rathkenny first team when he was 16 and has been a regular for ten years. Though his 2005 season was disrupted by an eight-week lay-off due to injury, he returned just in time to make a match-winning contribution in the league final. Indeed, Rathkenny had more than their share of injury woe during the year, with Thomas Martin remaining sidelined for the entire season and John Donegan missing many key matches. "They're two excellent young players and you have to have those guys available if you're to perform to your maximum ability. You need to have everybody fit," says Richie. "Hopefully we'll manage to stay injury-free in 2006. We've just seen Duleek win the intermediate championship and that should spur us on. We've always been able to put it up to them and we've also watched them play championship matches here in Rathkenny. I wouldn't say there's much of a difference between ourselves and them, so we just have to try to perform more consistently. "We beat Syddan in the championship in 2004 and Navan O'Mahonys the previous year. That shows what we can achieve on our day, but you need to deliver in every game if you want to win a championship. "We have to go out and prove ourselves on the field of play, where it matters most." Rathkenny, 2005 Meath Division Four football league winners: John Martin; Tommy McKeever, Matthew O'Brien, James Macken; Ronan Martin, Donal Curtis, Ronan Curtis; Brian Meade, Derek Smith; Darren Barron, Thomas Rowan, Owen Elliot (0-1); John Curtis (0-2), Richie Timmons (0-7), David Donegan (0-1). Subs: Emmet Martin for Barron, Michael Macken for McKeever, John Donegan for Smith. The club's view Rathkenny had a year which began with the erection of a new floodlighting system which was a great asset to training the various teams. The aim at the beginning of the year was for the A league team to gain promotion and a good run for the intermediates. Donal Curtis announced his retirement from inter county football and so a great chapter in Rathkenny football ended, Donal having served Meath so well over 10 years and becoming our most decorated county player in the process. This meant that Donal had now more time to devote to club matters and soon he was busy in a new coaching role, with the assistance of Glen Carpenter as trainer. The return of the McBride brothers to play with Rathkenny, along with the steady influx of talent from the victorious minor team of 2004, and the experience gleaned from the likes of John Curtis, Michael Reid, Denis Smith and Thomas Ronan meaning for the first time in years a winning start was achieved to the Div 4 league which culminated in a Div 4 final in September versus Kilbride. In a game which was largely controlled by Rathkenny, Kilbride clung on and almost forced a draw but with Donal Curtis in defence and Brian Meade dominant in midfield and Richie Timmons displaying great accuracy from frees and play, a one point 0-11 to 1-7 victory was gained and an eagerly awaited return to Div 3 football achieved with a steady stream of young players coming through. The need to play at a higher level was felt necessary and bodes well for success in the Intermediate grade in 2006. A good start to the intermediate championship with a draw over eventual winners Duleek and victories over Slane and Ratoath, were tempered by defeats to St Colmcilles, Syddan and Kells which meant the final win over Na Fianna was meaningless to advancing to the quarter finals. A feature of the year was the number of key players who missed the season with injury. The Junior C side had a mixed year, with the Div 4 league and intermediate going well, but the introduction of several younger players at junior level means that hopefully success (again) at Junior C is on the horizon. The Div 2 minor squad, Parnells again had a great year, with a final success over Wolfe Tones completing a memorable two years. The mentors from both clubs, Barney Smith and Tom McKeown from Castletown and Ray Connolly and Vincent Lenihan from Rathkenny, deserve a special mention for their efforts in preparing the team for the year. The fact that the opposition were Wolfe Tones, a neighbouring parish added to the final atmosphere and a special mention for Corley Hoey in Lacken who sponsored both clubs throughout the year. All in all, a good year for Rathkenny and expectations are again high for 2006 at all levels. Special mention again to Larry Murray (chairman) for his drive and determination as chairman which has seen several projects completed throughout 2005, and to all who sponsored/assisted with lighting system, Dunganny project tickets, both minor and Div 4 final and the club lotto. Supplied by Rathkenny GAC Tweet

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