The last couple of years have been turbulent for Meath hurling and in 2005 the Royal County senior side had three managers, played in three competitions, but finished up without a trophy to show for their efforts. By Noel Coogan. Of the 11 games played Meath won just five, lost the same amount and were involved in one drawn tie. They failed to reach the concluding stages of any of the three events entered but were left with regrets when watching Westmeath become the first winners of the Christy Ring Cup as they had beaten their neighbours in the opening round of the second grade championship named in memory of the greatest ever hurler. In 2004 Meath had the consolation of winning out in the Kehoe Cup but then came the abduction of a number of players, notably the county's best known hurler Nicky Horan as they refused to play under John Hunt. The Clare-native, Dublin-based manager was still at the helm at the beginning of this year but that didn't last for long. The 2005 campaign began on an embarrassing note with college outfit DIT inflicting a 0-13 to 2-6 Kehoe Cup defeat at Pairc Tailteann. It took two late goals from Aengus Mulvihill, son of GAA director general Liam, to give Hunt's charges a more respectable look on the scoreboard at the end of the season opener. Carlow went on to claim outright honours in the Leinster competition for weaker hurling teams and enjoyed a fine run of success before going back into their shells later in the year. Meath lost to both the eventual winners of the Christy Ring and Nicky Rackard Cups in Division 2 of the National Hurling League. London were visitors to Navan for the first round of the latter and in the first clash in five years the men from Britain's capital scored an unexpected 0-14 to 1-8 victory. They were boosted by nine points from sharpshooter Dave Bourke and Mickey Cole shot 1-4 of the losers' poor return. After those results John Hunt stepped down and Hurling Board chairman T. J. Reilly took charge for the visit to Arklow to face Wicklow who also had some internal strife and a new manager in Willie Carley. A number of players returned to the Meath fold including Nicky Horan, Cathal Sheridan, Thomas Reilly, Kevin Dowd and Charlie Keena and the visiting squad returned happy after a 1-13 to 1-8 success. The 2005 National Leagues were marred by the senseless yellow cards experiment with booked players having to sit out the remainder of games. Horan was sidelined on the visit to the Garden County, having sent over three points, and Sheridan netted Meath's goal late in the match. Between the second and the third rounds of the NHL Johnny Murray was installed as Meath hurling team manager. A native of Kilkenny, Murray had served with Offaly under Babs Keating and was previously involved with the Meath hurlers when Michael Duignan was in charge. The former armyman got his bid to revive Meath's hurling fortunes off to a promising start when his charges won a game which they were not expected to win. That was against Kerry, the Pairc Tailteann curtain-raiser to the NFL outing against Wicklow. The Meath hurlers had more support than they would usually have, especially in the second half as they pulled back an interval deficit of seven points (0-6 to 2-7) to run out 3-13 to 3-12 victors. But they were depending too much on Nicky Horan scores from frees. The Kilmessan ace reeled off 1-8 and Mickey Cole helped himself to 2-1. There was no stopping Carlow around that time and a last minute goal from substitute Robert Foley gave them their tenth win in a row, by 3-7 to 3-6 over Meath at Dr Cullen Park. Padraig Coone, with 2-3, was the losers' only scorer from play and you know who got the rest of the visitors' total. Meath should have lost by more as their opponents hit 16 wides to eight for the visitors and there were fine defensive efforts by Anton O'Neill and David Donnelly. Meath finished phase one of the league with a 5-21 to 0-7 win over Sligo in a farcical encounter at Pairc Tailteann. Navan O'Mahonys clubman Coone scored 3-2 in a game which one of the local papers claimed there were more players than spectators at. Meath finished that schedule with six points and went on for games against Derry, Offaly and Westmeath in a complicated competition. A 2-11 to 1-12 win over Derry at Pairc Tailteann was Meath's sole success in the second batch of league games. Again an interval deficit of seven points (1-4 to 1-11) retrieved. And Horan scored 2-7, the goal from a penalty and six points from frees. The game against Westmeath in Mullingar was initially rained off and before the refixture Meath travelled to Birr where Offaly, stinging from a defeat by Carlow, dished out a 3-20 to 0-11 hiding. Back in the '90s Meath could run much stronger sides from the Faithful County close but both counties' hurling stock has gone down since. In the latest clash no Meath player scored more than once from play. Westmeath had an outside chance of reaching the final in the outstanding game in which they defeated Meath by 2-11 to 1-11 while Meath had no incentive but pride. The Lake County side did not win by enough to reach the decider in which Offaly reversed an earlier result with Carlow to take the title. It was a disappointing league campaign for Meath and the Christy Ring Cup was not any more satisfying with Murray's men failing to reach the last four of the ten starters. That was despite a bright start which yielded a 3-16 to 2-10 victory over Westmeath at Pairc Tailteann. That outing marked the return of more 'prodigal sons' in Ray Dorran, Jimmy Canty and veteran Paul Donnelly and, most significantly, talented Trim forward Joey Toole, who had been in inter county exile for more than two years. Toole came on for the second half and made his mark by scoring 1-4. After leading by six points at one stage during the first half, Meath were just ahead (0-9 to 1-5) at the break before Toole's goal ten minutes after the restart left them well in control at 2-12 to 1-5. It was an impressive display which augured well for the games ahead. However, it was downhill after that. Meath's Ring Cup bid was hardly helped by a rift between the County Board and the Hurling Board which resulted in a number of officers from the latter body, including chairman T. J. Reilly, quitting their positions for a few weeks. A point dropped to Derry, who were eventually relegated to the Nicky Rackard Cup, was to prove costly. After trailing by 0-6 to 0-8 at the break, Meath looked to be on the way to repeat the league success over the men from the north west when going 2-7 to 0-8 to the good ten minutes into the second half with goals from Horan (free) and Toole. Derry battled back to edge ahead before Toole levelled matters at 2-12 to 1-15 from a sideline cut. When Down outscored Meath by 3-16 to 1-14 at Pairc Tailteann they looked like Ring Cup winners. The home side was very much second best, they never led and Down were always ahead after going into a 0-2 to 0-1 lead in the early stages. The Meath defence was leaky and the writing was on the wall when the board read 3-10 to 0-10 at the break. One of this Meath team's big problems has been registering scores from play and in that crucial game it took them until added time to get such a score. Stephen Clynch shot his second point before substitute John Watters netted a late consolation goal. Those scores merely papered over what had been a bare enough offering. Despite going on a scoring spree for a 3-26 to 1-12 win over Roscommon in Athleague, Meath failed to make it to the last four because Westmeath unexpectedly beat Down, who were already through, in Newry. So the point dropped against Derry was eventually to deny Meath further hurling in 2005. A 20 points winning margin in Roscommon looked highly unlikely when the sides were level at half time, 1-8 to 0-11, with Jimmy Canty having netted the first goal. Then Padraig Coone came on and scored 2-3 in the second half. Joey Toole finished up with eight points but after an impressive performance, there was bad news for the Meath side after leaving the pitch. Westmeath followed up the win over Down with a spectacular semi-final success over Kildare at Pairc Tailteann and then struck it rich at Croke Park when again getting the better of the Mourne County hurlers to lift the trophy. While Meath probably should have made it through to the last four in the new tier two championship, it was suggested that their year was hamstrung with too many side issues. Maybe the team will take heart from Westmeath's win but Johnny Murray, who was confirmed as manager for 2006 in the autumn, will have to get full commitment from all concerned. With Down determined to go one better and Antrim anxious to restore lost pride, it will not be easy for the Royal County hurlers. But after seeing their neighbours do so well at GAA headquarters, they will be anxious to get there next summer. The inaugural Christy Ring Cup has been a success and Meath can do better in the second edition. Tweet

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