Having been edged out in the previous year's intermediate final, St Kevins were down on their luck again in 2001, advancing to the penultimate stage only to be shattered by an injury-time goal. Gerry Robinson reflects on a season that promised much but delivered little. Sounds familiar... If there's any luck in the Philipstown area these days, then it must be buried deep underground, hidden in some dark subterranean cavern. Certainly, the local football club aren't having any success in tapping into it. Two-thousand-and-one was a year which held much potential for the Kevins and for a time it looked as though they were going to silence their critics by scooping the county IFC title. They were determined to go one step better than 2000 (when Dreadnots pipped them in the final) and appeared on course towards obtaining that objective when leading their semi-final tussle with Sean McDermotts as the game spilled into injury time. Then, without warning, disaster struck. For the second successive game the Seans conjured up a winning goal in added time to turn the game on its head . . . and do something similar to St Kevins' season. They had also faded out in the closing stages of their championship quarter-final meeting with Na Piarsaigh, so perhaps more work will have to be carried out on the training pitch next season. Annaghminnon Rovers It all started in much more encouraging fashion with a facile 0-17 to 0-6 defeat of intermediate newcomers Annaghminnon Rovers at St Brigid's Park on Thursday June 28th. It was a comfortable win for the men from Philipstown who were served well on the day by Kevin Grogan, Mark Boylan, Niall Treadwell, Liam Boylan and Louth's second choice 'keeper Paul Brennan whose long kick-outs had the Annaghminnon defence under constant pressure. However, with the benefit of hindsight, one would have to note that kicking 14 wides over the course of the hour didn't necessarily augur well for their future prospects. Everything went according to script: Kevins raced into an early lead and had no difficulties whatsoever preserving it. The Kevins looked especially solid at the back, although such a judgement is qualified by the fact that this was their opponents' first ever intermediate championship match. It showed. St Kevins wasted no time in going about their business and by the midway stage in the first half had opened up a 0-5 to 0-1 advantage, those early scores coming courtesy of Liam Boylan, David King (2), Mark Boylan and Matthew Boylan. They were enjoying total dominance in the crucial centrefield sector and went on to compile a healthy 0-8 to 0-3 interval lead, with King adding his third point and Liam Boylan, who had opened the scoring, adding a brace. The Philipstown men continued to dominate the second half but it was a case of quantity rather than quality, with both the widecount and the scorecount mounting rapidly. In the end, the game amounted to little more than shooting practice for the mid Louth side and, had they shown a greater degree of accuracy in front of the posts, they could have prevailed by much more than the eventual eleven-point winning margin. Their second half scores were supplied by Paddy Crehan (2), Liam Boylan, Gareth Boylan, Matthew Boylan, Mark Boylan, David King (2) and Niall Treadwell. Na Piarsaigh St Kevins found the going much more difficult against Na Piarsaigh and scraped through by the narrowest of margins when the sides met in the IFC quarter-final at Castlebellingham on Saturday July 14th. They looked to be home and hosed when a point from Paddy Crehan put them four points clear with only three minutes remaining but the Dundalk side finished strongly and in the end the Kevins were mightily relieved to hang on by their fingernails for a 1-10 to 0-12 win and book their place in the last four. There had been nothing to choose between the two teams until the only goal arrived on the 40th minute to give the Kevins some breathing space. The winners were a little fortunate to register that score as it was the direct result of a mistake from the Na Piarsaigh goalkeeper who fumbled a long Liam Boylan free over the line to give the eventual winners the cushion of a 1-6 to 0-5 lead, an advantage which was extended almost immediately when Boylan converted a free from a tight angle out on the left. Na Piarsaigh refused to lie down and struck two points before Gareth Boylan hit the target to leave Kevins ahead by 1-8 to 0-7. Again Na Piarsaigh responded with back-to-back minors to leave them within two points with five minutes left. But points from David King and Crehan restored the four-point advantage and, try as they might, Na Piarsaigh couldn't quite get back on level terms. Three rapid scores brought them right back into it but time ran out and it was the Philipstown outfit who advanced. The pulsating climax was in stark contrast to what had been served up in the opening half when, to be truthful, both sides struggled to gain any momentum. During those 30 minutes, neither team managed to stamp their mark on the game. Na Piarsaigh led by two points to no score after five minutes but had been guilty of wasting two gilt-edged goal-scoring opportunities during those early exchanges. Liam Boylan and David King soon had the Kevins back on level terms and a Boylan '45' saw them sneak in front. Another King point was sandwiched between two Na Piarsaigh efforts and the sides went into the interval on parity, four points apiece. Two more converted frees from Boylan preceded the fortuitous goal on a day when Kevins appeared to get the rub of the green. Perhaps their name was on the trophy? Ha! Their luck would change next time out. Sean McDermotts Karma turned full circle to bite Kevins' face off in the 'semi'. Whereas they had benefited from the gifting of a soft goal in the previous round, now they would come unstuck through the concession of a late, late three-pointer. Sean McDermotts provided the semi-final opposition. The Mountrush side had already posted a warning when eliminating competition favourites Hunterstown Rovers through a late goal in the quarter-final but few would have predicted that lightning was about to strike twice. The match took place at Pairc Mhuire, Ardee on Sunday August 26th and the Philipstown players had a distinctly bitter taste in their mouths when the final whistle sounded. The winning goal arrived two minutes into injury time and was a real suckerpunch, putting McDermotts ahead for the first time. And even though the referee allowed a further minute of added time, there was no way back for St Kevins as they fell to a 1-9 to 0-10 defeat, an outcome which had seemed highly unlikely for most of the hour. Kevins had gone into an early lead and still led by four points at one stage in the second half but, as in their previous outing, were unable to match their opponents in the closing stages. This time, they paid dearly. They opened the scoring in the first minute with a David King free and points from Liam Boylan (2) and Mark Boylan had them 0-4 to 0-1 to the good after ten minutes. The three-point margin was preserved into the 20th minute (0-6 to 0-3) as points from Paddy Crehan and King steadied the ship after McDermotts had crept within the minimum. King's second converted free ensured they carried a two-point lead into the interval, 0-7 to 0-5. A pair of points from King and Mark Boylan put the Kevins four pints clear with 20 minutes (plus stoppage time... ) to play. McDermotts came back and levelled by the 50th minute. A free from King - his fifth score of the match - edged the Philipstown representatives back in front in the 56th minute and their supporters hoped against hope that they had weathered the storm. Two minutes into injury time, the killer blow was struck. Tweet

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