A gap of almost three decades was bridged during the summer when Terry Skelly played senior championship football for Meath, coming on as a substitute when the Royal County scored a runaway victory over Carlow in their Leinster SFC opener at Croke Park. The previous Drumconrath man to line out in senior championship action for the county was that highly talented footballer PJ O'Halloran back in 1979. Of course, he was also a key player on the Royal County side that scored a famous victory over mighty Dublin in the 1975 National Football League final when he teamed up with players of the caliber of Jack Quinn, Mickey Collins, Pat Reynolds, Ken Rennicks, Mattie Kerrigan, Cormac Rowe and an emerging Joe Cassells who gave a strong hint that day of just how good he would be. O'Halloran certainly mixed in good company that day at Croke Park when a team captained by goalkeeper Ronan Giles claimed the county's fourth National League title with a thrilling 0-16 to 1-9 win over a star-studded Dublin team that was to lose the All-Ireland decider to Kerry approximately four months later. Dublin were the reigning All-Ireland champions at the time after beating Galway in the 1974 final and they went on to regain the Sam Maguire Cup in '76 and win it again in '77. That demonstrates what a great achievement winning the league final in '75 was for Meath. It was also an historic success because Meath were the first non-Div. 1 side to win the final and they certainly did it the hard way as they turned a six point deficit at the start of the second half into a four point winning margin. Back to Terry Skelly, who has looked like a fine prospect from a young age. Apart from his championship appearance against Carlow, he was also introduced as a substitute during the National League game against Westmeath at Cusack Park, Mullingar, earlier this year and the hope now will be that he can establish himself on the senior panel and eventually secure a starting place. He was a member of the Meath under-21 team which slipped up against Kildare in the Leinster Championship at Pairc Tailteann back in February of this year, lining out at right half back, and also represented the county at that level in 2007 when they scored victories over Kildare and Dublin, but then lost to Offaly in the provincial semi-final. But getting the chance to play for the county senior team at HQ was undoubtedly an extra special occasion for the 21 year old who joined the Irish Army earlier this year and is based at Gormanston Camp. "It was great to get the opportunity to play in Croke Park this year," Skelly said. "I hadn't played there before, so it was a great experience. It was a surprise to get the call against Carlow that day and I suppose you don't really know what to do when it happens. Playing in Croke Park is a great honour in itself and I was very proud for myself and the Drumconrath club. "This was my first year on the Meath senior panel. I was called in for training for a session or two last year, but nothing came of it. I think it was just to make up the numbers for a game. But it was good to be part of the panel this year." Obviously, one of the younger members of the senior panel was disappointed with the way things worked out for the Meath seniors this year and looks forward to the future in the hope that things will be much better. Stepping up to the senior panel represents a considerable move, but how has he found the training? "At that level you have tough days in training, but you have to have rest days too," he added. "It involves a lot of running and is a big step up. You would be well tired after it. You also have to be more focused at senior level. It takes up so much of your time, but I enjoy it." Skelly, who says he is loving the life during his early days in the Irish Army, never got to play championship football for the county minors, pointing out that he "missed out because of a groin injury". But he did gain the experience of two campaigns with the under-21s, even if this year's was short and painful. He described last year's defeat against Offaly as "a killer after we earlier beat Kildare and Dublin", while the heavy beating inflicted by a talented Kildare team at Pairc Tailteann in late February of this year was a very disappointing experience as well, especially as it was suffered by a team which many astute observers of the game felt had the potential to claim provincial honours. "I really thought we could win the Leinster title this year with the players we had," he said. "But nothing happened for us on the day against Kildare. It was very disappointing. I don't know why it's not happening at under-21 level because the players are there." Skelly's under-21 days are behind him - he celebrated a significant birthday in late October of this year - and now his concentration is primarily on senior inter-county football. "I would like to establish myself on the senior panel and earn a starting place," he added. "But it takes time and patience to get there." During his years of development into an immensely talented young player, Skelly has seen many outstanding footballers wear the Meath jersey with distinction, but he had absolutely no hesitation when asked who his favourite Royal County player has been. "That has to be Graham Geraghty," he said. "The man is a legend." Skelly has also been grateful to those people involved in the game at club level for their help and singled out one man for particular mention. "Peter O'Halloran is a great man," he added. "Without him we would be lost. He lives for it." Skelly was also a member of the Drumconrath team which endured a major struggle in this year's Intermediate Championship, falling into the dreaded relegation dogfight. He can remember far better - if ultimately disappointing - times very recently when they went all the way to the 2006 IFC final, but lost to Rathkenny, who were also to defeat them in the A League Div 3 decider soon after. One final defeat was bad enough, but two in such a short space of time was undoubtedly hard to come to terms with Unfortunately, this year the championship turned into a real struggle as Drumconrath lost all their games in a group that also included Ballinlough, St Ultan's, Syddan and Castletown and ended up pointless at the bottom of the section. Drumconrath, who reached the quarter-finals last year before exiting the title race against champions to be Donaghmore/Ashbourne, opened the 2008 championship with a game against the previous year's relegated senior team Ballinlough and this set the scene for a troubled campaign. Four players were sent off, three of them from Drumconrath, as Ballinlough won by 1-8 to 0-9 at Moynalty. The Drums led by 0-5 to 0-4 at the break and extended their advantage to 0-7 to 0-5, before a melee at the three-quarter stage saw both teams have a player dismissed. It all started to go wrong for Drumconrath after that as they had a second player sent off. Kenneth Rothwell scored a goal for Ballinlough and the Drums were soon down to 12 players following a further dismissal. However, they still managed to get back to level terms, but numerical advantage proved decisive for Ballinlough during a lengthy spell of injury time and they were two points clear at the final whistle. St Ultan's inflicted further misery on Drumconrath in the second round at Kilberry when they won by 2-10 to 0-7 against a side which was severely understrength due to a combination of injuries, holidays and suspensions. Once again, the reds led at the interval, this time by 0-4 to 0-3, but the Bohermeen/Martry combination moved up a gear in the second period and pushed clear. Meath Hill was the venue for a crunch third round assignment against neighbours Syddan and a third successive defeat on a 0-5 to 0-8 score line meant Drumconrath were in real trouble. Syddan led by 0-6 to 0-2 after 20 minutes, but the deficit was reduced to 0-4 to 0-6 at the change of ends. However, a paltry tally of one point in the second half in difficult conditions was never going to be enough for Drumconrath who had to prepare for a game against another relegation-threatened team Castletown in the final round of group matches. This battle of the beaten finalists of the previous two years took place at Syddan and both teams went into it pointless, though Castletown had a superior score difference. The 2007 runners-up led by 1-5 to 0-2 at the break and won by 2-11 to 1-6 to copper-fasten their status in the intermediate grade and condemn Drumconrath to a fight against the drop to junior football. Tweet

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