Hoping for better things to come
November 30, 2008
Members of Drumree GAA club will be happy to see the back of 2008 for a variety of reasons and will no doubt be looking forward to starting from a blank canvass in the year ahead.
The Dunshaughlin parish outfit has faced a number of trials and tribulations during the course of the past twelve months but will hope to emerge with a renewed sense of purpose for the challenges that lie ahead.
Football in the parish came perilously close to extinction at the beginning of the year when, on January 7 last, a motion to dissolve the football section of the club was passed by 26 votes to 18.
The reason for such a drastic measure was the new interpretation of Rule 34 of the official guide.
Once it became apparent that, under the rule, players would not be permitted to line out with two clubs during a given year's championship, the repercussions for clubs such a Drumree became apparent.
The rule applied to dual players which prohibited them from from lining out for different clubs in football and hurling unless both clubs were exclusive to either code.
The fact that Drumree fielded in both football and hurling at adult levels meant that David Crimmins, for example, would, in the future, be required to commit to football with Drumree as well and leave Dunshaughlin if he wanted to continue to hurl with the club.
At the time it appeared as though a proud history of playing football in the parish and its surrounding environs - which dates back to 1887 - was to come to an end.
The Drumree club came into current guise came into existence in 1956 and three years later it celebrated a junior championship football success following a three game saga against St. Patrick's in the final.
They were Intermediate football champions in 1961 and '69 while All-Ireland winners Billy Rattigan (1954), Jimmy Walsh (1967) and Evan Kelly (1996 and '99) represented the club with distinction on the intercounty stage.
As recently as 1998, the red and white stripes pulled of a JFC and JHC double when they overcame St Mary's and Trim respectively in finals and the footballers progressed to claim the Leinster JFC title in 1999.
A letter submitted by 12 members sought to reverse the outcome of January 7 and an 'extraordinary' meeting was held.
Meath GAA chiefs were asked to intervene and after Drumree's delegate to the County Committee, Declan Troy, received clarification from chairman Barney Allen that the status quo would remain, an overwhelming majority 38 to 7 voted in favour of renewing the club's football affiliation for 2008.
After such a close call, Drumree took to the football fields in the ACFL 'A' Division 5 and JFC competition.
They couldn't have asked for a better start to the championship when inflicting a 3-4 to 2-3 defeat on Gaeil Colmcille in the first round of Group D.
Substitute Gerry Troy scored the all-important winning goal in the first round at Walterstown back in late April to add to Emmett O'Callaghan's and Ronan Curley's earlier three pointers.
David Troy, John Cullinane, Dermot Doyle, John Gilsenan and goalkeeper Christoper Dixon were others to impress in the victory but, unfortunately, they drew a blank in the remaining games of the group stages when losing to Longwood, Skryne, Ratoath and Boardsmill.
As a result they were second from bottom in the Group D table ahead of Gaeil Colmcille while, in the league, they finished the year in a respectable mid-table position.
A report of the year from a hurling perspective doesn't make pleasant reading for supporters of the club which ended up being relegated back to the Intermediate grade for the first time since 2003 following a 2-9 to 2-11 defeat at the hands of Killyon in the relegation play-off.
It was a bitter pill to swallow as Drumree were plunged into the relegation mire after being expelled from the SHC following an acrimonious clash with Na Fianna in August.
Referee Mick Ryan decided to abandon the game after trouble, involving both sets of players, erupted near the end.
The two clubs - who were still in with an outside chance of making the knock-out stages - were subsequently thrown out of the competition and fined 1,000 each. Drumree had one defeat over Boardsmill under their belt in Group B at the time.
In the heel of the hunt, Drumree finished second best to Killyon - two points behind - in a relegation final play-off in Trim in early October.
Played in poor conditions, the team in red and white - who entered the game as underdogs - were first out of the traps and led by 2-8 to 1-5 at the break thanks to goals from Shane and David Troy.
All they could muster in the second half, however, was one pointed free and with extra-time looming, their Hill of the Down opponents struck for two late points to insert the nail in Drumree's coffin.
One positive to be gleaned from the year was David Crimmins' selection on the Leinster hurling team that claimed Railway Cup honours at Munster's expense in the final at Portlaoise in November.
The former county footballer didn't feature in the 1-15 to 1-12 victory over the men from the south but was introduced as a substitute in the 2-11 to 1-10 semi-final win over Connacht in Kiltoom.
Team-mates included Kilkenny All-Ireland winners PJ Ryan, Tommy Walsh and Richie Power.
Finally, St. Martin's will no longer exist from 2009 after it was decided that Dunshaughlin would cater for the underage footballers of the Dunshaughlin area and its surrounds while Drumree will concentrate on looking after the underage hurlers.
Agreement has been reached whereby Dunshaughlin won't stand in the way of any young footballers who want to switch allegiance to Drumree for adult football.
It spells the end for the St. Martin's amalgamation that derived its name from the patron saint of Culmullen church and celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2006.
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