When the sour taste of defeat is experienced only once in a championship campaign, you would have expected the side in question to be bang in contention at the business end of the competition. But for Meath Hill, a solitary loss in this year's Lynch's Pharmacy JFC was enough to knock them out of the race for top honours before the knockout stages had even commenced. It proved yet another frustrating year for Meath Hill who went agonisingly close to claiming the scalp of Clann na nGael in the previous year's renewal and it was another case of 'what might have been' for the club who would have been one of the most feared sides had they reached the knockout stages. In the end, it was a draw with Moylagh in their final group outing that sent Meath Hill packing from the championship. In that outing, a poor first half performance proved their undoing and despite an admirable retrieval mission after the break, they couldn't manage to get their noses in front at the winning post and had to settle for a dead-heat. After breaking sluggishly from the traps, Meath Hill were forced to play second fiddle for the vast majority of the opening period but a goal from Karl Parge resurrected some of the damage and they only went in one-point in arrears at half-time, 1-3 to 0-7. The second half was a ding-dong affair with both sides going all out for a place in the last eight and Meath hill certainly had their chances to book that ticket. But a missed penalty, a Paddy Owens shot that rocketed off the crossbar and some wayward shooting in the closing stages cost them dearly and following an entertaining draw it was Moylagh that advanced to a quarter-final clash with Dunsany. The campaign started in highly impressive fashion for Meath Hill as they kick-off with a seven-point demolition of Summerhill at Bohermeen. Goals from Jackie Maguire and Mark Tully accompanied by some fine points from the impressive Paddy Owens were the key ingredients of the success and the 2-8 to 0-7 winning margin didn't flatter the winners. But Meath Hill were brought back to earth with a bang when they faced the previous year's beaten finalists Moynalvey at Walterstown towards the end of May. This was expected to be a right old tussle between two sides with realistic aspirations for top honours but what transpired was something very different. Moynalvey turned in their most impressive display of the campaign and racked up a huge tally of 1-13 in disposing of their counterparts. It wasn't looking too bad for Meath Hill halfway through the contest when they only trailed by two points - 1-3 to 1-5 but things went pear-shaped after the change of ends. They couldn't only contribute three points to their tally after the resumption. This was in stark contrast to Moynalvey who upped their game considerably and popped over eight points during an impressive half hour for the side in wine. In the end there was seven points between the sides and despite decent showings from Lee Breslin, Paddy Owens and Barry Kierans, Meath Hill were ultimately outclassed. After suffering that defeat to Moynalvey, it was paramount that Meath Hill got back on track against St Brigid's in their next outing. With both sides needing a victory it was no surprise to see a touch and uncompromising encounter materialising but it was the 'Hill that showed the greater resolution in the closing stages to carve out a slender 0-10 to 0-9 success. The sides were level, 0-5 apiece at half time but St Brigid's must have thought they had made a successful spurt to the finishing line when they edged a point clear with the stopwatch nearing the hour. But Meath Hill weren't finished and a brace of points from the outstanding Tadgh Boyle saw them safely negotiate a smash and grab raid which kept them in contention for a place in the knockout stages. Best for Meath hill on the night were Barry Kieran, Tadgh Boyle, Paddy Owens and Brendan Kieran at full-back. A 2-11 to 2-8 victory over Curraha followed to set up a 'must-win' clash with Moylagh. Unfortunately for Meath Hill they had to settle for a share of the spoils in that outing which wasn't good enough to book their ticket to the quarter-final of the championship. Reflecting back on the campaign, Chairman Michael Crosby admitted that it was a disappointing way to go out of the junior championship. "We were only beat by Moynalvey but we didn't manage to qualify for the knockout stages on score difference. We were probably a bit unlucky over the last few years as we are on the fringes but we just don't seem to be able to make the breakthrough." "I always thought that if we did make it through to the knockout stages that we would go very far as we have a very good panel. We have a lot of talented young players and also a few experienced ones there as well so there is a nice blend." "We were well beat against Moynalvey. We didn't perform at all but in saying that we were only a point behind with ten minutes to go and then a couple of lads thrown in the towel when Moynalvey got a couple of scores but up to that we had really held our own and they went on to win the junior championship so we mustn't be that far away." "We bet Summerhill by seven points which is probably the best we've played in the championship. Summerhill had their full panel that evening as it was the first game and that could have been our downfall in the end as Summerhill mightn't have been as strong towards the latter stages of the competition with the senior team taking players off them." "The St Brigid's game could have went either way on the night. Both teams were evenly matched but we just managed to get a few late scores to win by a point. It was a low-scoring game and we didn't play that well but we still managed to get the job done which was great." "We knew going into the game with Moylagh that a draw wouldn't do us as we knew we were behind them on score difference. We went a few points down in that game but we came back well and we probably could have won it as we missed a penalty and missed a few frees which we might have got on other days. So to end up drawing the game and being knocked out was a major disappointment." So what about the years ahead? Well Crosby is adamant that there is enough talented youngsters coming through the club to suggest that the future is very bright for Meath Hill. "We've a great bunch of lads coming through that are about 17 or 18 at the moment so if they progress well we should have the making of a very good team. They are a bit young yet but they will certainly make their mark at senior level," Crosby said. One of the highlights of the year for the people of Meath Hill was the opening of their magnificent prunty pitch back in May when Meath and Louth locked horns and Crosby was delighted with how the occasion went. "We were delighted with the way the opening of the pitch went. It was a great evening and a huge crowd turned up to see Meath and Louth in action so I couldn't have been happier really with the way things went," Crosby said. "The pitch is fantastic. It's a new prunty pitch that we put in and it is amazing and every club that has played on it has been signing its praises. On the wettest days this year, our pitch was as dry as a bone and we were able to train and play games on it without fail which was great." "There was games cancelled al over the place but we never once had to call off a game. We have clubs coming from outside the county to play and train on it, especially when the evenings get a bit darker as we have the lights installed." "Great credit must go to everybody involved in the running of the club. We have a great committee here and for a junior club like Meath Hill to have the facilities that we have, it is a marvellous achievement." The Meath Hill panel that performed with credit in the Lynches Pharmacy JFC was as follows: Mark Kiernan; Brian Hanratty, Brendan Kieran, Nigel Maguire, Barry Kiernan, Michael Byrne, Carl Parge Lee Breslin, Tadgh Boyle, Mark Tully, Jackie Maguire, Cian Mathews, Paul Kieran, Paddy Owens, Derek McMahon, Niall Tully, Donnchadh Boyle, Mark McConnell, Jackie Maguire, Derek McMahon, Paul Kieran. Tweet

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