It must have been a strange day for John Gorry when Rathmolyon faced Dunboyne in a Senior Hurling Championship quarter-final at Ashbourne on the third Sunday of September this year. He was at the helm for the St Peter's men during so many near misses in their bid for the Jubilee Cup, but here he was in the opposite corner for his native Rathmolyon attempting to plot Dunboyne's downfall. John Gorry was an outstanding hurler for Rathmolyon over many years and partnered George Bagnall at midfield when they made the SHC breakthrough in 1993 with a final win over Wolfe Tones. Of course, that was the same year that he helped Meath to an overdue success in the All-Ireland 'B' Championship and was named 'hurler of the year'. His spell as Dunboyne manager (he also played for them in the 2002 senior final against Kilmessan) failed to bring the club the senior title that they crave, though it has to be said that they didn't exactly have Lady Luck on their side at times, and this year he returned to aid his former club as they attempted to win the senior crown for the second time in three years. It will be recalled that in 2006 Rathmolyon foiled Gorry's Dunboyne team when Gary Cole scored an injury time goal in the final to earn the Village a dramatic win at Trim. That was their third title after those achieved in 1993 and 1996 and in their defence of the championship last year they were well beaten by Kilmessan at the semi-final stage. This year they failed to get past the quarter-finals as Dunboyne won comfortably after Rathmolyon had maintained their interest in the competition by claiming third place in group A. Kilmessan and Kildalkey were the other stand out teams in the section and Rathmolyon's other group opponents were Trim, Killyon and last year's intermediate champions Clann na nGael. And it was against Kildalkey that they commenced their campaign at Boardsmill where they were edged out by 0-14 to 0-17 in a superb match. Mike Cole contributed a dozen points for Rathmolyon, yet he ended up on the losing side. There was never more than three points between the teams and Kildalkey held a slender 0-9 to 0-8 lead at the interval. Their advantage stood at 0-11 to 0-9 early in the second half, but Rathmolyon battled back to lead for the first time at 0-12 to 0-11 and again at 0-13 to 0-12. The teams were locked together on 0-14 each with two minutes remaining and a draw would have been a fair result, such was the contribution of both sides to a tremendous game, but Kildalkey finished strongest with points from Noel Kirby, Padraig Keogh and Dan Fagan to claim victory. Mike Cole had scored points from all distances and angles, but the reality was that Rathmolyon were too reliant on him. Rathmolyon got back to winning ways when they defeated Trim by 1-11 to 1-10 in the second round at Kildalkey. When Mike Cole's 90-metre free ended up in the net they led by 1-2 to 0-1 after six minutes and they were in front by 1-6 to 0-6 at the change of ends, by which stage they had hit eight wides. Points from Mike and Gary Cole early in the second period extended the advantage, but Rathmolyon then went almost 20 minutes without scoring and that helped Trim to cut the deficit to 0-10 to 1-10 with three minutes remaining. Mike Cole ended the scoreless spell with a point to leave four between the sides, but Neil Heffernan set up a tense finish when he goaled for Trim. Indeed, the town side looked likely to earn a draw when Joey Toole faced up to a free at the end, but he had an off day from placed balls and his effort was wide. It wasn't the most convincing of victories, but it was one that kept Rathmolyon's qualification challenge on track. Longwood was the venue for a third round meeting with Killyon and Rathmolyon's accuracy proved decisive in a 0-18 to 1-7 victory as Mike Cole contributed 10 points. Aaron Fagan (broken tibula) and Neil Cole (broken arm) had both been injured against Trim and missed the game. However, the performances of Stephen Ennis between the posts, John Farrell and Thomas Cosgrave at midfield and Mike Cole and Kevin Fagan in attack were decisive for Rathmolyon who led by 0-8 to 0-4 at the interval. They pushed away in the second half and James Mitchell's kicked goal for Killyon was no more than a consolation score. When the championship action resumed after a lengthy break, a big crowd turned up at Athboy for a repeat of the previous year's semi-final as Rathmolyon came face to face with Kilmessan. It took Kilmessan 10 minutes to open their scoring account, but once they got moving they were a vastly superior team. They held a 1-6 to 0-4 lead at the break and pushed clear effortlessly in the second period when they added 1-11 to their tally. Aaron Fagan scored a late goal for Rathmolyon at the end of a very disappointing performance and Kilmessan were ahead by 2-17 to 1-8 when the final whistle sounded. There was a significant improvement in the last round of group matches when Rathmolyon defeated Clann na nGael by 2-13 to 0-8 at Kiltale to secure third place in the group and a quarter-final ticket. Scores were scarce in the first half, at the end of which the Village led by 0-5 to 0-3, but they certainly found their range in the second period. Mike Cole put decent daylight between the teams when he netted shortly after the turnaround and by the time his brother Gary added a second goal near the end the result was beyond doubt. It hadn't been a totally convincing group campaign, but at least Rathmolyon would get the chance to play knockout hurling. Ashbourne provided the superb setting for the quarter-final which Dunboyne won comfortably by 2-14 to 1-5 after taking complete command in the second half. Neil Hackett scored the first of the game's three goals on eight minutes when his speculative effort ended in the net off the stick of Rathmolyon goalkeeper Stephen Ennis. Ennis came to his side's rescue soon after when he saved from Barry Watters and Rathmolyon received a big boost after 13 minutes when Kevin Fagan netted to leave them behind by only 1-3 to 1-4. However, Dunboyne went on to lead by 2-5 to 1-4 at the break, thanks largely to a Watters goal. Rathmolyon had leaked two 'soft' goals in that half, yet they were only four points adrift. However, the fact that their only second half score came from a Mike Cole free in the 56th minute tells its own story and six wides in the third quarter did nothing to aid their cause. During the same spell Dunboyne notched four points and they were well on the way to the semi-finals. "We were flying at the start of the year in the Leinster tournament," John Gorry said as he reviewed the campaign. "We played the Black and Whites from Kilkenny and they beat us by only two points. "Then we beat Ballinamere, an intermediate team from Offaly. Naomh Mearnog from Dublin beat us narrowly. That's a fantastic tournament. I know you have to travel, but it was a day away for the players. "In the first three games of the championship we were flying. The best game we played all year was in the first round against Kildalkey. It was level at 14 points each and then they got the last three points to win it. That was a fantastic game of hurling. "After that we beat Trim and Killyon. The eight week break between the third and fourth rounds killed us. It's hard to motivate lads during that time. It has to be sorted. All other counties play through it. What did it achieve this year? We didn't win the Christy Ring Cup and now we're in Div. 3 of the league. "We were very flat in the game against Kilmessan after the break, but we got through when we beat Clann na nGael. We let two terrible goals in against Dunboyne in the quarter-final and that killed us." It was a disappointing conclusion to the championship, but Gorry believes there is another senior title in this team. "The talent is there to win another championship," he added. "It's a big sacrifice and you have to be 100 per cent committed, totally motivated. But I believe we have the drive to win another one." The Rathmolyon team against Dunboyne was - S Ennis; M Lynch, T Walsh, P O'Brien; A Fagan, E Regan, N Cole; T Cosgrave, J Farrell; G Cole, T Henderson, T Lynch; N Fagan, K Fagan (1-1), M Cole (0-4). Sub - D Whelan for Farrell. Rathmolyon's second string enjoyed a progressive run in the Div. 2 HC, which included victories over Clann na nGael, Dunderry and Donaghmore/Ashbourne, but they exited the competition at the semi-final hurdle when going under to Killyon by 0-7 to 2-10. Tweet

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