It was case of déjà vu for Joey Farrelly and his Walterstown team-mates in 2008 when they became embroiled in the SFC relegation play-off but, just as twelve months previously, they overcame Kilmainhamwood to preserve their senior status and the long serving midfielder predicts better things to come in 2009. By Shane O'Brien. When Walterstown slipped a point in arrears to Kilmainhamwood early in the second half of this year's SFC relegation play-off 'semi-final', the management sprung Joey Farrelly from the bench to give them an added bit of impetus entering the final straight. A back injury had prevented the team captain from taking his place on the starting fifteen but with their long standing senior status on the line - Walterstown have been an ever present in the top flight since winning the 1963 IFC final against (ironically) Kilmainhamwood - it was time to throw caution to the wind and Farrelly is the type of player no team can do without when they there is so much at stake. The move proved to be one of the reasons that Brendan Murray's charges - the 1975 NFL winner returned to the Walterstown hotseat this year for the first time since leading them to their last county final in 1991 - finished strongest to win on a scoreline of 0-12 to 0-9 and secure their senior survival for 2009. 'Big Joey' has been a permanent fixture in the Black's midfield for the past sixteen years and pride, he said, wouldn't allow him and his team-mates entertain the possibility of relegation to the second tier of Meath gaelic football. "Initially you're awfully disappointed when results don't go your way and you end up in a relegation play-off," remarked the 33 year old, "but there would be shocking pride within the club, the last thing you want is to go down intermediate and pride alone would drive you on. "After the group stage had concluded we continued training and still got numbers out. Unfortunately, around the same time, St Ultan's beat us in the Feis Cup. We were hoping to get a few competitive games under our belt but for the four weeks leading up to the relegation play-off we had no games, just training. "In fairness to the lads, they continued coming training and stayed focus on the task in hand. It's easy to train for a semi-final or a final but, for us, the game against Kilmainhamwood was more important than any final. "I have to admit that I was very surprised by attitude of the young players, we got shocking commitment from them throughout the year, even when the chips were down towards the end and we were looking for lads to turn up training, they were there every night. They showed plenty of character which was a major plus." Despite having to fight to save their senior skin for the second year running, Joey puts a positive spin on events in 2008 and predicts that the experience of the last two years will stand this Walterstown team, particularly the younger players, in good stead in the coming years. "In one sense you can say that we ended up back in the same spot as we did last year but a major positive is that we blooded five players this year. We're rebuilding, we had eight under 21s on the panel, so, hopefully, next year we will be a lot better because of that. "We also had some lads out of the country - Alan Reynolds, Brian McCormack and Paddy O'Brien -next year should be the first year that we have a full panel available for quite some time which will be a big boost and I'd be very hopeful." A lack of consistency is a major problem with the Blacks, according to Joey who was a member of the Leinster winning Meath minor and under 21 panels of 1993 and 1996 respectively, and their results in Group B of this year's Meath SFC lend a lot of credence to that train of thought. The sustained a heavy fifteen point opening round defeat against Dunboyne before recovering to defeat Simonstown in round 2 and secure a creditable draw against Blackhall Gaels in round 3. Entering the final game against St. Patrick's their fate was very much in their own hands but, much to the frustration of the club's supporters, they slipped up against the Stamullen outfit. "At the beginning of the year you'd be earmarking teams that you would hope to get a win against and, no disrespect to St. Pat's, but they would have been one. Again, on the day, things didn't go right for us and St. Pat's were the better team and deserved to win. We were short lads through injuries and suspension (Joey was absent after being hit with a two month suspension following a sending-off in a league games against Simonstown) but we just didn't get going regardless. "Everything boiled down to the last game, that's how even Group B was. To be honest, I wouldn't be impressed with the present championship structure in Meath. We played four championship games all year and those four games determine your entire year. Personally, I would prefer a return to the two groups of eight format which, I think, was a lot fairer on clubs and players." Those results left Walterstown joint bottom with Simonstown in the Group B table on 3 points but scoring difference counted against them. "I suppose some would say it was typical Walterstown. We do have a problem with consistency but, look it, we're a young enough team with the exception of myself and a couple of others and lads are developing nicely, the likes of young David Maguire and Davy Reynolds are coming on, so if we can add a bit of consistency into our play then there's no reason why we can't be there or thereabouts." Off the field of play, Walterstown continued to make strides in developing their impressive facilities at Oldtown with the installation of an all-weather playing pitch. The club also held a hugely successful draw which had a top prize of an apartment in the Academy Square complex in Navan. "The all-weather pitch is a great addition to the club's facilities and it's flying at the minute. The work that has gone on in the club over the last few years with all the development work and the fundraising that that entailed is unbelievable and it's a credit to all involved. "The main emphasis from now on will be football though, to develop that from underage to adult levels, that's where all the effort will be channelled now in the coming years." Joey is married to Patricia, daughter of the late Seamus Heaney from Simonstown who was well known in coaching circles within Meath, and together they have organised the annual 7-a-side gaelic football tournament which takes place in Walterstown on the Sunday of the August Bank Holiday weekend. This was the third year of the hugely successful event which has been responsible for raising thousands of euros for worthwhile charities. "Myself and Patricia decided to run a charity event for her aunty, Sr. Phyllis Heaney, who runs community projects in a deprived area of Brazil," explained Joey. "We were looking at her coming home trying to raise money and that's where the idea initially came from. We have received great support from everyone and the club especially." All proceeds from this year's event - which, incidentally, Skryne won - were donated to the Chernobyl Children's project while, last year, seven defibrillators were purchased for local schools and organisations in the Walterstown and Johnstown areas from the monies raised and training in the use of defibrillators was also provided. Since first breaking into the Walterstown senior team in 1992, Joey has always displayed an equally big heart for the heat of battle and - opposing midfielders be warned - he has no intention of hanging up the boots just yet! 80's team hold a special record It remains is a source of huge pride in the Walterstown/Johnstown parish that the team of the 1980's holds a unique record in Meath's illustrious football history...the Blacks are the only team from the county to have contested an All-Ireland Club Final...and they did it not once but on two occasions. The fact that they didn't bring home the Andy Merrigan Cup still rankles but there were extenuating circumstances and there is still the rather significant compensation that they are widely regarded as one of the finest, if not the finest, club team to represent the Royal County. By Brendan Cummins. Walterstown's stock may have fallen in recent years but they are currently the second longest serving team in the Senior ranks...since winning the Intermediate title in 1964 they have preserved their status in the top flight...Skryne are the only club to have a longer existence in the Senior grade. The current team has been struggling and has been involved in relegation play-offs in each of the last two years. Perhaps the burden of attempting to live up to their predecessors has become too heavy...or maybe it is that success comes in cycles. When attempting to assess the achievements of the great team of the 1980's it is neccessary to delve a little into the past and to see if tradition played any part in the team's emergence. The conclusion is that it wasn't a major factor...the club was founded in 1902 but the records show that Dowdstown were the first SF Champions of Meath in 1887 and again in 1888. There were two Dowdstown men on the first County Board, John Doran and Peter Harpur, but the Walterstown club's early existence was somewhat patchy. Junior finals were contested in 1923 and 1944 but success proved elusive. The Junior success of 1961 (Paddy Barry was the first Championship-winning captain) was the big breakthrough and when the Intermediate title followed three years later hopes of further success were high. The Blacks reached the Senior final in 1968 but it turned out to be a chastening experience...they were beaten 3-17 to 1-4 by Gaeil Colmcille. It took another 8 years for Walterstown to get back to a senior final. Unfortunately, they came up against the great Summerhill team of the 70's who completed the third of their 4-in-a-row by beating the Blacks, 3-9 to 0-2. Two Senior finals...and defeats by 19 and 16 points respectively! Was there a way back for Walterstown? The answer was most emphatic and had it's origins in a huge effort throughout the 1970's at under-age level. In 1978 the Blacks bounced back to win the Keegan Cup for the first time. And in the final they gained ample revenge for their mauling by Summerhill two years previous. The 'Hill were going for an amazing 5-in-a-row but Walterstown led by 0-7 to 0-6 when the final whistle went. At last! When Michael O'Brien later penned his excellent history of Walterstown GFC, he came up with the most appropriate title..."Perseverance brings Success"...he was surely thinking of the moment when the final whistle sounded in the 1978 County final. Walterstown were now in the big-time and would no longer be looked on as a team that could reach the closing stages of the Championship without having their name inscribed on the Cup. Christy Bowens had the honour of being the history-making captain and the full line-out was...Sean Reilly, Pat Smith, Willie Clarke, Neil O'Sullivan, Paul Reynolds, Christy Bowens, Martin Shiels, Pat Reynolds, Eamon Barry, Eamon O'Brien, Gerry McLoughlin, Pat Davis, Frank O'Sullivan and Ollie O'Brien. It was perhaps understandable that Walterstown's efforts in the Leinster Club Championship were not helped by the celebrations that followed the great breakthrough...they were beaten in the 1st round by Offaly champions Walsh Island. The exit from the 1979 championship was controversial to say the least. In the semi-final against Navan O'Mahonys, a perfectly valid point from a free by Eamon Barry was signalled wide...the champions lost their crown by a point, 1-5 to 1-6. The hallmark of a good team is it's ability to bounce back from adversity and Walterstown did just that in 1980. Revenge against O'Mahonys in the semi-final was sweet but it also added to the pressure against unfancied Syddan in the final. There was however, no need for worries...the Blacks turned on the style in the most empatic manner and cantered to a 4-9 to 0-6 victory. The line-out for the second Keegan Cup victory was...Sean Reilly, Pat Smith, Willie Clarke, Martin Shiels, Kevin McLoughlin, Christy Bowens, Gerry Reynolds, Christy Reynolds, Neil O'Sullivan, Eamon O'Brien, Eamon Barry, Gerry McLoughlin, Gerry Cooney, Ollie O'Brien and Frank O'Sullivan. Neil O'Sullivan was captain. With two Keegan Cups on the sideboard, Walterstown now began to look further afield and they were more than hopeful of a prolonged run in the Leinster Championship. They drew with the Dublin champions Civil Service at O'Toole Park. The replay at Pairc Tailteann saw the Blacks record their first ever win in Leinster...a resounding 3-9 to 0-6 victory. Wicklow champions Baltinglass stood between the Meathmen and a place in the final. Walterstown were coasting to victory but were caught by two late goals and had to face another replay. Again the Blacks learned more from the drawn encounter and won the replay by 4-8 to 1-4. With winning replay margins of 12 and 13 points it was difficult to understand why the Meath champions hadn't won both games at the first time of asking. Newbridge was the venue for the final against Carlow champions Eire Og and Walterstown appeared to be on course for an easy victory when they led by 8 points at the end of the opening quarter. Eire Og rallied and were on level terms at the threequarter stage. The Blacks, showing tremendous reserves of character and resilience, stood firm and held on to win by the minimum margin 2-9 to 2-8. Eamonn Barry finished with a personal tally of 2-5. Walterstown had become only the second Meath club, after Summerhill, to win the provincial championship, a truly remarkable achievement for a team that won it's first Junior Championship in the early 1960's. The team that won the first Leinster title was; Sean Reilly, Pat Smith, Eamonn Ward, Martin Shiels, Kevin McLoughlin, Christy Bowens, Gerry Reynolds, Neil O'Sullivan (capt), Christy Reynolds, Eamonn O'Brien, Eamonn Barry, Gerry McLoughlin, Gerry Cooney, Ollie O'Brien and Frank O'Sullivan. Walterstown had the advantage of playing their All-Ireland semi-final against St Marys of Sligo at Pairc Tailteann. Again, Eamonn Barry was in outstanding form and, in what was arguably his finest performance in the black jersey, he contributed 1-10 of his team's 2-12 total. St Marys finished with 1-5 and had no answer to Walterstown's brilliance. The victory meant that Walterstown would become the first Meath team to contest the All-Ireland Cub final...but the voyage ended in disappointment as the Cork champions St Finbarrs proved too strong and won by five points, 1-8 to 0-6. The extenuating circumstances surrounding the Walterstown defeat centred on a rule-change involvong the hand-pass. Walterstown's clever and slick attacking play revolved around the speedy hand-pass but the change in rule, and interpretation, robbed them of one of their key assets. Still, it had been a remarkable achievement to appear in the All-Ireland Final. Just as in 1979, Walterstown failed in their quest to win back-to-back Keegan Cups and again, it was Navan O'Mahonys who deprived them at the semi-final stage. And so to 1982 and another beginning. It started off rather ominously with a first round defeat by Nobber but winning ways were soon regained even though the passage to the knock-out stages was somewhat bumpy. Three teams, Summerhill, Nobber and Walterstown finished level on the Group table neccessitating play-offs for the sem-final places. Walterstown were drawn to play Summerhill who they had already beaten. The play-off game ended in a draw with Summerhill scoring a goal and a point in the dying minutes...Summerhill won the replay leaving Walterstown to play Nobber for a place in the last four. Incredibly, this game also ended in a draw with Walterstown the luckier of the two teams to survive. The game went to extra-time before Walterstown emerged with a three point win...Martin Shiels giving an oustanding display in defence. The Blacks were through to the semi-final for the 7th succesive year. For the fifth time in five years Walterstown faced Navan O'Mahonys in the semi-final...and incredibly the game ended all square. Walterstown were again the luckier of the two teams to survive but they won their third replay of the Championship with a 0-6 to 0-5 victory over their great rivals. Goalie Sean Reilly emerged as the hero thanks to a fantastic save with just two minutes remaining. Summerhill provided the opposition in the final...the fourth meeting of the teams in the 1982 Championship. It finished 1-7 to 1-5 in favour of Walterstown with Ollie O'Brien getting the winners goal and Neil O'Sullivan named as 'Man of the Match. The captain was Eamonn O'Brien. It had taken an incredible total of 12 games but in the end the 'Blacks' were Meath Senior champions for the third time in their history. The winning team in 1982 was; Sean Reilly, Eamonn Ward, Willie Clarke, Martin Shiels, Gerry McLoughlin, Paddy Carr, Gerry Reynolds, Neil O'Sullivan, Christy Reynolds, Eamonn O'Brien, Eamonn Barry, Frank O'Sullivan, Martin Barry, Ollie O'Brien and Gerry Cooney. The challenge was now clear...could they go one better and retain the title? Because of their marathon path to success in 1982 the Meath champions were unable to represent the county in the Leinster Club championship so there was added incentive and motivation for the 1983 campaign. JJ McCormack, the former Ballinabrackey star was brought on board and the defending champions, with displays of varying quality, qualified for yet another semi-final appearance. The services of Kerry superstar Jack O'Shea were acquired in a training capacity ahead of the game against Nobber which the champions won by three points. Navan O'Mahonys also qualified for the final and the scene was set for the 'showdown of all showdowns'. Form favoured the holders but O'Mahonys had deprived them at the semi-final stage on the two previous occasions that Walterstown were attempting to win back-to-back titles. On each occasion the Brews Hill men went on to lift the Keegan Cup. Furthermore, Walterstown had never beaten O'Mahonys in Pairc Tailteann. A huge crowd turned up to see Walterstown retain the title on a 0-10 to 1-3 scoreline thanks to another great display of teamwork and determination. Eamonn O'Brien was introduced as a substitute at centre-half-back at half-time and a handful of positional switches helped to turn a 2 point deficit into a 4 point winning margin. At last, at the third attempt Walterstown had successfully defended their title. The winning team in 1983 was; Sean Reilly, Paddy Carr, Willie Clarke, Gerry McLoughlin, Eamonn Ward, Frank O'Sullivan, Gerry Reynolds, Christy Reynolds, Neil O'Sullivan, John Barry, Eamonn Barry, JJ McCormack, Martin Barry, Ollie O'Brien and Gerry Cooney. Gerry McLoughlin was captain and Frank O'Sullivan was named as 'Man of the Match'. Victories over James Stephens of Kilkenny, Johnstownbridge of Kildare, and Scoil Ui Conaill of Dublin saw the Meath champions through to the Leinster Club final against Walsh Island of Offaly. The latter two games had been exceptional in both terms of quality and excitement and the trend was continued in the decider. With three minutes of the second half-played Walterstown led by a whopping 14 points...but Walsh Island, inspired by the great Matt Connor, staged a magnificent recovery and the Meath champions were just about holding on to a one point lead when the final whistle sounded. The final score was 3-9 to 2-11 and Walterstown were Leinster Champions for the second time. With Eamonn Barry adding to his impressive tally of goals the Down and Ulster champions Burren were comprehensively beaten in the semi-final but the incredible scheduling of the All-Ireland Final for the following afternoon proved to be an administrative blunder that Walterstown simply couldn't overcome. They were well beaten by Nemo Rangers and the dream of becoming All-Ireland champions remained unfulfilled. The Centenary Year championship followed and with it, the opportunity for Walterstown to enhance their new-found status by joining the ranks of the three-in-a-row winners. And they achieved it in fine style, beating neighbours Skryne in a final that had it's share of controversey. Walterstown won by 2-9 to 1-7 with the goals coming from Martin Barry and Frank O'Sullivan. There was a melee in the closing stages and the mystery was that only Gerry Reynolds and Micky Ryan (Skryne) were dismissed. The incident did not however take away from Walterstown's magnificent achievement. The team that completed the three-in-a-row was; Sean Reilly, Gerry McLoughlin, Martin Shiels, Eamonn O'Brien, Neil O'Sullivan, Gerry Reynolds, Christy Reynolds, JJ McCormack, John Barry, Eamonn Barry, Martin Barry, Frank O'Sullivan, Ollie O'Brien and Gerry Cooney. 'Man of the Match' was Martin Barry and the captain was Gerry Cooney. Hopes of another Leinster success were subsequently dashed by Athlone in the first round. Walterstown's amazing run came to an end when they were well beaten by Skryne, 1-12 to 1-4 in the 1985 semi-final and although they reached the semi-final again in 1986, (for a marvelous 11th successive year, the wear and tear of the many games had taken it's toll. Five Keegan Cups, two Leinster titles and two All-Ireland final appearances as well as the 11 consecutive semi-finals and a host of other successes in less prestigious competitions...and quite a number of the team also found time to star in the county jersey. There is no doubt that the Walterstown team from the mid 1970's to the mid-'80's was the best club team to emerge from Meath in the modern era. Their intelligent forward play, their defensive resilience and their never-say-die spirit were their oustanding qualities and while all the players are entitled to share in the credits, it might not have been possible without their shrewd and tactically astute coach Michael O'Brien. Thanks for the memories! U21 TITLE FOR THE BLACKS Walterstown .......................... 0-14 Duleek/Bellewstown .............. 0-7 Walterstown captured the U21A final with a convincing seven point win over Duleek/ Bellewstown in wet and windy conditions in Donore. The Blacks played against the elements in the first half and started brightly with points from midfielder Tom Walsh and wing forward Colm Reilly giving them a lead which they held for most of the half. Duleek/Bellewstown did fight back towards the end of the half to be on level terms 0-5 each going in at the break. Duleek/Bellewstown scored first in second half but Walterstown took over and dominated the rest of the match with Walsh at midfield scoring some fine points. Davy Reynolds at centre forward picked up most of the breaking ball and helped himself to two excellent points. When the eventual losers had a player dismissed the game ceased as a contest and the Blacks ran out comfortable winners. Brian McGrane and Stephen O'Keeffe were very solid in the fullback line along with David Maguire at No.6. Tom Walsh dominated midfield and up front Davy Reynolds, Richie Barry an Alan O'Keeffe were always threatening in possession. Walterstown - Conor Daly, Stephen O'Keeffe, Brian McGrane, Eoin O'Mahony, David Maguire (0-1), Kenneth McGrane, Tom Walsh (0-4), Conor O'Sullivan, Colm Reilly (0-1) Davy Reynolds (0-2), Joey Coogan (0-1), Alan O'Keeffe (0-2), Richie Barry (0-3). Subs - Anwar Khan for E O'Mahony, Mark McCormack for C.Reilly, Barry O'Dowd for K McGrane, Mark Reynolds for J Coogan Tweet

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