This year is the 20th anniversary of Meaths juniors All-Ireland success in 1998. The Royals defeated Cork in the home final, before comfortably seeing off London in the decider. Meath Hills John Cunningham looks back on that famous win. Ask most Meath fans about 1988 and they will immediately talk about the All-Ireland SFC replay win over Cork to win consecutive titles, but although the junior's win may not have made as many headlines, it was an important win for a county eager to make its mark at national level. Midfield on the victorious junior team was former Meath Hill stalwart John Cunningham and he spoke to the Royal County Yearbook about his time with the county, while he also revealed what he has been doing during the intervening years. Meath had not won a junior title since 1962 and there was a great emphasis placed on ending that barren run when coach Mick O'Brien took over in 1985. A year later, Meath lost out in the 'home' final to Cork after a replay and in '88 the side were determined to make amends. As is the case today, Meath are only allowed choose players from the junior and intermediate grades, unlike some counties that can call on their second XV so to speak. An away clash against old rivals Kildare was the first match for the Royals and what a tough opener it would be as crucial points by Niall Rennicks and Jody Devine helped Meath to a 0-16 to 0-11 win over the Lilywhites. O'Brien's charges were then rewarded with a home clash against Wexford and the Royals ran out comfortable winners following a sluggish start to win by 1-11 to 0-7. And so on to the Leinster final where the 'aul enemy' Dublin, who were the defending provincial champions awaited. The Dubs had cruised through the campaign and had the added advantage of defeating Meath comfortably in the previous year's final. However, revenge was on the cards as O'Brien had his side in excellent condition as their superior fitness helped them to a three-point win over the Dubs and a place in the All-Ireland final beckoned as neither Connacht nor Ulster had entered teams into the championship. "Mick had us in excellent shape that year. We knew that it would be a tough campaign and we trained very hard for it. We probably did as much as some county senior teams and fortunately it was worth it in the end," said John. The 'home' final was played in Portlaoise and once again it was a tight match as two sides that knew each other extremely well went head to head. Meath started the brighter and some excellent play by John and his midfield partner Trevor Kane set up some fine scores and although Cork came back into the match in the second half, the Royal County urged on by centre half back and captain John McEnroe hung on to claim a victory by 1-9 to 1-5, with Meath's goal coming courtesy of Paul Curran. Nonetheless, the year was not over yet as Meath had now to play London and this would be played in Croke Park ahead of the senior decider which had gone to a replay. "It was great to get the chance to play in Croke Park. Everybody had worked so hard throughout the year and we felt that this was just reward, although only the fact that the senior match was a draw, we probably wouldn't have been there." The final itself turned out to be a one-sided affair as Meath ran out comfortable winners by 1-10 to 0-3, although it could have been a lot more had they taken their chances on front of goal. "I remember there was a long wait before that final and no one knew when it would be on, but when the word came that it would be in Croke Park, it came as a huge relief. "To be fair, London weren't as good as many of the other teams that we had played, but we still had a job to do. I made some great friends during that time and I have some special memories," John recalled. The Meath Hill clubman played with the Meath juniors for ten years, which is no mean achievement at any level. At club level, John won a junior title in 1980, while he also played in an intermediate decider in '86, only to lose to Gaeil Colmcille. His football career spanned well over 20 years and John admitted that he moved into management following his retirement in 2003. "I managed Louth side Stabannon Parnells for four years. They had been the team of the 90's in the county winning something like four championships during that period. Unfortunately, they were a team in decline when I took over, but I managed to keep them senior during my time, but they were then relegated. "I've had some great times during my career and I suppose winning the All-Ireland was the highlight, although I was found it an honour to play for Meath Hill. They are a great little club and although I don't follow the game as closely as I used to due to work commitments, I would like to get back involved some day. A good friend of mine John Maguire is actually managing the club now and he keeps me informed on how they are doing." For the past ten years, John has been managing director of Masterfire Life Safety Systems ltd which is one of the leading suppliers within the fire detection industry in Ireland. "We carry the latest equipment in both fire detection and fire extinguishing equipment, offering such state-of-the-art systems as air sampling for sophisticated detection to a new four-stage voice alarm system, which minimizes downtime from false alarms. "We offer a fully tailored service to a business or organization, from design and commissioning, through to certification, all with a comprehensive warranty for extra peace of mind. Once the installation is complete, we provide complete documentation, and can arrange staff training, demonstrations and evacuation procedures," he added. Masterfire looks after the safety of some of the biggest companies in Ireland and the UK including the Quinn Group, Kingspan, Kerry Group, Gypsum, Bank of Ireland, Tara Mines and a number of HSE facilities. "We have recently set up a company in Turkey working with the Turkish government as consultants on fire safety as the country is very prone to bush fires. In fact a recent fire there saw 16,000 hectares being damaged during a bush fire. I've been over and back there a few times, so I'm kept quite busy at the moment." Tweet

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