A good start is supposed to be half the battle, but for the Kildalkey hurlers it didn't prove enough as they faltered after the brightest of openings to their 2004 Senior Championship campaign. Coached by Pat O'Halloran, a Tipperary man living in nearby Ballivor, Kildalkey were drawn in Group A, a section that also included Trim, Killyon, Kiltale, Rathmolyon and Boardsmill and one from which they surely entertained realistic hopes of advancing to the business end of the battle for the Jubilee Cup. With Pat Potterton - one of the true bright lights of Royal County hurling during the '90s and the man who captained Meath to their All-Ireland SHC 'B' triumph in '93 - back in action there was obvious reason for optimism among the Kildalkey supporters as the championship clicked into action in late May. First up for Kildalkey were Boardsmill, a side fancied by most observers to struggle in the group stages, and the eagerly-sought early victory was achieved at Trim thanks to a strong finish which took them well clear of the 'Mill and secured a 14-point triumph on a 3-10 to 0-5 score line. But such a comprehensive win looked highly unlikely when Kildalkey held a slender enough 0-6 to 0-3 advantage with only 10 minutes to play. However, once substitute Nicky Potterton found the net the floodgates opened and Tony Fox and Gary McNally added further goals to copper-fasten their position of supremacy. Of great significance was the performance of Pat Potterton, who was outstanding at centre half-back, while Sean Corrigan and Jamie Keogh offered considerable hope for future outings with a dominant showing at midfield. Fox top-scored with 1-5. With that opening round victory under their belts, Kildalkey could afford to be confident going into their second assignment against Rathmolyon at Boardsmill and they responded with a very spirited and committed display that resulted in a 2-8 to 0-11 win. Of course, Rathmolyon must also have gone into this match feeling very good about themselves as they had rattled six goals past Trim in the opening round, but they failed to reach the heights of that performance and Kildalkey were deserving winners. Tony Costello was superb in goal for the winners, Pat Potterton again demonstrated all his craft and experience and Fox turned in another very productive showing. Kildalkey used the long ball to telling effect and, boosted by a goal from Gary McNally, they led by four points (1-5 to 0-4) at half-time. A second goal from Nick Fitzgerald left them ahead by 2-5 to 0-5 and Rathmolyon were unable to get the goal they so badly needed to kick-start a revival. A second successive win left Kildalkey sitting happily at the top of the Group A table on four points as they looked forward to an eagerly awaited third round clash with town rivals Trim who were bidding to get their title challenge firmly back on track. And that's exactly what the men in red did as they recorded a comfortable 2-14 to 2-6 victory at Athboy to put an end to Kildalkey's winning habit. Kildalkey managed to lead only once throughout the hour - early on when Nick Fitzgerald found the net with their first goal - and Trim were looking good at the interval as they held a handy 1-8 to 1-2 advantage. A productive opening to the second period was essential for Kildalkey if they were to have any hope of making it three championship victories on the bounce, but it was Trim who maintained their position of supremacy and when Joey Toole fired home a magnificent goal their lead had stretched to 2-10 to 1-2. Fox replied with a second goal for Kildalkey, but too much damage had already been inflicted by the town team. After that heavy loss, Kildalkey knew they needed to arrest the slide if they were to maintain their hopes of making it to the knock-out stages. Killyon were next on the agenda at Boardsmill and the Hill of Down combination badly needed a victory to keep their championship challenge alive. The great surprise wasn't that they achieved that win, but the considerable ease with which they managed it. Kildalkey had Nicky Potterton sent off in the first-half, which certainly didn't help their cause, and they were in serious trouble at the interval as Killyon had built up a commanding nine-point advantage (2-6 to 0-3) thanks to a magnificent performance which simply overwhelmed Kildalkey. They introduced the injured Tony Fox for the second period and closed the gap slightly to 0-5 to 2-7, but Killyon had already inflicted far too much damage and the task proved beyond Kildalkey as they went under by 0-6 to 2-14. With one round of matches to be played in the group stages, the situation in the section was very tight, though it was significant that Trim had recovered very well from a less than inspiring opening to the campaign and were now on top of the pile with six points from their four outings. But it was certainly all to play for as no fewer that four teams - Kildalkey, Killyon, Kiltale and Rathmolyon - were all on four points from as many matches, with Boardsmill staring at a relegation battle as they lay bottom of the table on only two points. A real crunch day lay ahead for so many sides as they prepared for the conclusion of the group stages, and that included Kildalkey who came face-to-face with Kiltale at Trim on the third Sunday of July. With so much at stake it was always going to be a tense encounter and that's exactly how it turned out as Kiltale did well to survive the sending off of Shane Reilly 15 minutes from the end to finish with a flourish and win by four points (2-11 to 0-13) - a success that earned them a play-off against Rathmolyon to decide who went through to the last four as runners-up in the group . For Kildalkey, without a number of key players for a combination of reasons, including Pat Potterton, it was dejection as their championship hopes evaporated, but they had only themselves to blame as they paid the heaviest price for their inaccuracy in the opening half when they hit no fewer than 10 wides. The sides were level (0-7 to 1-4) as the first-half entered the closing stages, but a goal from Peter Durnin gave Kiltale a very timely boost and they held a 2-4 to 0-8 advantage at the interval. Kildalkey opened the second-half brightly with points from Tony Fox, Shane Corrigan and Mairtin Doran to edge ahead by 0-11 to 2-4, but despite the loss of Reilly, Kiltale managed to lead by 2-8 to 0-12 with five minutes to go and were four points clear when the final whistle sounded. At the end of it all, Kildalkey had managed two victories and three defeats and, following such a bright start which appeared to augur so well for the campaign as a whole, that was a big disappointment. "We made a really great start to the championship by winning our first two games," commented club secretary Brendan Harmon as he looked back on the 2004 campaign. "We continued to have great turnouts at training after that and the mood in the camp was very good, very positive. It's hard to know what happened after that, whether we were stale or whatever. It's just very difficult to work out. "Confidence was high after we had beaten Boardsmill and Rathmolyon in the first two rounds. It was the sort of start we hoped for. Then we lost to Trim and, in the next round, we could do absolutely nothing right against Killyon and lost heavily." With two wins, followed by two defeats, Kildalkey were still very much in the hunt for a place in the knockout stages and faced a real crunch tie against Kiltale as the qualifying stages drew to a tense conclusion. "We really expected to beat Kiltale," Harmon recalled. "But unfortunately we gave away two stupid goals. Pat Potterton was on holiday for that game, Seanie Kealy sustained an injury against Killyon and couldn't line out and Nicky Potterton was suspended. "In reality, we can ill afford to be without three players like those lads." But forward is the only way to look and that's exactly how it will be for Kildalkey. "The panel is quite strong and we have a lot of young lads coming through," added the secretary. "Overall, our senior panel is quite young and we won the Under-16 Championship 'B' title last year. We should have a number of players coming through from that particular panel, which is encouraging. "I would be very optimistic for the future. But we really need a break, a bit of luck. You need those things. The bottom line is that we have to keep our heads up. It's the only way." A bit of luck can go a long, long way and nobody would begrudge Kildalkey at least a small portion of that vital ingredient. Tweet

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