When Gaeil Colmcille suffered heavy defeats in their opening two matches of the group stages of the Intermediate Hurling Championship it looked odds-on that they were in for a repeat of their 2005 campaign and a battle to hold onto their status in the second tier. It will be recalled that the Kells men reached the intermediate final in 2004 when they were beaten by Clann na nGael, yet a year later there were very worrying signs and, instead of challenging for a place in the decider again, they struggled big time and it was only when they got their one and only victory of the competition in the last round against Dunderry that they could relax in the knowledge that the unthinkable wasn't going to happen - the dreaded drop down to junior hurling. For a club that really wants to play both hurling and football in the senior ranks that would have been something of a disaster. After all, the footballers had lost their top flight status in 2004 when they ended a poor campaign by losing the relegation play-off to one of the Senior Championship's survival specialists, Summerhill. In 2006 the footballers reached the intermediate quarter-finals, where their hopes of a return to the top flight ended at the hands of Oldcastle, but there were definite worrying signs that the hurlers might fail to make the business end of the Intermediate Championship again after they made the poorest of starts to the divisional campaign. In fairness, they fielded greatly weakened teams in their first two outings and there is no doubting that when Gaeil Colmcille are at full strength they are a match for any team in the intermediate grade and have to be on the short list for outright success. They headed out on their seven-game divisional adventure with a very tricky opening round assignment against Na Fianna at Athboy and the outcome was a very heavy defeat as the Enfield/Baconstown combination triumphed by all of 16 points on a 3-13 to 0-6 score line. The goal count against wasn't as bad in the second round when Gaeil Colmcille headed south to Dunsany to play a Donaghmore/Ashbourne team that was managed by former Meath senior coach John Hunt, but the end result was a second successive defeat as Hunt's outfit won very comfortably by 2-10 to 0-4. The alarm bells weren't exactly sounding loudly around Pairc Colmcille after that loss, but with a very tough assignment against Dunderry to come in the third round at Kilskyre there was a worrying hint that they might just threaten to ring if the Kells men were to make it three losses on the bounce. Dunderry were in an identical position to Kells at that stage, having surprisingly lost their first two group games, and by the time the teams walked off the field in Kilskyre they were both still without a win as the match ended all square (1-14 apiece). The brunt of the scoring was done in the first half as a Keith Callaghan goal helped Dunderry to a 1-10 to 1-7 interval advantage, with Charlie Usher finding the net for Gaeil Colmcille. The Kells side closed the gap in the second period, but Dunderry still looked set to condemn them to another defeat when they were a point ahead as the final whistle beckoned. However, Gaeil Colmcille had the last say with an equaliser on a day when that ace score-getter, player/manager Tom Shine, contributed a very important personal tally of nine points. The Intermediate Championship offered hope for both Gaeil Colmcille and Dunderry after that match and it got a whole lot better for each of them as they set about commencing winning runs that would take them to a semi-final showdown back at Kilskyre on the third Saturday of October. Gaeil Colmcille achieved their first win of the competition, but St. Patrick's certainly put it up to them in the fourth round at Dunsany before they came through by just two points (3-9 to 2-10). Usher top-scored with 1-2 and John Morris, Michael Foley and Peter Maguire were particularly prominent in a victory that really kick-started their assault on a place in the last four. Wolfe Tones always looked likely to provide very stern competition in the fifth round at Kilskrye, but the outcome was a surprisingly comprehensive win for Gaeil Colmcille as they scored by 3-6 to 1-7. Scores were as rare as meat on a butcher's apron in the first half and the town side shaded the verdict at the interval, leading by 0-3 to 0-2 after hitting seven wides. However, it's a proven fact that goals win games and Gaeil Colmcille got three of them in the second period, courtesy of Ross Kelly, Stephen Reddy and S. Gibney to take control and be five points clear at the end. That win left them in joint fourth position in the group on five points, the same as Dunderry, as Na Fianna led the pack on 10, followed by Kilskyre on eight and Wolfe Tones on six. Another demanding looking assignment followed in the sixth round against Longwood at Athboy, but Gaeil Colmcille shaded a close contest by 3-10 to 2-12 to set up a very interesting and significant final round meeting with close rivals Kilskyre, also at Athboy. They may be close rivals, but this wasn't a particularly close encounter as Gaeil Colmcille opened up a very useful 0-7 to 0-1 half-time advantage en route to a 0-9 to 1-1 victory. The vastly experienced Shine - the man who scored the vital goal for Meath as they won the All-Ireland Under-21 FC final against Kerry back in 1993 - again proved his importance to the team by notching five points. The win meant Gaeil Colmcille had achieved their first goal of the championship and reached the knockout stages - and there to meet them were Dunderry who were well on the road to a place in the decider when they led by 2-5 to 0-5 at the break after Damien Clarke and former county player Keith Callaghan had netted. Usher had brought a superb save out of Brendan Fitzsimons early in the first half, so Gaeil Colmcille certainly weren't without hope heading into the second period with the wind at their backs. They managed to close the deficit to only two points (0-10 to 2-6). A beautiful rainbow appeared over the Kilskyre pitch around this time, but it didn't carry a crock of gold for the Kells men as Callaghan claimed his second goal to point Dunderry firmly in the direction of the final. Ross Kelly's goal arrived too late to be any great use to Gaeil Colmcille, who were adrift by 1-10 to 3-7 at the end, and the dream of a place in the senior ranks goes on into 2007. However, there can be no doubt that if they can field a full-strength team on a consistent basis the Kells intermediates will continue to be very serious contenders for the title. "We lost our first two matches in the group," said player/manager Shine as he reflected on the Intermediate Championship campaign. "We had a very weak team out in the first game against Na Fianna and eight lads were away on a stag party when we were beaten by Donaghmore/Ashbourne in the second round. "But things improved dramatically after that and it was only at that stage that we started training. We were unbeaten for the rest of the group stages. We drew with Dunderry and beat St. Patrick's, Wolfe Tones, Longwood and Kilskyre to get through to the semi-final against Dunderry. "There was a 10-week break between the Kilskyre game and the semi-final. That didn't help because it's hard to keep it together in a situation like that. I was still hopeful at half-time in the semi-final. We had given away two bad goals and were six points behind, but the wind was fairly strong and we had it to come in the second half. "We got the gap down to two points, but then we gave away another goal and that was a killer blow. We were very disappointed to lose and you could see that in the way the players were in the dressing room afterwards. They were shattered. "But I would be very hopeful for the future. We trained on the astro turf at Castle Villa and were getting 25 and 26 lads out. We also went to the beach for a training session and, overall, the spirit in the camp was great. That would have to give you hope for the future. If we had a full team from the start it would make a difference, absolutely." The Gaeil Colmcille team in the semi-final was - J. Lee; K. Reilly, D. Deignan, M. Foley; P. Maguire, B. Smith, R. Flanagan; L. Newman, D. O'Neill; T. Shine (0-6), R. Kelly (1-0), C. Usher (0-1); S. Reddy (0-2), B. Ferguson (0-1), N. Flanagan. Subs - J. Morris for Reilly, S. Gibney for N. Flanagan, C. Ferguson for B. Ferguson. Needing to grasp the nettle It's as you were for Gaeil Colmcille after another frustrating year of intermediate football. The Kells side lost to Oldcastle at the quarter-final stages of an intermediate championship which was there to be won this year after a number of the top teams bowed out early. After juggling with the drop for years, Gaeil Colmcille were finally relegated from the top flight of Meath championship football in 2005. However, at the time, many in the club felt that it might not have been such a bad thing. Perhaps, after years of suffering defeat after defeat, they could use their first season in the middle tier to rediscover the winning habit. It would give younger players a chance to bed in and find their feet. Perhaps promotion could even be garnered at the first attempt but if not then the second year would see them stage a serious assault on the Mattie McDonnell trophy. Yet, two years on, and they have never advanced further than the quarter-final stages in the intermediate grade. Indeed, there is not a whole lot to suggest that they will get much closer next year either. The intermediate championship was there to be won this year. From the quarter-finals onward, the competition was wide open. Gaeil Colmcille though failed to take advantage. However, they have one surprising supporter who feels they do have the talent to make the step back up to the senior grade. Former Donegal All-Ireland winning footballer Martin McHugh, who managed Cavan to an Ulster title in 1997, attended a training session in Kells two seasons ago on the eve of Gaeil Colmcille's senior relegation battle. "I was surprised that they went down because they certainly had plenty of talented footballers," recalled two time All Star McHugh. "From talking to people around the club that evening it was clear that the problem seemed to be in application. Nearly everybody I spoke to had the same thing to say - 'there's not enough commitment.' "But they are not the only club in the country or county to have that problem. Most clubs, at some stage, struggle to get a full panel of lads giving it 100 percent commitment. "Especially now the way the club fixtures are being pushed down the pecking order as inter-county football and hurling takes precedence. "Club players are getting frustrated and losing interest. If you are losing games as well then suddenly your problems are doubled. The more games you lose the less players tend to turn up for training. "Things just get worse and worse but if you are winning games then it tends to lift the whole morale again, it's a simple formula but the problem is getting a winning run going. "If you do that you'll find that everything starts falling into place. I think that's what Kells need to happen, they need to get a winning streak going because they certainly have enough players who should be playing senior championship football. But it's up to them to make it happen. "From what I seen that night there are players with bundles of talent but almost a fear to believe in themselves because they have become used to playing for a club too accustomed to doing their best, rather than being the best. "For a town the size of Kells, with just one GAA club, it's really not good enough for them to be playing intermediate football," continued McHugh. The Kells side, who were again coached by Dubliner PJ Buckley this year, began their intermediate campaign on a disappointing note with a three point defeat to Dunderry in mid March, 0-10 to 0-7. They faced Castletown a week later where they battled out a one point win. It was to be the only game Castletown lost during the group stages. In fact, they won all of their other six games and finished joint top of the table. That victory, which showed the Kells team had character as well as talent, seemed to lift the players and they hammered Na Fianna next time out, 2-11 to 0-10. Brian 'Beano' Hanlon was the north Meath side's chief scorer that day as he tormented the Na Fianna rearguard to chalk up a personal tally of 1-5. It wasn't all good news for the Kells men though as midfielder Jim Gallagher hobbled off injured during the game. Substitute John Morris bagged their second goal. Next up was a huge local derby against Carnaross - a game which was essentially a must win game for both teams. Carnaross were really struggling and had lost all of their three previous games. They were playing for survival at this stage, while Kells were gunning for the latter stages of the championship. The game took place in Moynalty in late July but there was only ever one team in it as Gaeil Colmcille cruised home to an emphatic 2-18 to 1-6 victory. Such was the comprehensiveness of the victory that talk around Kells over the next few days was that this team had a real chance of going all the way and re-establishing the club in the senior ranks for 2007. They met Donaghmore Ashbourne next time out in Pairc Tailteann - but it was to be a game which brought their ambitions crashing back down to earth. Donaghmore Ashbourne ran out 1-9 to 0-10 victors, terminating Gaeil Colmcille's good run. Kells had actually got over the disappointment of conceding a penalty on the quarter hour mark to lead again six minutes later. However, just when it looked as if Gaeil Colmcille were taking control, the impetus switched to Donaghmore Ashbourne and they dominated midfield for the remainder of the half, going in with a two point advantage at the interval. Kells did draw level early after the resumption but yet again Donaghmore Ashbourne dug deep and started to build up a lead which they held until the final whistle. It was a disappointing result for the Kells side and they had plenty to lament as they weaved their way back home down the N3 that evening. The one consolation though was that they never dropped their heads during the game, battling until the very end. They were fancied to see off Drumconrath in early September and all but secure a quarter-final berth. However, the Jekyll and Hyde nature of Kells football reared its ugly head again as they lost by the minimum to the red and whites, 1-9 to 1-10. That defeat meant that their hopes of a quarter-final place rested on the outcome of their final group game against Ballivor. In a sometimes cautious and scrappy affair, the sides played out a 0-8 to 0-8 draw, meaning that Gaeil Colmcille had to wait until the outcome of other matches before knowing their final standing in the Group A. Ultimately, Drumconrath's win over Dunderry left Gaeil Colmcille in fourth position and facing a quarter-final against the table toppers in Group B, Oldcastle. Gaeil Colmcille entered the game in late September without a championship win since that big victory over Carnaross back in July, while on the other hand Oldcastle hadn't lost a game during their entire campaign. Still, the lack lustre performance produced by Kells in the quarter-final takes a lot of explaining as their north Meath neighbours romped home to a 1-12 to 0-7 victory. It brought a premature and disappointing end to a championship campaign which at one stage had hinted at offering so much more. Rathkenny went on to beat Drumconrath in the final - a stinging reminder to Kells that the Mattie McDonnell Cup was there to be won this season. Gaeil Colmcille failed to win promotion from Division 3A of the All-County Leagues this year as well, finishing at the right end of the table but still adrift of the top two. The Gaeil Colmcille Junior D side were left to rue a missed chance as well this past year. They lost to Walterstown after a replay in the championship quarter-final. Walterstown went on to lose to Moylagh in the final at Pairc Tailteann - a Moylagh side which Gaeil Colmcille had beaten comprehensively in the early stages of the competition. So, it was another year of missed chances for Gaeil Colmcille then. Sooner or later they'll have to start taking some of them! Kells Handball Club Tom Sheridan reached the All-Ireland 60x30 final where he lost out to Owen Kennedy, Dublin in September by two sets to one. Sheridan, together with Walter O'Conner, reached the final of the All-Ireland 60x30 Doubles but found Dessie Keegan and Joe McCann in unstoppable form in the national decider. Gary McConnell won the under 16 60x30 Leinster final but lost the All-Ireland 60x30 semi-final to Fergus Collins. Gary will now take part in the World U17 competition. The club at the time of writing were taking part in the 40x20 Inter Club Leinster semi-finals where they were to take on O'Loughlins of Kilkenny. Tweet

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