Edging that bit closer
November 30, 2006
Losing a final can be a major setback for any club and although that is exactly what occurred to Kilmainham this year, team captain Trevor Lynch believes the appearance in their first junior 'A' final should be looked on as a stepping stone for this young side.
Last year, the Kells border club reached the semi-finals of the junior championship and this year's feat of playing in the final can be seen as an improvement for a club that has one of the smallest catchment areas on the county.
Despite only entering the junior ranks a few short years ago, Kilmainham are now considered as one of the strongest teams in the junior grade and with youth on their side, there is no doubting the potential that this squad of players can produce.
"The side consists of a lot of young players. We have two or three lads over 30 and maybe one or two more in their late twenties, while the rest are between 17 and 25," said Trevor.
"There are some very good footballers among them and hopefully next year, we can go one step further and win the championship. I definitely believe we are good enough to do so."
Off the field the club has made great strides in the development of their grounds and work on their new dressingrooms is set to begin over the winter. The location of the club means that Kilmainham will be in the running to host many championship matches when the development work is complete.
Like most clubs, the North Meath side rely on the hard work of some dedicated people to ensure that the funds are raised for the new dressingrooms and having already completed the construction of a top quality playing pitch, the future looks very bright for the club, both on and off the field.
Kilmainham were placed in a group along with Navan O'Mahony's, Curraha, Summerhill, Longwood, Gaeil Colmcille, Drumbaragh and Dunderry. Trevor admitted that looking at the draw, the red and blacks were quietly confident of qualifying for the knockout stages, although there were a few tough matches in there.
"We knew that O'Mahony's would be tough in the opening game as they would have a few seniors in the side, while the match against Longwood and the local derby matches against Kells and Drumbaragh are always tough.
"It was never a case of taking any side for granted, but we knew that if we played to our best than a place in the quarterfinals should be secured."
Trevor's prediction that the clash with O'Mahony's would be a tough one proved right as the town team provided a stern test for Paddy O'Rourke's charges, but unlike the previous year when the sides played out a draw, Kilmainham came out on top by 1-10 to 0-9 following a good second half performance.
"It was good to get a win over O'Mahony's. When you play teams like that at the start of the championship, they are always going to be strong," he stressed.
Curraha provided the next test and Kilmainham proved that they were real championship contenders following a comfortable 1-15 to 1-4 win over the South Meath side with county star Barry Lynch scoring the winner's goal.
"I honestly didn't think we would beat Curraha so easy, but we played very well on the day and the forwards got some very good scores during the game."
Summerhill are another side to be avoided early in the championship, but they were the opposition in the third outing of the campaign and a second half surge saw Kilmainham pull away in this one.
"It was very close during the first half and there wasn't much between us at half time. Fortunately, the second half turned in our favour and we pulled away in the finish," added Trevor.
The Kilmainham skipper revealed that an early start to training was paying dividends as the side was finishing matches a lot stronger, compared to last year.
"We were definitely a lot fitter this year. We started training at the end of January and this stood to us in some of the games where we finished strongly."
Arguably the most improved side in junior football in recent years has been Longwood and they were a good bet to do well in the campaign and so it proved as they reached the semi final.
However, the meeting of Longwood and Kilmainham in the group stages proved to be a one-sided affair and the men in red and black ran out comfortable winners (1-16 to 1-3) on the day.
"We were shocked to have beaten Longwood so easily, but they were missing one or two of their better players, while everything seemed to go right for us on the day.
"That was one of our best performances of the year and we were hoping to build from that result as we only needed another two points to make sure we went through."
Next up was a local derby against neighbours Gaeil Colmcille and Kilmainham entered this match as red hot favourites, but the rivalry between the sides had a negative affect on the sole junior club.
"We went from one of our best performances to our worst in consecutive matches. The performance against Kells was very bad and we were lucky to get a draw. I think the fact that it was a derby match had a big affect on the game, but that is no excuse," stated the skipper.
A meeting with Drumbaragh also provided a local derby and this match turned out to be a similar affair to the Kells game with the sides' level at the end of the sixty minutes.
"The draw against Drumbaragh put us through to the quarterfinals as we topped the group and that was our main aim all along, although we played poorly in that match also."
Kilmainham returned to form in the quarterfinal against St Peter's Dunboyne and looked set to run away with the match as they lead by nine points at the start of the second half, but Dunboyne clawed their way back into the match and narrowed the gap to four points. Nonetheless time was not on their side and Kilmainham held on to win by 1-12 to 0-11.
"Dunboyne should never have been allowed come back into that match and that is something we must learn from. This team has a bit to go yet, but you can see the improvement every year," he said.
For the second consecutive year, Kilmainham had made the semi finals and this year they were determined to go one step further and make it to the final by beating Dunsany.
They could not have asked for a better start to the game as three early goals from rising stars Michael Newman (2) and Shane Butler put them in the driving seat early on and although Dunsany fought bravely, they could not find a way back into the game and O'Rourke's men had made it to their first junior 'A' final in emphatic style on a scoreline of 3-9 to 1-6.
"It was a great start to get and Dunsany were left reeling from it. We knew if we hit form on the day that we would win and luckily that's what happened."
In the other side of the draw, championship favourites St Ultan's had qualified for the decider, but did not detract from Kilmainham's determination to go all the way.
"We were very confident of winning the final. St Ultan's are a very good team, but I really believed that we could beat them. I suppose there was no point in turning up if we didn't believe we could win," stressed Trevor.
The Bohermeen parish outfit started much the stronger and after surging 0-4 to 0-0 clear, an easy victory appeared on the cards. But the Lynch brothers Trevor and Barry eventually got to grips with the midfield proceedings and a torrent of attacks headed in the direction of the town goals which the eventual victors were defending.
David Farnan, who had moved from the wing to full forward, slammed home a goal and an unanswered trio of points had Kilmainham 1-3 to 0-4 ahead.
Ultan's regained the initiative in the second half but Kilmainham hung in there until ten minutes from the end when the Bohermeen outfit pulled away to win by 1-10 to 1-6.
"Obviously it was very disappointing to lose the final as I honestly felt we would win it, but with so many young players in the side, it could take another year before we are really strong. I definitely believe this side will win the junior championship before too long," he concluded.
The Kilmainham team that reached the junior final was: K. Jordan; R. Mooney, P. Curran, B. Black; D. Newman (0-1), H. Newman, J. Mahon; B. Lynch (0-1), T. Lynch; G. Morgan, S. Butler, D. Farnan (1-0); S. Mahon, G. Butler (0-1), M. Newman (0-3). Subs - S. Brosnan, B. O'Rourke, M. Lynch.
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