Drums still learning
November 30, 2007
After going all the way to the IFC final in 2006, there was a shorter road in store for Drumconrath this year as they fell a couple of hurdles earlier after winning two games and losing the other two in their group.
Drumconrath had a changed management team after 2006 boss Peter O'Halloran stepped down. Meath All-Ireland winning forward of the '80s Mattie McCabe was in charge for the early season games but was then replaced by Martin Wall from Walterstown who took over from the third round of the IFC on and had San Reilly senior, John Carey and Michael Gallagher as his selectors.
In their five-team group the Drums beat Syddan and Dunderry but lost to St Colmcille's and Ratoath and despite to the defeat by the latter in the last round they scraped through to the quarter-final stage where another disappointing performance saw them go down to a six points beating from Donaghmore-Ashbourne.
Drumconrath wasted a good number of scoring opportunities in their opening game against St Colmcille's at Slane and the east county side ran out winners by 1-9 to 0-10, having been ahead by 0-6 to 0-5 at the break.
Christopher Tighe put over three points from play in the first half and although Austin Hickey and Wayne Reilly won a good amount of the ball at midfield, their forwards did not take enough advantage of the possession supplied. While Terry Skelly kicked a brace of points, the concession of the goal was the difference between a winning and losing start.
Drumconrath did better in their second round outing when getting the better of local rivals Syddan by 2-8 to 1-8 at Nobber. After conceding an early penalty from which the opposition only managed a point, Drums went on to lead by 2-3 to 0-3 at the break.
Both of the goals netted by the men in red and white came in the second quarter. Pete McMahon, who had an outstanding game, found Wayne Reilly in space and the latter fired home and before the interval Derek Duff did well to fist in the second goal.
The lead was increased on the restart with wing back Jamie Myles pointing twice to leave eight between the sides. Although the lead was reduced to two points, Drumconrath hit back strongly with Terry Skelly and Christopher Tighe getting on target before Stephen Crosby completed the winning total.
Drumconrath made it two wins in a row when outpointing Dunderry by 0-12 to 0-8 at Kilberry with Wayne Reilly raising the white flag seven times. With Ollie McMahon, Terry Skelly and James and Austin Hickey also getting on target, the Drums held an 0-8 to 0-4 lead at the interval.
Most of the scores in the second half came from placed balls and Reilly kicked over three points before Stephen Crosby hit the winners' last score. Goalkeeper Sean Kane did well to keep the losers from finding the net, making two smart saves, one of them at the expense of a point.
Although losing their final group games by 0-8 to 0-11 to Ratoath at Walterstown, Drumconrath advanced to the quarter-finals in second place because Dunderry defeated Syddan by five points to grab the top spot.
The Drums missed some scoring chances and that gave their opponents hope as they went on to lead by 0-6 to 0-5 at the break. Drumconrath started the second half well with two points to go ahead. Although Wayne Reilly put over five points, six scores in a row gave Ratoath the upper hand in the second period as they claimed their only group win.
Drumconrath knew that they would have to improve a bit on that showing in order to get over the quarter-final hurdle and they did not step up their performance sufficiently as Donaghmore/Ashbourne won the Saturday evening Pairc Tailteann clash by 1-12 to 1-6.
The Drums never led after being stung by a goal after four minutes for the game's first score. They gave away a number of frees and top scorer Niall Farrell converted five of them into points. Wayne Reilly slotted over four frees for the Drums who lacked the cutting edge in attack.
After only trailing by just two points (0-3 to 1-2) after 16 minutes, Drumconrath lost their way a bit in the second quarter and the margin was seven points (0-4 to 1-8) at the halfway stage.
The lights were switched on for the second half and matters became a little brighter for the Reds for a short while. The glow was provided by a goal from Terry Skelly, who had been switched from wing back to centre forward, in the second minute after the restart following a pass from Derek Duff.
Then Skelly was fouled for a free which Reilly slotted over to bring the deficit down to three points. But that was as good as it got for the Drums and despite an amount of pressure, they only added one more point, another Reilly free, as the impressive Donaghmore/Ashbourne put over four more scores.
In 2006 Drumconrath's first team enjoyed great runs in both the championship and league, eventually losing out to Rathkenny in both the IFC and Division 3 FL finals. The promotion to a higher division in the league should benefit them in the long run, especially as they performed with an amount of credit in Division 2.
After starting with a defeat to Dunderry, they were delighted to gain a victory over their bogey team of 2006, Rathkenny, with a 1-13 to 0-7 success over their rivals in red and black, Terry Skelly taking the scoring honours with a contribution of 1-3.
There was another win at the expense of senior opposition when a minimum margin 2-9 to 1-11 win over neighbours Kilmainhamwood was registered. The previous year's IFC semi-final success over Oldcastle was repeated as Skelly got 1-2 in the 1-10 to 1-7 success.
Wayne Reilly had a good year in the scoring stakes and he amassed a fine total of 1-9 in the 1-15 to 0-8 win over Ratoath. That was the Drums' fourth time to pick up the two league points and they were clear of the relegation zone. Then they moved close to the leaders with wins over St Colmcille's and Carnaross.
Drumconrath's second team reached the quarter-finals of the Junior D FC for the first time since 2004 after two wins, a draw and a walk over in their group before being edged out by Drumbaragh. The selectors with that team were David Byrne, Sean Reilly junior and Paddy McMahon.
Thomas Dardis scored eight points in the opening 1-11 to 1-5 win over Bective and after getting a walk over from Simonstown Gaels, the experienced pair of Ollie McMahon (four) and Leighton Irwin shared seven points in the narrow 1-13 to 1-12 success over Walterstown.
Then a 0-11 to 2-5 draw with parish rivals Meath Hill at Nobber put them through to the quarter-finals. Meath Hill led by 1-5 to 0-4 at the break but the efforts of Ronan McGahon and Irwin at midfield brought the Drums more into the game. The concession of the second goal left them two points in arrears but they battled back as points from Paul Carey and substitute Paul McMahon enabled them advance.
There was confusion over the quarter-final against Drumbaragh being switched from Rathkenny to Carlanstown with people from both clubs going to the original venue. Drumconrath were forced to start without some of their selected side.
Although taking an early lead, Drumconrath were behind by 1-2 to 0-9 at the break before the Kells Drums won out by 0-14 to 2-6. Thomas Dardis and Kevin Farrelly got the losers' goals. The Drums' seconds also had a good run in the B League Division 4, finishing third in their group and just being pipped by Rathkenny for a place in the final.
Drumconrath's club secretary Peter O'Halloran fills a similar role with the Meath Juvenile Football Committee and is the compiler of the Drums' very informative website. He was obviously disappointed that they did not get as far in the IFC as in the previous year but still have high hopes for the future.
"There is not a lot between a number of intermediate sides and although we performed well against Syddan and Dunderry, the displays against Ratoath and Donaghmore/Ashbourne were not nearly as good. Donaghmore/Ashbourne are a very good side but we missed too many scoring chances against them," he said.
O'Halloran prefers the smaller groups system to the long-winded previous format in which teams had to play seven games before reaching the knockout stages.
"I was a member of the committee which devised the new system which is a lot better than what was there before. In fact I would like to see a knockout format with a 'back door' similar to the All-Ireland football championship and which has been adopted in some counties," he added.
As for Drumconrath, O'Halloran he is happy with the number of young players coming through the lower ranks of the club. "This year lads like Derek Duff and Peter McEvoy came on to the first team while Wesley Byrne and James Hickey returned after missing out on the previous year's run. Terry Skelly had a very good year, he was on the county under 21 side and is eligible for that grade again next year," he said.
Although Drumconrath failed to reach the heights of 2006, they can look ahead to 2008 with good cause for optimism after finishing well up in a number of competitions.
Underage review
U14
A whirlwind start with Patrick Crosby notching 2-1 in the first four minutes was the springboard that led Drumconrath/Meath Hill to exactly that margin of victory at the final whistle over Rathkenny in the U14FC Division 3 final, as they won by 4-5 to 1-7.
Playing into the O'Mahonys end at Pairc Tailteann and into the stiff breeze Rathkenny couldn't cope with attack after attack in those first few minutes and indeed Niall Martin had after 20 seconds hit the crossbar and both he and Tommie Rooney missed scoreable frees.
With Ross Gore coming more into the game Rathkenny set about narrowing the gap and did so with so well taken points from play and frees with Gore, Eoin O'Connor and Andrew Crosby to the fore. A foot block on a Gore shot led to a penalty which the Rathkenny star dispatched to the net and gave them a two point lead. Gore was running the show at this stage but was out fielded by Darren Martin whose pass found Niall Martin in space and he slotted to the net at the second attempt to give the Drumconrath parish team an undeserved one point interval lead ahead of the backing of the decent breeze in the second breeze, 3-1 to 1-6.
Again Drumconrath/Meath Hill stormed into the second half with Darren Martin and Tommie Rooney on top in midfield but it took a while until Crosby notched a good free from 30m. Rathkenny responded with a pointed free but again Niall Martin goaled to give the eventual winners a four point lead. Rathkenny searched for goals as the north Meath men picked off points from Niall and Eoin Martin as Crosby pointed the last score of the game.
Best for the Red and Blue as every player really played their part in a total team effort where David O'Halloran, Mark Halpenny, Aoife Conlon, Tommie Rooney Patrick Crosby, Eoin and Niall Martin.
Drumconrath/Meath Hill - Dara McGrath; Enda Boylan, David O'Halloran, Jonathon Finnegan; Daniel Myles, Mark Halpenny, David Hickey; Darren Martin, Tommie Rooney; Patrick Farrelly, Aoife Conlon, Tomas Conlon; Patrick Crosby (2-3), Niall Martin (2-1), Eoin Martin (0-1). Subs - Stephan Marry for T. Conlon, Stephanie Brettony for D Martin, Niamh McMahon for A. Conlon, C O'Halloran for Myles and Deidre Kelly.
U12
A bright opening in which they bagged two goals saw Drumconrath/Meath Hill win the U12 Summer Shield Final in sunny Carnaross as they saw off the host club 3-8 to 3-5.
This start saw them lead all the way and while Carnaross had many chances they left their shooting boots at home especially in that first half. Shane McCabe was in great form and he netted the 1st goal which was follow closely by another from Stephan Shields. Carnaross replied with a point but another McCabe goal strengthened the Red and Blues position while at the other end goalie Conor O'Halloran and defenders Ryan Owens, Edward Cassidy, Katie Martin and Martin Meegan, grandson of the Great Paddy Meegan, made life hard for the home side who did manage to get in for a goal. Some great play from Jonathon Byrne and two great points from Ian Malone pushed the combination side further ahead as Carnaross ended the scoring with pointed free.
Points from McCabe and Shields opened the second half scoring but Carnaross now with the wind in their sails responded and two points of their own plus a well worked goal narrowed the gap to four points McCabe again from a free and two point from Malone along with another from Thomas Conlon {another with a famous grandfather of the same name of Louth 1957 fame} again gave the Red and Blue some breathing space but with Jack Yore. With Liam Ward and Colm McDonagh coming to the fore Carnaross finished strongly and hit 1-2 with out reply to leave just three points in it at the end.
Drumconrath/Meath Hill - Conor O'Halloran; Brona McGrath, Ryan Owens, Maria Gilsenan; Edward Cassidy, Martin Meegan, Katie Martin; Shane McCabe (2-3), Tomas Conlon (0-1); Jonathon Byrne, Stephan Shields (1-1), Urasla Finnegan; Ian Malone (0-3), Colm McEvoy, Brendan Crosby. Subs Aine O'Neill for Crosby, Dylan Boyle for Gilsenan, Patice Finegan for Finnegan, Aoife Rooney for Shields And Matthew Mworca for McEvoy.
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