Losing a county final is a shattering experience and takes time to recover from. But when winter turns to spring and the evenings start to stretch the feeling of hope, even optimism, gathers momentum and the new championship campaign just can't come around quick enough. Kilmainham, though one of the smallest clubs in the county, have made tremendous progress in recent years, both on and off the field, and a look at the wonderful developments taking place at their ground on the Navan Road out of Kells demonstrates that. They are hard-working and ambitious, a club with a tremendous sense of community involvement. Having reached the Junior Championship semi-finals in 2005, where they lost to champions to be St. Michaels, they went a step further last year when they progressed to the final with a surprisingly comprehensive semi-final win over Dunsany, but they were beaten by St. Ultan's on the day that mattered most. Some might have felt that the natural progression would be outright victory in the junior grade in 2007 and a place in the intermediate ranks. But it didn't work out that way, as it so often doesn't, and instead Kilmainham endured a less than happy divisional campaign which saw them fail to progress to the knockout stages. It was a dramatic contrast to 2006 when they took the group stages by storm and qualified with relative ease. An ongoing injury to Barry Lynch was a major blow to their prospects and the former county player lined out in only one championship game when he started at full-forward in the second round clash against town rivals and neighbours Gaeil Colmcille. Lynch is an outstanding footballer whose inter-county career appeared to be blossoming nicely until he was hit with that dread of all sports people - injury. Luckily, at 26 years of age he has time on his side and the dedicated Kilmainham supporters will hope he gets a prolonged injury-free run during which their team can mount another serious assault on the junior title. The draw for the 2007 JFC placed them in Group D along with Simonstown Gaels, Meath Hill, Dunboyne, who they beat by four points in the '06 quarter-finals, Kilbride and Gaeil Colmcille. It looked like a section from which they should emerge and all appeared to be taking on predictable lines when they opened up with a 0-15 to 1-8 victory over Simonstown at Kilberry. This was an encouraging performance by Paddy O'Rourke's side, with all six starting forwards and both midfielders managing to get among the scorers. Michael Newman contributed four points as Kilmainham moved into a 0-7 to 0-3 interval lead and when David Farnan extended the advantage with a point on the restart they were five clear and looking good. However, the Navan side replied with 1-3 in quick succession to give themselves every chance, before Kilmainham responded positively by scoring the last four points to earn the important opening success. Gaeil Colmcille's second string, which included a hero of Meath's 1993 All-Ireland Under-21 FC triumph in the shape of Tom Shine, provided the second round opposition at Drumbaragh and it was Shine who earned the town team a share of the spoils (0-10 each) when he pointed a free five minutes from the end. Kilmainham led by 0-7 to 0-3 at the interval after playing with the advantage of the strong wind, but Gaeil Colmcille won the second period on an identical score. Both sides had chances to win the match after Shine's equaliser, but they were wasted. The teams had also finished level (0-7 each) in the group stages of the 2006 championship. Three points from a possible four represented a respectable return from Kilmainham's first two group assignments, but things took a turn for the worst next time out when Meath Hill, who had lost to Longwood at the quarter-final stage the previous year, inflicted a 0-8 to 0-6 defeat at Carlanstown. The scores were tied at 0-4 apiece at half-time, by which stage Kilmainham had missed goal-scoring opportunities, and they paid the price in the second period when they managed to add only two points to their tally and were beaten. With only three points in the bag from as many games there was a real urgency about the fourth round meeting with Kilbride at Walterstown. A victory was essential for Kilmainham against a side that was pointless from three championship outings up to that stage, but which had already run them very close in the A League Div. 4 when Kilmainham won a sixth round meeting by a point. Kilbride had already lost to Gaeil Colmcille, Dunboyne and Simonstown in the championship, so it certainly looked like a real win opportunity for Kilmainham and a chance to seriously re-ignite their qualification challenge. But that's not how it worked out on a day when they were without influential duo Trevor and Barry Lynch and when the final whistle sounded Kilmainham knew their dream of JFC glory was over for another year. Michael Newman contributed five points for Kilmainham, but Kilbride led by 0-6 to 0-5 at the interval and went on to win by 1-11 to 1-8. Even with a match left in the group stages Kilmainham were out of the hunt for honours. A place in the knockout stages of the Junior Championship was surely the least of Kilmainham's ambitions when the competition got under way, especially after the wonderful run they enjoyed to the final in 2006. But they were missing a number of players this year which didn't aid their cause and it's now a case of looking ahead to next year with a generally young panel of players and hoping things will be significantly better. Barry Lynch, with a clean bill of health on the injury front, will be a key figure and is optimistic for Kilmainham as he looks to the future. "I have been troubled with injuries all year," he said as he took a break from footing turf in Bohermeen Bog on a humid late summer evening, with Kilmainham's championship ambitions already put on hold for another year. "I played in only one of our Junior Championship games this year which was disappointing. That was the local derby in the second round against Gaeil Colmcille, so I thought I better play in that one. I was at full-forward. "I fell on my back during the Meath - Laois game last year and then played in a club game with Kilmainham a couple of weeks later when I hurt myself again. We went on a great run in the championship, so there was no chance to take a rest." Every player with serious ambition longs to be part of the county team and having Lynch wearing the green and gold represented a great honour for his club as well. But appearances have been all too few for the talented midfielder since his injury woes set in. "I was in with Meath again earlier this year and played in the O'Byrne Cup match against Louth at Drogheda in early January when I came on as a substitute," he added. "But that was about it. It's been frustrating, but what can you do. "I have been attending Dr. Pat O'Neill, the former Dublin player, who is very good. I have back trouble and shin splints, but it's probably all coming from the back. Thankfully, all the MRI scans are coming up clear which is a good sign." As Colm Coyle's Meath made steady progress through the All-Ireland Championship's back door during the second half of the summer Lynch could only look on and that must have carried its own frustration. "It's great to see how well Meath did in the championship this year, but I really missed being a part of it all," he said. "It was tough in the early games - the Leinster Championship matches against Kildare and Dublin - watching them from the Hogan Stand. I have a lot of very good pals on the team and loved being part of it." The big hope is that he will be part of it again, but as he points out: "With injuries it's a case of trial and error." Lynch also has an ambition on the club front - to help Kilmainham win the Junior Championship. "We were missing a fair few players this year because of injuries and emigration and that didn't help," he added. "I firmly believe that if we had everybody available to us we would have won the championship this year. But it wasn't to be. "We have some very promising young players like Michael Newman, who is a really good prospect, Gavin and Danny Butler. Hopefully, all going well, we can win it next year." Having experienced the thrill of lining out in the 2006 junior final at Pairc Tailteann, and then the very deep disappointment of losing it, the big hope in Kilmainham is that they will be back there again - this time to finish the job. Tweet

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