Final disappointment for Kilmessan
November 30, 2007
One hundred years after winning the Meath SHC title for the first time, Kilmessan had high hopes for 2007 but they failed to deliver the goods in the Jubilee Cup decider as well as falling at the final hurdle in the JHC.
James Battersby, the winner of five SHC medals with Kilmessan as a player, was the new senior manager, replacing Tommy Horan, who was a selector along with Patsy McGovern, and following some impressive form in the earlier rounds, his charges appeared to be on the way to regaining the title last won in 2004.
Kilmessan were spearheaded by seven members of John Andrews' county senior squad, Nicky and Martin Horan, Charlie and Joey Keena, David Donnelly, Stephen Clynch and Ger O'Neill, and they ran up six successive wins before falling to neighbours Kiltale in the final.
In 2006 the 27 times past winners were troubled by some injury problems but this year they had a cleaner bill of health with Nicky Horan returning after a hand ailment to again be his side's top scorer in the campaign.
That began with a very lopsided game at Ratoath with Blackhall Gaels being obliterated on a scoreline of 7-25 to 0-5. Stephen Clynch took the individual scoring honours with a fine return of 3-7 and it was 3-13 to 0-3 at the break.
Ger O'Neill found the net in each half and Peter Reynolds and Malcolm Doyle also raised the green flag while Nicky Horan shot nine points. But there was a close call for Kilmessan in the second round they scraped a one point win over Kildalkey.
That game at Boardsmill finished with Kilmessan ahead by 1-11 to 2-7 after they had led by 1-6 to 0-4 at the break, Stephen Clynch scoring their goal. But then the leaders were rocked by two goals and the contest was all square (1-7 to 2-4) five minutes after the restart. It took four converted frees from Nicky Horan to give Battersby's troops a fortunate win.
Kilmessan advanced to the knockout stages with two rounds to spare with a comfortable 1-14 to 0-9 success over Boardsmill, who had won their first two games, at Kiltale. The first half was closely contested and finished with the eventual winners narrowly in front, 0-7 to 0-6.
Then Kilmessan took control by scoring 1-4 before the opposition next troubled the men with the flags. When Stephen Clynch drilled a low shot to the net there was an air of inevitability about the outcome and even more so when Nicky Horan (free) and Ger O'Neill added points to leave the scores 1-10 to 0-6.
All through the campaign Horan, Clynch and O'Neill were Kilmessan's main marksman and they contributed 1-11 between them in this outing. They were prominent again as a semi-final place was clinched with a 3-15 to 0-11 victory over Drumree at Kiltale.
Ger O'Neill took the individual scoring honours with 1-6 and the winners' corner forward Stephen Clynch also showed his sharpness with 1-3 with Nicky Horan having a similar return. With the selectors juggling he pack, David Donnelly was at centre forward in this game and he sent over three points.
'Kilmessan's stroll in the Pairc' was one heading after a fifth successive win was chalked up at the expense of Killyon by 1-22 to1-10 in a Wednesday evening clash at the county ground.
The same report suggested that the aristocrats of the game in the Royal County must be odds on to add another title. It did not take Kilmessan long to show that they meant business with Stephen Clynch opening the scoring in the first minute and then firing a shot against the bar.
Another brace of points were safely in the bag at the break when the board read 1-13 to 1-2 with all of Kilmessan's six forwards and two midfielders having got on target. Ger O'Neill netted the goal following a pass from Clynch, who then went to centrefield in a switch with Nicky Horan, the scorer of seven points, three frees and a penalty. Mark Reilly had an impressive outing with five points from play.
Kilmessan turned in another blistering first half when running up a 1-12 to 0-2 interval lead in the second of the semi-finals against defending champions Rathmolyon at Pairc Tailteann. The holders came back strongly in the second period but the men in blue hit a few crucial points to win by eight on a 1-17 to 2-6 scoreline.
That win was earned despite Nicky Horan being sent off shortly after the restart, having scored 1-3. The goal was fortunate with a free from beyond halfway going to the net without a touch after ten minutes. Kilmessan were in devastating form with Stephen Clynch putting over four points and Mark Reilly hitting three.
Favoured by the breeze, Rathmolyon pared the deficit down to five points with eight minutes left but Kilmessan responded with late scores from Joey Keena, Ger O'Neill and Peter Farrell to advance to the decider against their local rivals.
In a final dominated by defences, some of Kilmessan's stars did not sparkle and while some tipsters were predicting a facile victory for them, three points was as much as they managed to lead by. After being ahead by 0-8 to 1-3 at the break, they failed to register again after Ger O'Neill increased the advantage seven minutes after the restart.
It ended 1-8 to 0-9 and afterwards disappointed losing manager James Battersby suggested that Kiltale had the greater hunger on the day. The hot favourites had the advantage of the breeze in the first half and responded after the goal on 19 minutes with the men in blue striking six points in a row.
Those scores included two well-struck efforts from play by Nicky Horan and Peter Reynolds and team captain Peter Farrell were also on target before the interval. Kilmessan could have been ahead by more at the halfway stage for Mark Reilly and Ger O'Neill fired shots against the bar early and late in the first period.
Strangely Stephen Clynch and Mark Reilly, both of whom had been scoring so well in previous outings, drew blanks on the big day. With Peter Durnin causing some problems, opposing full back John Horan was taken off in the second quarter.
Although David Donnelly and Anton O'Neill showed well in the Kilmessan defence, just when a replay looked likely Durnin struck for two late scores to down the hot favourites.
"It's disappointing for the lads, they put in a lot of work to get here today but we have no qualms, Kiltale were the better team, they got the scores when they needed them. While we may have gone in as favourites, I had a lot of respect for Kiltale and said beforehand that it would be a close game. A lot of the Kilmessan lads will be disappointed at the way they played today but they weren't overconfident," said James Battersby in the losers' dressing-room.
The Kilmessan team which was on duty in the 2007 SHC final: Mark Brennan; Paddy McGovern, John Horan, Charlie Keena; Vinny O'Reilly, Anton O'Neill, David Donnelly; Nicky Horan, Martin Horan; Peter Farrell, Peter Reynolds, Joey Keena; Ger O'Neill, Stephen Clynch, Mark Reilly. Subs - Richie Donnelly for J. Horan, Malcolm Doyle for Reilly, Paul Donnelly for Reynolds.
Kilmessan qualified for the JHC decider with a 0-14 to 0-12 semi-final success over Dunboyne at Ratoath. They won that game despite having to play most of the second half with 14 men after Chris Curtis was sent off. Dunboyne led by 0-6 to 0-5 at the break but were unable take advantage of having an extra player with Darren Reilly putting over five points for the winners.
Reilly also shot five points in the final with Ratoath again the venue but St Patrick's took the title for the second time in three years on a 4-7 to 1-13 scoreline. Four of the corner forward's scores came in the opening half when Kilmessan's prospects looked promising.
But they trailed by 0-6 to 1-5 at the break before another Reilly point and a fine effort by wing back Johnny Clarke had them on level terms six minutes into the second period had them on level terms. However, the concession of goals proved costly for the team managed by Alan Duffy.
Also Kilmessan found opposing netminder Fergus Minogue in inspired form. Still they managed to reduce arrears of eight points down to three in the closing stages with substitute Darren Brennan netting the losers' goal just before referee Jimmy Burke sounded the last shrill on his whistle.
The Kilmessan team which did duty in the JHC final was: Matthew Bissett; Eric Horan, Michael Lynch, James Byrne; Mark Munnelly, Paul Grimes, Johnny Clarke; Michael Dennehy, Diarmuid O'Donoghue; Eddie O'Brien, Darren Maguire, Cathal Flaherty; Darren Reilly, Shane Clarke, Daniel Maguire. Subs - James Hackett for J. Clarke, Richie Dillon for Flaherty, Sean Cummins for Byrne, Christopher Smyth for Daniel Maguire, Darren Brennan for Horan.
Although Kilmessan fell at the final hurdle in the SHC, the club's camogie players made no mistake when scoring a 3-9 to 1-8 victory over Trim in the Senior Championship final at Kiltale to retain the Fay-Regan Cup.
The sides were on level terms (2-2 to 1-5) at the break with Sarah Ross and Rita Longworth getting the goals for Kilmessan who hit the town team with a last quarter flourish which yielded 1-5 without reply.
Ross grabbed her second goal and team captain and county star Aileen Donnelly sent over six points for the side jointly managed by Anton O'Neill and David Troy.
The Kilmessan team in the senior camogie final was: N. Sheridan; N. Lynch, A. Lynch, C. O'Leary; S. Cusack. A. Donnelly, E. Doyle; F. Lynch, S. Horan; A. M. Dennehy, B. Dennehy, M. Horan; K. Ni Choileain, R. Longworth, S. Ross. Subs - K. Ward for Cusack, A. Gorman for Longworth, J. Cusack for M. Horan.
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