The 2007 M Donnelly Meath Senior Hurling Championship had a remarkable home run with Kiltale continuing to defy the odds and finishing the campaign in a blaze of glory with a sensational victory over Kilmessan to take the title for the first time since 1983. During the group stages there was little to suggest that there would be a golden autumn for Kiltale. They began with a 4-9 to 2-6 win over promoted Na Fianna at Kilmessan with Cathal Sheridan scoring 3-1. The veteran found the net twice in the opening ten minutes and they led by 3-5 to 1-2 at the break. Peter Durnin gave an early indication of what was to follow with a contribution of 1-4 and he finished up the campaign with a total of 1-48. That was the first of just two wins from five outings in Group A and they were back at Kilmessan for a second round tussle with Trim which the town team won by 1-9 to 0-9. It took Paddy Kelly's men 20 minutes to get their first score with Cathal Sheridan pointing and they trailed by 0-2 to 1-5 at the break. Kiltale did better in the second half with Peter Durnin striking other five points but three points was as close as they got to the winners. Kiltale got back on the winning path with a 0-19 to 1-11 win over Navan O'Mahonys in a high scoring and entertaining Tuesday evening clash at Pairc Tailteann. The sides were level six times before three points from Cathal Sheridan helped the side in green and red pull clear on the run to the finish line. The sides were on equal terms (0-7 to 1-4) at the break but Kiltale outscored their opponents by 0-9 to 0-4 in the concluding 12 minutes. Peter Durnin, Philip Garvey and Sheridan did well in the winners' attack in what was the first of four outings for them at the county ground. Few among the small attendance at that game could have visualised Kiltale going so far and even more so after they lost by 2-8 to 3-11 to defending champions Rathmolyon in the fourth round at Kilmessan. Kiltale were without Peter Durnin, sidelined with a ribs complaint, for that game and they got off to a poor start with Rathmolyon, boosted by two goals from John Farrell, 2-4 to 0-1 to the good at the end of the opening quarter. The margin was reduced by the break when the board read 2-6 to 1-4, John Donoghue having fired in the eventual losers' first goal. However, three points was as close as Kiltale to the leaders in the second period with substitute Brian Gilsenan netting their second goal in added time at the end. When Kiltale played out a 0-17 to 2-11 draw with Dunboyne at Ratoath in the last round of the group stages, they thought they were out of the title race but a similar result between Navan O'Mahonys at Kilmessan meant that they scraped through to the last six. In an entertaining contest Kiltale led by 0-9 to 0-8 at the break and Dunboyne looked set for the win when leading by two points with timer running out. But Kiltale showed some of the battling spirit which would later lead them to the crock of gold with Cathal Sheridan and T. J. Lynch shooting over to enable them advance. Peter Durnin struck11 points, 10 from frees, that evening and a couple of weeks later Kiltale were let off the hook when Kildalkey hit 19 wides in the first of the quarter-finals at Pairc Tailteann and Kelly's men kept the run going with a 0-14 to 0-13 victory after extra-time. In a game that failed to get going points from Ian Douglas and Damien Dixon gave Kiltale an early lead before Kildalkey held a narrow 0-4 to 0-3 advantage at the first break. Kiltale were three points behind with nine minutes to go but Durnin and John Donoghue reduced the deficit before Durnin sent the tie to the additional 20 minutes with an equaliser from a 65 to leave the scores 0-10 each. Kildalkey led in both periods of extra-times but Kiltale refused to thro in the towel but points from Cathal Sheridan and Durnin's eighth decided the issue. Kiltale went into that game as second favourites and their semi-final against Dunboyne was not going to be any different. But a gap of 24 years was bridged as Dunboyne were dismissed on a 1-14 to 0-10 scoreline as Kiltale advanced to the final for the first time since 1983. Last year's beaten finalists were taken by many as shoe in to reach another final but the championship's surprise packets did not care about form with a goal from Cathal Sheridan 12 minutes into the second half putting them on the right road to the final. That left them leading by 1-8 to 0-8 after they had been ahead by 0-7 to 0-6 at the break. The goal was soon followed by points from Sheridan and Durnin (free) and after Dunboyne brought the arrears back to a goal, Kiltale finished with Durnin (twice), substitute Donal Barron and Philip Garvey raising the white flag in the last seven minutes. Kiltale were not given much chance of upsetting the odds in their first ever SHC final against competition specialists and neighbours Kilmessan but with a number of young players, some of whom had been on MHC winning teams in the previous two years, Paddy Kelly's players were certainly not overawed by the opposition. Afterwards Cathal Sheridan said if they knew beforehand that they would be just two points behind at half-time and the advantage of the breeze to follow, they would have been delighted with the situation. There was also two points between the sides at the final whistle with Kiltale sensationally ahead, 1-8 to 0-9. While scores were in scarce supply, thrilling moments were not. Defences were on top and both sides had to work that bit harder for scores. Peter Durnin did just that and was rewarded with two late points which won the title. It was a fairytale ending to the championship. Kilmessan were unable to go more than three points clear and they were rocked by their neighbour's goal after 19 minutes with Donal Barron finished to the net following a centre from Durnin. It left the board reading 1-3 to 0-3 before Kilmessan hit the next six scores and led by 0-8 to 1-3. But remarkably the hot favourites did not register again after hitting their ninth point seven minutes into the second period. With Kilmessan's big names not being allowed to shine, it was a case of youth triumphing over experience. Cathal Sheridan said the younger players on the team held no fear for Kilmessan, remarking, "older lads like me were probably more nervous but they were used to beating Kilmessan in underage games." Remarkably there were four Donoghue brothers in defence with David and Padraig in the full back line and Stephen and John in the half backs. In normal circumstances Peter Durnin, the scorer of six points including the late crucial brace, would have got the 'man of the match' award but that went to John Donoghue, who turned in a tremendous display at centre back. Paddy Kelly was the captain when Kiltale gained the Jubilee Cup for the first time in 1982 and was one of the stars when the title was retained the following year. But being the winning manager gave him over more satisfaction than the two previous successes. "This is the best ever, to go in as rank outsiders and beat a team like Kilmessan is great, 1982 is now a distant memory but this will stay with us for a long time," he remarked. Nobody gave Kiltale a chance going into the final, said Kelly, who added that his side were in the tougher of the two groups while Kilmessan just breezed through their group. "At the start of the year we were in a learning process, trying to find the best positions for the younger players and it was only after a series of matches that we got a settled team Kildalkey maybe should have beaten us and Kildalkey should have beaten Kilmessan but who cares now. "The team gained more confidence as the year went on, they were ready for it today, they had the hunger, the younger lads had no fear, they had beaten Kilmessan at underage level," said the manager. Kelly stressed the part the club's underage structure over the last ten years or so had played in the triumph. "The team is built around the work rate with the younger lads driving the side on, it's built around the successful minors of the last couple of years. We closed Kilmessan down, we worked our hearts out," he remarked. "We have won two minor championships and two under 14 titles, we were beaten in under 13 and under 16 finals and are in the minor final again this year. We started the underage drive about ten years ago and that's the fruition of it today," added the manager. It was a well-deserved success for Cathal Sheridan, who had won so many medals in football and hurling and was playing in his first county hurling final after being in five semi-finals. But overall it was a wonderful year for Kiltale, who like Killyon and Rathmolyon before them, showed that teams other than Kilmessan and Trim can lift the Jubilee Cup. The Kiltale team which achieved the feat in 2007 was: Ollie Regan; David Donoghue, Padraig Donoghue, Anthony Donnelly; Stephen Donoghue, John Donoghue, Shane Reilly; Paul Garvey, Benny Dixon; William Mahady, Damien Dixon, Ian Douglas, Philip Garvey, Donal Barron, Peter Durnin. Subs - Cathal Sheridan for Paul Garvey, Brian Gilsenan for Reilly. Also on panel were: P. J. Walsh, T. J. Lynch, Paul Rispin, Stephen Whyte, Willie Byrne, Ciaran Ennis, John Byrne, Robert Donovan, John Carey, Sean Moyles, Alan Donnelly, Eddie Patterson, Padraig Kelly, Brian Reilly. Selectors were Noel Regan, Francis Lynch and Lorcan Kelly. Kiltale camogie club Kiltale Camogie Club started the year celebrating ten years in existence. A short history on the Club was compiled for the Annual Dinner Dance, which took place in the Ardboyne Hotel in Navan. The full history is available on www.kiltalehurling.com/Camogie/Camogie_History.htm The Club has come along way since 1997; winning three Junior Championships, two U-16 Championships, an U14 Shield, an U11 Gormanston Tournament and an U10 County Blitz. 2007 saw TJ Kane come on board as manager of the adult team and with TJ came another addition to our trophy cabinet with the team winning the Junior League. Kiltale defeated a galant Donaghmore/Ashbourne team in the league final. When the championship began confidence was high in the Kiltale camp after their league win. After the first round of matches Kiltale remained unbeaten and looked set to reach their second final of the season. They started round two just as they had left off, however determined teams, Navan O'Mahonys and Donaghmore/Ashbourne left Kiltale ending the group stages of the championship with two defeats. Nonetheless, Kiltale had done enough to secure themselves a place in the Intermediate Championship to face Blackhall Gaels. Kiltale had defeated Blackhall Gaels twice in the group stages of the Championship and this left the team as favourites to win. However, Blackhall Gaels had a score to settle following the two defeats and they started the better team. It took Kiltale a long time to settle into the game and it looked like they had lost the chance of doing the double. Kiltale's attitude changed after a free from Louise Donoghue ended up in the back of the Blackhall Gaels net. The Kiltale team fought hard and after being six points down at one stage they managed to secure the draw and force a replay. The replay was a closely fought encounter with both teams taking the lead at different times throughout the game. Eventually it took extra time for the 2007 intermediate championship to be decided with Blackhall Gaels coming out on top on a scoreline of 5-7 to Kiltale's 3-7. Tweet

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