Meath Hill may have suffered disappointment in their quest for Junior Football Championship honours in 2007, but it still represented a year of tremendous progress for the club, particularly with the installation of their fabulous new Prunty pitch. While that work was being carried out they were forced to travel here, there and almost everywhere for training and matches, but they got on with it and the big hope for next year will be that they can bridge that lengthening gap back to their last junior triumph in 1980. Andy Hayes was again the Meath Hill coach for the 2007 campaign and the selectors were Martin Breslin, Damien Rooney and David Crosby and after topping their section last year and then losing a quarter-final to Longwood they must have entertained hopes of further progress this term. They were drawn in group D of the Junior Championship, a section that also included the previous year's beaten finalists Kilmainham, Kilbride and the second string teams from Simonstown Gaels, Dunboyne and Gaeil Colmcille. Dunboyne provided the first round opposition at Skryne when the championship action got under way in April and the result was a narrow defeat on a 0-10 to 1-10 score line which certainly didn't get Meath Hill's divisional campaign off to the desired start. They had a very troubled opening to the game when the St. Peter's men started in blistering fashion and moved into a 1-5 to 0-0 lead. Meath Hill needed to do something to arrest the slide and they did just that as Paddy Owens, Tadhg Boyle and Cathal Matthews scored points which helped them settle and also cut the deficit to 0-3 to 1-5 at the interval. Things continued to improve as they reduced the gap to just a point in the second period, but that dreadful start proved too much and they were a goal adrift at the final whistle. It meant there was urgency attached to their second round outing against Simonstown at Rathkenny and the response to the challenge was positive. The sides were level on 0-4 apiece at the break, but Meath Hill scored the first three points of the second half to forge ahead. The Navan men got back to parity by the three-quarter stage, but the Hill notched the last two points to earn a 0-9 to 1-4 victory. It was off to Carlanstown for what had all the appearances of a tricky looking third round assignment against Kilmainham, who had lost the 2006 final to St. Ultan's, but Meath Hill did the business again as they won by 0-8 to 0-6 to give their qualification hopes a major boost. It was all square (0-4 each) at the change of ends, but Hayes' team outscored the opposition by 0-4 to 0-2 in the second period to earn a narrow success. There was nothing narrow about the fourth round victory over Gaeil Colmcille at Nobber as Meath Hill coasted to a third successive win of the divisional campaign, winning by all of 19 points on a 3-16 to 0-6 score line. Brendan Kieran, Lee Breslin and Paddy Owens proved particularly effective in a triumph that was effectively sealed by half-time when they held a commanding 1-9 to 0-3 advantage. Donnchadh Boyle made a personal contribution of 2-2 to the runaway success which left Meath Hill on six points from a possible eight in the group and with their sights set firmly on another place in the quarter-finals. They probably expected to add to their winning run when they travelled to Simonstown to meet Kilbride in the last round, but it didn't work out like that as they fell to a two point (0-10 to 1-9) defeat. However, Meath Hill were forced to field an understrength team that day because of a long list of injuries and that situation certainly did nothing to aid their cause. Despite their difficulties they still managed to lead by 0-6 to 0-4 at the interval, but they were rocked back when Kilbride struck for the only goal of the match early in the second period. Meath Hill looked to have successfully weathered the storm when they regained the lead, but Kilbride, who were trying to avoid slipping into a battle against a relegation dogfight, registered the final three points to be ahead by two at the end. It was a disappointing conclusion to the divisional stages for Meath Hill, but in the circumstances it probably wasn't all that surprising really. The very good news was that they were safely through to the business end of the battle for the Matthew Ginnity Cup and could start preparing for what looked like an extremely tough quarter-final against Clann na nGael - with one Graham Geraghty included. Dunboyne, victors over Meath Hill in the opening round, had been consistent enough to finish at the head of the group thanks to three wins and a draw for a total of seven points. The Hill were marginally behind them on six points following three victories and two defeats, with Simonstown Gaels and Kilmainham just behind them on five points. The quarter-final necessitated another trip to Simonstown and the Navan venue certainly didn't turn out to be a happy championship hunting ground for Meath Hill in 2007. Having suffered that loss there in their last group assignment against Kilbride, it was more of the same when the knockout action commenced - only this time it was fatal and they were out of the title race. It was a very entertaining match, but that was hardly of any consolation to Meath Hill as Clann na nGael won with reasonable comfort on a 0-11 to 0-7 score line. The Athboy/An Gaeltacht combination, who were later to finish the job by defeating Moynalvey in the final, put them under a lot of pressure in the first half, but as they kicked a succession of wides (eight in all in that period) Meath Hill still had hope. Clann na nGael punctuated their misses with points and that enabled them to open up a 0-7 to 0-2 lead at the break. Meath Hill needed to do something very positive if they were to have any chance of rescuing their title ambitions and they succeeded in doing that as they cut the deficit back to only three points in the second half. Their performance was much improved in that period, but Clann na nGael always appeared to be moving comfortably and they shut the door firmly on the Hill's comeback hopes by stretching the advantage out to four. There was no way back, so the championship dream heads into 2008. Club secretary Celine Nulty was as disappointed as anybody associated with the Meath Hill club coming away from Simonstown that day, but she knows it was a progressive year with the laying of the new pitch and is rightly optimistic about the future. "We came through the group stages and played Clann na nGael in the quarter-final," she reflected. "We just didn't play in the first half of that match, but managed to get it together in the second half. "I think we are afraid of the Graham Geraghtys of this world. There was probably too much concentration on one man in that particular game. It was a big disappointment because we felt very hopeful this year. The morale in the camp was very good and there was a huge commitment to training, with very good numbers. "We were putting in a new Prunty pitch, so we didn't have a pitch of our own for much of the year. We were in Nobber, Syddan, Drumconrath, Kingscourt, Navan, The Westerns, all over the place for training and games and the commitment was great. "The pitch is open and we have very good floodlights. It is a great facility and hopefully we can look forward to a very good future. "We play as Meath Hill/Drumconrath at under-17 level and 13 of the team are from Meath Hill. That has to be a good sign." Losing out at the quarter-final stage of the Junior Championship again represented a big disappointment for Meath Hill, but they should take encouragement from the fact that it was to a very good Clann na nGael team that went on to achieve outright success. That should give them confidence as they look ahead. With a fabulous new pitch and floodlights they can certainly concentrate on 2008 and beyond with considerable hope. That pursuit of a first Junior Championship title since 1980 surely has every chance of having a happy ending soon. It is interesting to note that when Meath Hill commenced their competitive year with an A League match against Kildalkey back in February they played it in Bohermeen and lost to the newcomers by 0-9 to 3-5. When they met the same opposition in a return fixture on their new pitch in August they won by 3-13 to 1-7 which represented a big turnaround. It was also the perfect start to playing action on the pitch and augured well for the future. Tweet

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