Within touching distance
November 30, 2007
If natural progression can be taken at face value Moylagh should reach the Junior Football Championship final in 2008. Last year they advanced to the quarter-finals where they lost to Dunsany and this term they went a step further by making it to the semi-finals where Moynalvey eliminated them from the title race.
Of course, things don't necessarily work out that way, but Moylagh have to look back on the last couple of years as progressive and hope they can build on the consistency that has marked those campaigns. They have some good young players emerging onto their junior team and they, along with the more seasoned campaigners, will hopefully gel together and deliver the Matthew Ginnity Cup very soon.
Last year was a special one for the club because they won the Junior D Championship, beating Walterstown in the final at Pairc Tailteann, and that success represented their first adult championship triumph since they achieved intermediate honours 31 years earlier in 1975. That was a very long gap, but it was worth waiting for.
Moylagh finished second in their group in last year's Junior Championship, before exiting the competition in disappointing fashion when Dunsany beat them by nine points at the last eight stage.
This year they were drawn in group A, a section that included the team which was to take the championship by storm and eventually achieve outright success, Clann na nGael. Also in the mix were Boardsmill, Curraha, St. Mary's, Longwood and Drumree and it had the appearances of a division from which they had a very realistic chance of emerging.
Curraha provided the first round opposition at Bective where a goal from Eanna Brody with 10 minutes remaining earned Moylagh a 2-7 to 1-7 victory. Danny O'Growney was on the mark with a goal in the opening period and that helped Eamonn Gillic's team to a 1-4 to 0-3 interval lead. Curraha battled back well, but Brody's 'three pointer' proved decisive in the narrow win.
Kilskyre provided the setting for a second round match against a Clann na nGael team that included former Meath All-Ireland winning captain Graham Geraghty in attack, but Moylagh looked undaunted in the first half as they moved into a 0-6 to 0-4 advantage at the change of ends.
Geraghty proved influential as the Athboy/An Gaeltacht combination recovered, but it still took a number of very good saves from their goalkeeper Paul Flood to prevent Moylagh from finding the net. The pressure eventually told and the champions to be finished strongest to win by 0-11 to 0-8.
It was back to the scene of their earlier victory for Moylagh as they travelled to Bective to meet Drumree in round three and the outcome was a 2-7 to 1-8 victory. Jim Ward scored a goal in the first half, but that was the only time Moylagh troubled the score board operator in that period as Drumree hit the target with far greater consistency to open up a 0-5 to 1-0 interval lead.
The second half was a closely fought affair and the key score for Moylagh was a late goal from Aengus Fanning which secured a victory that gave their qualification prospects a significant boost.
Moylagh looked set for a comfortable win when they led Boardsmill by 1-5 to 0-1 at the interval in their fourth round match at Athboy. But that wasn't how it turned out as the 'Mill rocked them with a sensational finish to the contest which earned them a share of the spoils.
Wind assisted Moylagh pushed into that comfortable half-time position thanks largely to a goal from Justin O'Reilly. Boardsmill dominated possession after the change of ends, but they still found themselves seven points adrift at the three-quarter stage.
The 'Mill hit back with a goal and then struck the post from a penalty, but Moylagh looked to be in very little danger when they moved ahead by six points (1-9 to 1-3). However, Boardsmill had a nasty surprise in store for them when they pounced with a brace of late goals which secured an unlikely draw on a 3-3 to 1-9 score line.
The fifth round assignment against Longwood at Kildalkey looked like a potentially tricky match, but Moylagh got the win they needed when edging through narrowly by 0-11 to 0-8 after holding a 0-7 to 0-3 lead at the break.
As the group campaign headed into the final round for Moylagh they were on seven points from a possible 10 and needed to defeat St. Mary's by more than five points in order to pip Longwood for a place in the quarter-finals.
A first half goal from Aengus Fanning set them on their way to achieving that and helped them to lead by 1-7 to 0-3 at the interval at Bohermeen. They succeeded in holding St. Mary's to just two further points in the second period and added seven themselves to win very comfortably by 1-14 to 0-5.
At the end of the group A action Clann na nGael stood at the top of the section on 10 points after five victories and one defeat, while Moylagh had edged into a quarter-final slot in second place on nine points following four wins, a draw and one defeat. Longwood were also on nine points, but Moylagh had a superior score difference.
Moylagh's prize for their consistency in the group campaign was a quarter-final ticket against Dunboyne's second string which had finished on top of group D. That game took place at Kilberry and it was the St. Peter's men who had the better of the first half exchanges and led by 0-6 to 0-5 at the break after missing a fair few scoring opportunities.
They found their range with a greater degree of accuracy in the third quarter as they pushed five points clear and Moylagh looked to be in real danger of suffering another quarter-final elimination. However, to their credit, they didn't panic under pressure and a goal from Michael Corrigan gave them a big lift, before they finished best to secure a 1-10 to 1-8 victory and a place in the penultimate stages.
It is at times like these that clubs really start to dream of that big day out in Pairc Tailteann, but it wasn't to be for Moylagh as Moynalvey, who were later to suffer disappointment themselves when they lost the decider to Clann na nGael, beat them by 0-14 to 1-8 in a semi-final at Bohermeen.
Jim Ward, Justin O'Reilly and Aengus Fanning scored early first half points for Moylagh, but they trailed by 0-5 to 0-7 at the interval, before Moynalvey extended their lead and looked set for a comfortable passage to the decider. However, Moylagh were in no mood to accept what appeared to be the inevitable and they made the opposition sweat in the closing stages.
Enda Mulvaney scored a controversial goal eight minutes from the end to cut the deficit to just three points and with the tension building the same player, who tallied 1-1 in the Junior D final the previous year, forced Moynalvey goalkeeper Ollie Regan into a spectacular save. If the net had danced at that late stage the match would surely have gone to extra time and who knows what might have happened during the additional 20 minutes.
But it didn't and Moylagh's dream of a place in the final ended in disappointment. It is now a matter of getting over that defeat, regrouping and heading into the 2008 championship with renewed hope.
"It has been a good year; we did very well in championship and league," said Moylagh's Declan Flood as he reflected on 2007. "Unfortunately, in the Junior Championship semi-final against Moynalvey five or six lads just didn't play up to the standard that they are capable of.
"But we could have snatched it at the end. We had a goal chance which would have levelled it, but their goalkeeper got a hand to the ball and it bounced out by the corner of the post. It was very disappointing, but that's the way it goes.
"We put a very big effort into it. We have six or seven players who come down from Dublin for training. It is a long way from Dublin to Moylagh. That represents a really big commitment and they are great lads for doing it. Fair play to them."
Having reached the penultimate hurdle this year, Moylagh will obviously hope to go all the way to the final in 2008 and finish the job when they get there. Fortunately, they appear to have some very good under age talent coming through the ranks which could make a significant difference as they go in search of silverware in future campaigns.
"We are getting stronger and I would be hopeful for next year," Flood added. "Five or six of the St. Oliver's, Oldcastle, team which won the All-Ireland Vocational Schools' title this year are from Moylagh. Two of them broke onto the team this year and, hopefully, the rest of them will be there next year."
HURLING
2007 didn't prove to be a fruitful year for Moylagh hurling club. Despite a change in the hierarchy and in the management team results did not go as planned. Player numbers were the most problematic with players including Peter Agnew and Rory Lynch emigrating and numerous others 'retiring' from the small game for the year.
Towards the end of the year the U21 team put a lot of effort into preparations with Kevin Dowd from Dunderry taking charge but they were not successful as they went down to Wolfe Tones.
On a brighter side, William McGrath enjoyed some success with the U14 Meath Development squad by winning the Tony Forristal Div 2 Final in Waterford in August. William also took part in a hurling exhibition in Croke Park earlier in the summer and we hope that William enjoys further success with both Moylagh and Meath in the coming year.
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