Although Nobber were tipped as possible winners of the Lagan Group IFC back in April and were the 2/1 favourites with just four teams left in the title race, they were fallers at the second last hurdle. Since gaining JFC honours in 2002 with a final victory over Dunsany, the north county black and ambers have been among the main fancies for a first intermediate success since 1980 but they are finding some difficulty in remaining standing in the home straight. After Colm Coyle had been in charge in 2006 before moving onto a higher post, Ciaran Conlon took over at the helm and he had former playing stalwarts Sean Carolan and Michael Reilly as selectors. They set out with high hopes and the first opponents were Oldcastle, who had got to the last four only to lose to Drumconrath the previous year. It looked a difficult start for Nobber at Carlanstown but they began brightly by dashing into a 0-5 to 0-1 lead before being ahead by 0-8 to 1-3 at the break. The advantage was doubled in the second half and at the final whistle the board read 1-13 to 1-9 as Conlon's charges made a quite promising start. Two weeks later it was back to Carlanstown for a second helping of IFC action for Nobber and a poor quality encounter against Gaeil Colmcille ended with the Kells side having 1-5 on the board to 0-8 for their opponents. The Gaels were ahead by 0-3 to 0-1 at the break before the black and ambers did a little better in the second period. In the third round Nobber had nine points to spare over struggling Ballivor at Cortown, running out 1-14 to 2-2 winners to boost their prospects of reaching the closing stages. The first half was close enough with the scores at the break being 0-6 to 1-2. But with Brian Farrell putting over seven points and Darren Lambe also impressing with a contribution of 1-2, the north county side pulled clear after the switching of ends. They were through to the quarter-finals following a 0-13 to 1-7 win over Na Fianna at Dunderry with Brian Farrell scoring more than the losing side as he put over 11 points. Nobber had only two scorers on that Saturday evening as Andrew Hayes got the other two points. Nobber were behind by 0-6 to 0-7 at the break but then had the better of the second half exchanges with their netminder Barry McEntee and outfield defenders Peter Olwell and Padraig Weldon showing up well. Two weeks later Nobber clinched top spot in the six-team group with a minimum margin 1-10 to 1-9 over local rivals Castletown at Meath Hill. Brian Farrell again top scored, this time with eight points. Wing back Philip McEntee grabbed the goal, blasting to the net for a crucial score with three minutes to go. Nobber were forced to come from behind in the quarter-final against St Ultan's in a Sunday evening tussle at Pairc Tailteann. With 25 minutes gone they were trailing by five points (0-4 to 0-9) but a strong finish to the first half turned things around as they led by 1-7 to 0-9 at the break. After a ball in from Alan Farrell was not cleared, brother Brian pounced for the goal which gave them a lead which they would not subsequently relinquish. Brian Farrell scored 1-8 in that game with six of the points coming from frees and early in the last quarter Nobber substitute Martin Curtis was the recipient of a straight red card from referee Brendan Darby who a few minutes later evened up matters when opponent Kieran Lynch was also dismissed. The board read 1-11 to 0-10 when the match became a 14-a-side contest. The difference was a goal as the game moved into added time before points from Jamie Owens and Brian Farrell left Nobber winners by 1-15 to 0-13. Although Nobber went into their semi-final against Donaghmore/Ashbourne with high hopes and led in the opening quarter, they conceded the advantage in the latter stages of the first half. After that they did not manage to go ahead again and finished five points in arrears as Andy McEntee's side won by 2-10 to 1-8. Brian Farrell was not as prolific as he had been in the previous game. He scored five points, three from play, as the full forward at the other end, David Morgan contributed double that with 2-4 from play. In the opposite corner was a Nobber player of a few years ago and Andy McEntee worked with his players to try to prevent the county forward from getting too much possession. Still Farrell started well with points from a free and play and then two well-struck efforts from Andrew Hayes left the north county lads 0-4 to 0-2 to the good. But after that they had to wait 18 minutes for their next scores as a shot from Farrell whizzed over the bar to leave the board reading 0-7 to 0-5 at the break. The lead was stretched to eight points in the third quarter before Nobber rallied with 1-2 to get the deficit down to the minimum after 52 minutes. Brian Farrell set the recovery in motion when slotting over his third free and then a shot from the Meath attacker which appeared to be going wide was finished to the net by corner former Jamie Owens. When Alan Farrell drove a 45 between the uprights, the game appeared to be going Nobber's way but they did not score again as their opponents added a point followed by a late goal. Shortly after Alan Farrell's score Gordon Weldon should have finished to the net but Padraig Durkan kept out the attempt. That was the second time for the winners' netminder to deny Weldon and Nobber failed to press home their advantage when looking likely victors. It was a disappointing end to the campaign which had promised a bigger end product but it was still a small bit of progress following four draws in the group stages in 2006 before a three points defeat to Castletown at the quarter-finals stage marked the end of the road. Nobber were in Division 3 of the All County A Leagues this year and were winners in just four of their ten outings. Fellow intermediate sides Gaeil Colmcille, St Ultan's, Ballivor, Donaghmore/Ashbourne and St Michael's all defeated the wearers of the black and amber with the men from Kells and the recipients of the Mattie McDonnell Cup in waiting both getting their wins by the narrowest of margins. Nobber's first Division 3 FL success was gained at the expense of Ballinabrackey by 1-13 to 1-2 and they had a little winning streak in the latter rounds when getting the better of Slane, St Mary's and struggling seniors Ballinlough. Nobber's second string operated in the Junior C FC and although only losing one of their five group games they failed to reach the next phase of that championship. They defeated Moylagh by 0-11 to 1-7 before a second narrow success, this time by 0-14 to 3-3 over Ballinlough. Then they lost by a goal (0-7 to 1-7) to neighbours Kilmainhamwood and although defeating Oldcastle by 2-10 to 2-8 and having eight points (1-13 to 1-5) to spare over St Michael's, Nobber only finished third in their division with Kilmainhamwood and Oldcastle above them. Nobber fared quite well in Division 2 of the B Football Leagues where they were in opposition to second strings of a number of senior clubs. They were successful in five out of nine outings and their best efforts came in the 0-8 to 0-5 win over Summerhill, who went on to contest the final against Navan O'Mahonys. There were three other victories at the expense of opposition from senior clubs with Trim, Seneschalstown and Kilmainhamwood losing out as well as Dunderry. However, there were also defeats at the hands of Duleek, Dunshaughlin, Castletown and O'Mahonys. Nobber had just two outings in the Feis Cup. They did well to outscore 2006 intermediate champions Rathkenny by 1-9 to 0-8 but hopes of a prolonged run in this competition were ended when St Michael's inflicted a 0-12 to 0-5 defeat. While Nobber failed to lift a trophy in 2007, their top player, ace attacker Brian Farrell played a big part in Meath's National Football League Division 2 success. He scored a remarkable total of 8-36 in that competition and he finished off in great style with 2-8 in the final outing against Roscommon at Breffni Park. Farrell continued that fine form into the championship and although missing the second Leinster tussle with Dublin, he finished that campaign with 0-26 from seven outings to take seventh place in the charts. Come 2008 Nobber will again be one of the more fancied sides in the IFC and they will be keen to put up an even stronger bid for a title has proved so elusive for a number of teams over the last few years. Tweet

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