Peaks and valleys
November 30, 2007
In their first year in the ranks of junior football since 1952 Slane had their hopes of an immediate return to the intermediate grade dashed by Moynalvey at the quarter-final stage of the 2007 JFC, having gone through their group games without suffering a defeat.
After the title triumph of some 55 years ago, Slane went on to capture IFC honours in 1968 and gained that title again in the GAA's centenary year of 1984. Three years later the Boynesiders won their way through to the SFC semi-finals and it took the dominant Navan O'Mahonys side of the time a replay to get past them.
There was another appearance in the penultimate round of the Keegan Cup competition in 1995 when the side managed by Gerry Gough lost out to Kilmainhamwood. Four years later Slane became one of the first casualties of the new relegation system, initially brought in to reduce the number of senior football teams in the county to 16.
Slane lost to Moynalvey in one of the play-offs and Trim survived at the expense of Carnaross in the other.
After getting to the last four in the IFC in 2002 when they lost to Ballivor they again reached the knockout phase the following year only to be ousted by Carnaross. After that things started going down hill for Slane and despite having former All-Ireland winning forward David Beggy at the helm, there was another drop in store last year when Na Fianna sent them down another rung of the ladder.
When Beggy stepped out Gerry Gough stepped back in after having spells with Drumconrath and Oliver Plunketts in Drogheda on two occasions as well as being along the sidelines with Slane when Liam Buggy was in charge.
Gough was at right half back on the team which lost out on All-Ireland minor glory to Down in 1977 with future senior county stars Mickey McQuillan and Liam Harnan behind him. This year he had Jim Harding and cousin Colm Gough as his assistants and their efforts to get back up were not far off the mark.
Slane's first game back in the JFC, sponsored by Lynch's Pharmacy, was against Skryne's second string at Walterstown and it resulted in a narrow 2-7 to 1-9 win for the Boynesiders. Keith Harding scored both of the winners' goals as well as putting over a point while Declan Kearns helped himself to 0-5.
The interval lead of 1-5 to 0-5 was extended to seven points in the early stages of the second half before being reduced to one. However, it was a case of a good start being half the battle.
The opposition in the second round was also provided by a senior club's second team with Navan O'Mahonys being defeated by 1-6 to 0-5 in a Saturday evening tussle at Simonstown. Even though without a few players through injury, Slane led by 0-3 to 0-0 at the break with Kearns putting over two points and Craig Smith also getting on target in a low scoring opening period.
A point from Maurice McWeeney at the start of the second half increased the lead. After that the sides were evenly matched with Kearns adding two more points and passing to Harding who netted the goal three minutes from the end.
Harding and Kearns were absentees for the third round tussle with Kildalkey at Bohermeen and the winning run was maintained with a 1-8 to 0-4 victory despite forward Alan Reilly being forced to retire with a knee injury after raising the white flag twice.
The eventual winners were 0-5 to 0-2 to the good at the interval and a goal from Craig Smith was a crucial score. Barry Moore made a vital contribution by kicking four points.
Ballinabrackey were the next opponents at Dunderry and the 0-7 draw was sufficient to send Slane through to the knockout phase. Declan Kearns returned to action to contribute six points including a late leveller after his side led by 0-4 to 0-3 at the halfway stage.
Slane had to do an amount of defending in the second half but with netminder Brian Colgan and outfield defenders Eoin Feeley and Shane Coyle to the fore, they were not giving away too much.
Then it was on to Carlanstown for a Wednesday evening clash with Drumbaragh and a minimum margin 1-11 to 2-7 win for the east county side. Kearns was again the main marksman, kicking eight points with six of them coming from play.
Slane also led by a point (0-6 to 1-2) at half-time and after going in arrears Stephen Carolan netted their goal to regain the initiative. After the Drums drew level Kearns kicked over a late 45 to secure a fourth win.
However, the unbeaten run came to an end as Moynalvey inflicted a 0-9 to 1-2 defeat at Walterstown as a result of eight years ago was repeated. The Blues held a 1-2 to 0-4 interval advantage with Stephen Carolan getting the goal before failing to add to their total in the second half as they made a rather tame exit.
"Going into their that quarter-final, Slane were the only unbeaten team in the championship. But the occasion seemed to get to them, they were very nervous and didn't perform on the day. Playing in a knockout was something new for a good few of the lads," said Gerry Gough.
"Before this year the players had forgotten how to win on a regular basis and after struggling in the intermediate grade winning four games and drawing one got them back into the winning habit and, despite the disappointing defeat after that, the run of success should boost their confidence," he added.
Gough was very pleased with the commitment given by the players, remarking: "The response too training was very good and much better than in other recent years, some of the lads are based in Dublin or Dundalk and they made the extra sacrifice.
"There was a feel good factor among the players and they were very eager in their efforts to put Slane back in the picture. It's always difficult to get back up at the first go but I feel that we are moving in the right direction.
"The management team got great support from the club committee members with no stones being left unturned. We had a few challenge games outside the county and injured players were well looked after."
Looking ahead to next year, Gerry Gough feels that there is good cause for optimism. "All the players are the right side of 30 and if the commitment is as good as it was over the last few months, maybe they could go all the way," he said.
Over the last three years Slane GFC has held an annual awareness week with events being held to make people outside the club mindful of the facilities being offered. "This year the awareness week was actually held over two weeks with adults being held for adults, children, club members and non members," said chairman Nicky Tallon.
This year's events included a table quiz, a quiz in the local school, blitz competitions for under 8s and under 10s which were sponsored by Slane Credit Union, a barbecue night, pitch and putt and a sports day sponsored by Breen's Chemists.
Slane have had some fine underage teams in the past and there has been a big drive in getting more young lads playing Gaelic football in the parish with Sunday morning training sessions at the Rossin grounds from late March/early April until October.
"The club has been holding these Sunday morning sessions for the last seven years. When they started there could have been 12 to 15 young players but now we'd between 80 to 100 on a good day and between 60 and 70 on a bad day. Also there is no shortage of volunteers to look after the youngsters," remarked chairman Tallon.
"Players are young as five and six up to 12-year-olds take part. The younger lads play games among themselves. We have an under 10 team and they took part in tournaments organised by the Curraha and Drunmconrath/Meath Hill clubs this year," he continued.
Slane are joined up with St Mary's and the combination play under the banner of Bru na Boinne in underage competitions. Nicky Tallon hopes that all the work being put in with young footballers will be of big benefit to Slane adult teams in the future.
The Rossin pitch is around two miles from the village but the chairman is hopeful that a proposed new housing development on the Collon Road will lead to the provision of further playing facilities in the next few years.
The Slane club is busy planning for the future and members will be keeping their fingers crossed that a return to intermediate ranks will not be too far ahead in that future. Although the JFC is always a difficult championship to win out, the Blues are likely to be on the short lists for 2008.
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