Agonisingly close for Syddan
November 30, 2007
Syddan went agonisingly close to rejoining the senior ranks in 2005 when they lost the Intermediate Football Championship final to Duleek after a replay and the natural progression appeared to suggest that they would go all the way last year.
It didn't work out that way as they were hit by injuries to key players for vital games and they ended up finishing fifth in their group on seven points after achieving three victories and one draw. They also suffered three defeats which meant they finished a point behind fourth-placed Nobber and two adrift of Rathkenny who, of course, went on to win the title.
But hope springs eternal and when the draws for the 2007 Intermediate Championship were made earlier in the year there was undoubtedly the hope that Syddan would lift the Mattie McDonnell Cup for the first time in eight years and return to the top flight.
However, they came out with what looked like a very tricky section after the draw was madewhich also included their neighbours from the north of the county Drumconrath, who had lost the previous year's final to Rathkenny, and by the time the group action concluded in September they were just edged out of a qualification place by St. Colmcille's because the seasiders had scored more.
Also included in the section were Ratoath and Dunderry, who had been relegated from the senior grade at the end of the 2005 campaign.
Syddan were managed by Martin Barry, a man with vast experience of club management who guided Meath to the All-Ireland JFC title in 2003, while the selectors were Gerard Dillon, Paul McKenna and Joseph Dillon.
Ratoath were to end up having a real struggle in Group B, finishing bottom after achieving only one victory, and when the championship got under way in the middle of April Syddan held them to just a couple of points at Dunsany and won with ease on a 0-9 to 0-2 score line. It wasn't a particularly stern test of their credentials, but they at least achieved the victory that got their qualification bid off to the desired start.
But looming on the horizon was a match that promised to provide a much stiffer challenge and one that had the potential to shape Syddan's title bid. The second round meeting with Drumconrath at Nobber was a clash of the beaten finalists from the previous two years, with both sides clearly among those on most people's short list for outright honours.
Matches between Syddan and Drumconrath can always be expected to be very keenly contested and this one was no exception as the large attendance was treated to a thrilling derby confrontation which the Drums won by 2-8 to 1-8.
The first half represented something of a disaster story for Syddan. Firstly, Philip Duff blasted an early penalty over the crossbar after Drumconrath goalkeeper Sean Kane had fouled Derek Young and then they leaked two goals as Wayne Reilly and Derek Duff found the net to boost their side to a very useful 2-3 to 0-3 lead at the change of ends.
It got significantly worse for Syddan when Jamie Myles stretched Drumconrath's lead with a brace of points at the start of the second period and it was clear that it would take one almighty effort if they were to salvage anything from the game.
To their credit, despite the difficulty of the situation they found themselves in, Syddan responded to the challenge and upped the tempo of their performance considerably. A fisted goal from Derek Young gave them some hope and when Gerard Farrelly added a point they must have started to believe that they really had a chance.
That belief was obviously reinforced when Trevor Gilsenan slotted over two points to bring the deficit back to two, but with their lead seriously threatened Drumconrath stretched the advantage to three and defended heroically to hold on. It was a sweet victory achieved in a game that provided tremendous entertainment.
St. Colmcille's provided the third round opposition at Slane and, given the change in format of the championship back to smaller groups, the pressure was on Syddan to get something from a tricky looking assignment in order to keep their qualification challenge on track.
They managed to do just that as they won a tight game by two points (1-12 to 1-10) and with four points from a possible six in their section their hopes of making it through to the business end of the title race were very much alive.
Having played three games they were on top of the pile on four points, the same as Dunderry who, significantly, had played a game less. Dunderry lost next time out against Drumconrath and it was all to play for in this tight group as Syddan prepared to meet Dunderry in a crunch final round match.
And it was Dunderry, coached by former Meath All-Ireland medal-winner Barry Callaghan, who came out on top when it mattered most at Simonstown on the second Sunday of September, winning by 2-8 to 0-9 to secure their ticket to the knockout stages. The painful reality for Syddan was that they had failed to qualify for the second successive year.
It was certainly anybody's game at the break when Dunderry shaded the issue with a 0-5 to 0-4 advantage, but a disastrous start to the second period sounded the death knell to Syddan's hopes of making further progress in the championship. Aaron Newman and TJ Garry, two of the big prospects in the Dunderry set-up, scored goals and they propelled their team in the direction of the quarter-finals as group winners on six points.
Drumconrath were second on four points and a score difference of plus two, with St. Colmcille's and Syddan also on four points, but with a score difference of plus one. The deciding factor was points scored and Colmcille's won out here because they had tallied 54 to Syddan's 44. It's interesting to note that Syddan had conceded 10 points less that the seasiders. And they had already beaten them.
It was a cruel way to lose out, but Syddan's Aidan Dillon felt they just weren't performing well enough this year.
"We were so close to qualifying and just missed out, with St. Colmcille's pipping us," he said. "We were missing Brian Dillon with a shoulder injury he picked up in March. He never played in the championship at all and was a very big loss to us. Otherwise, we were fine on the injury front.
"Unfortunately, we just didn't put it together on the field at all this year and we had a habit of giving away sloppy goals which didn't help us."
Aidan appreciates that Syddan could do with some fresh talent coming up through the under-age ranks to strengthen the panel as they continue to search for the breakthrough back to senior football.
"The age of our team is a problem," he added. "It is hard to get young lads in and we really have nobody in the 16 to 20 age bracket which you really need coming through to strengthen your panel.
"We have a couple of lads on the Meath under-16 team, Fiacra Ross and Stephen Finnegan, so they are players for the future, but it will take a couple of years to get it together. But we will keep giving it a go."
The Feis Cup has a habit of bringing out the best in Syddan. It will be recalled that they won it for the first time in half a century back in 2003 with a comfortable victory over Skryne in the final. They came very close to reaching the decider again this year, but eventually exited the race at the semi-final stage against an in-form Seneschalstown team.
Hopes of a good run in the competition were raised when they reached the last eight with a 1-13 to 1-7 victory over Castletown at Rathkenny, but they looked to be really up against it at the quarter-final stage when they faced an improving Dunshaughlin team at Pairc Tailteann.
Syddan proved that they were fit for the challenge as they won a tight game by 1-10 to 0-11 and it was back to headquarters for a semi-final showdown against a very consistent Seneschalstown side. There was only a kick of the ball between them when the final whistle sounded, with the Yellow Furze team getting the only goal and winning by 1-11 to 0-13.
The club's second string operated in the Junior B Championship and progressed from their group after playing five matches. They opened up with a 0-6 to 0-5 win over Wolfe Tones, but then went under to the previous year's beaten finalists Clonard on a 0-4 to 2-7 score line.
Syddan bounced back with a narrow third round victory over Dunderry, winning by 0-12 to 1-8, and then achieved their most comfortable success of the campaign when they got the better of St. Patrick's by all of 16 points (3-12 to 0-5).
They then faced another meeting with Dunderry to decide who would advance from the group and Syddan repeated their earlier victory when winning decisively by 2-13 to 1-9. Blackhall Gaels' second string provided the opposition next time out at Bective and that's where Syddan bowed out of the title hunt as the Batterstown/Kilcloon combination scored a minimum margin victory (1-6 to 1-5).
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