Sean Kealy has been trying to win the Jubilee Cup for 13 years with Kildalkey. Royal County discovers that the desire to succeed is stronger than ever. Although ultimately they fell short of producing what was required to win the competition outright, Kildalkey can glean much encouragement from their performances in the 1998 Meath Senior Hurling Championship. The beaten semi-finalists re-affirmed their unofficial ranking as one of the top four hurling powers in the Royal County and provided ample evidence that soon they will be the very best. There are a number of factors working in Kildalkey's favour as they mobilise their charges to move in for a first SHC since 1951. Firstly, they now have the backbone of a very experienced side. Secondly, there are a handful of very talented younger hurlers coming through to provide a better balance. Thirdly, they have their secret weapon - Sean Kealy - playing as well as ever he did! A Kildalkey man through and through, Sean began to hurl with the club at under 11 level - more than a score of years ago. He broke onto the club's senior team when he was eighteen (circa 1986), having shown enough promise as an underage player to represent his county at all levels . . . U16, minor and U21. 1998 was Sean Kealy's thirteenth year on the Kildalkey senior team. Superstition would weakly dictate that, as such, it could have been something of an unfortunate twelve months. Not so! Sean was as prominent as ever and was fittingly rewarded with the Meath Hurler of the Year award for his considerable efforts. He also retained his place on the Meath panel, which he first joined for the 1988 National Hurling League campaign. An outstanding right half back by anybody's standards, Sean has given a lot to Kildalkey and Meath hurling for many years - and, notably, intends to continue doing so for some time to come. Times have been quite lean with Kildalkey, but he hopes to break the duck before finally calling it a day. "The club has still only won the one senior championship in 1951," he explains. "The first major breakthrough made by the current team was when we reached the county final in 1988. We lost to Trim by a point - to a last minute goal! In 1990, we got to the final again, but were beaten by Kilmessan this time. We haven't been back in a final since but reached semi-finals in 1994, '97 and '98. This year, we lost 0-10 to 0-8 to Kilmessan and could have done better. We've been knocking on the door consistently as one of the top three or four teams in the county and I'm confident our day will come." Certainly, Kildalkey are not lacking in experience. Sean notes: "When I started out on the senior team, we had a group of players coming through at the same time - Pat and Nicholas Potterton, Cathal and Donal Davis, David White who's in England now but played for years - and those were the players who made the breakthrough to the county final. We still have more or less the same personnel." Although it's still basically the same team, there have been a few significant changes in recent years. The addition of a few new names to the team-sheet - not to mention the impending arrival of a few more! - has caused a great stir in Kildalkey. A buzz is audible and the grapevine has it that the team is shaping up like never before. Even Sean Kealy is a little excited: "In the last three years, there have been a few very important changes," he confirms. "Some great talent is starting to come up through the underage system. Fergus McMahon, who plays midfield, has come through. And Gary McNally; he played in goals for two years and is now a very handy corner back. Daniel Fagan broke onto the team in 1998 and is another great prospect." It doesn't stop here either! There are more young lads coming through, which should make Kildalkey a formidable proposition for 1999. "There are two or three more who we hope to see on the team next year," Sean says. "We're hoping to bring in Tony Fox, Alan Kelly and Padraig Geoghegan in time for next year's championship. We should have a good blend of youth and experience." Things are looking up then in terms of the ongoing efforts to bridge the gap to 1951? "Definitely. I think there's something there. We've been knocking on the door for ten years and I can sense that it's about to open. Even these young lads have plenty of experience from representing the county at underage level. There's a lot of good work going into promoting underage hurling in the county - with Summer camps etc. Hopefully, Kildalkey are about to reap the benefit of that." Indeed, one can't really argue with Sean Kealy's contention that Kildalkey will give a good account of themselves next year. He has plenty of ammunition to back up his argument: "We have been very close in the last two semi-finals against Rathmolyon (1997) and Kilmessan ('98). Against Kilmessan, it was close the whole way but I really felt we were the best team. We're not too far off what's needed as it is, so when the team's strengthened, we'll have a great chance. Val Ledwith took over the team in 1996 and got no breaks during his two-year term in charge. He brought the team to a whole new level and was very unlucky not to get something for his efforts. But his contribution will stand to us in future." In the 1998 Meath SHC, Kildalkey lost to Trim by four points in their first outing before registering victories over Kiltale, Athboy, Killyon and Dunderry to qualify for the semi-final. "We came out of the group second and I think our performances over the year prove that we're one of the top four teams in the county. I think next year's competition will be between ourselves, Trim, Kilmessan and Kiltale." Using recent performances by the county team against Offaly as a yardstick, it appears that Meath hurling has gone back somewhat. Why is this? Sean opines: "Seamus Carney, Patsy Geraghty and Paddy Christie have a whole new panel of players in now and I reckon it will take another year or two before we see the very best of them. There was a very steady, established group of players there in 1996 and '97, but this year's team was inexperienced at that level. Give them a few years and then judge them." Interestingly, Sean rates the Meath team of 1993 as the strongest he played on. They won the All-Ireland B Championship that year and ran Antrim close in the All-Ireland quarter-final at Castleblayney. In 1996, Meath had victories over both Wexford and Offaly in the league! Sean believes the Royals would be able to compete on a more regular basis with these counties were it not for the commitment of great hurlers like Enda McManus, Jimmy McGuinness and Tommy Dowd to football. But such is life! The highlight of Sean's career? The All-Ireland B in 1993. The best player he played alongside? Pat Potterton. Difficult opponents? John Troy in the NHL and Adrian Ronan in the championship. The way forward for counties like Meath? "The league has been moved now to spring, but I think the weaker counties would benefit greatly from a second competition before Christmas, which they could use to get a panel together for the league. A competition for the second division teams would give them the chance they need to get their teams together." And what about Kildalkey? Will they have a championship-winning team together for next year? "Things are shaping up lovely. We have a nice blend now. We have some good young players . . . and the core of the 1987/88 team to provide experience. To win a senior county medal would be the highlight of my career. We've put a huge effort in over the years and I don't think anybody in the county would begrudge Kildalkey their day in the sun. Hopefully, we'll get it in '99." Tweet

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