BOYLAN TALKS SPORT: Where are we now?
It may come as a surprise to some to hear that I began writing an autobiography at some stage between the closing stages of Covid-19 and the return of normality (whatever that is).
Granted, the manuscript has probably fallen a bit behind now as, from memory, the story concluded in the week Colm O’Rourke took over as men’s senior football manager and the ladies had just completed back to back All Ireland successes. Or a hat trick thereof if you count the IFC win of 2020.
I’d titled that final chapter 'Where Am I Now?' It was a play on the similarly named Alan Walker musical hit, but was very much meant in a sense of self introspection.
Reason being that in the preceding half decade or so, I’d gone through my mother being struck down by illness, adjusting to having homecare and all that entails and, ultimately, Da’s death in 2021.
On the credit side of the sheet, though, to my incalculable good fortune, it was in the midst of all that my partner Susie and I became properly acquainted and the chapter title was more or less a pondering of what lay ahead for both of us.
Being honest, though the document is saved on Google Drive and available on at least four different devices at the touch of a button, it hasn’t been touched since about three months after it was finished.
Reason being that after several unsuccessful attempts to get it printed I sort of gave up on the idea. However, the reason the name of the relevant chapter came back to mind was as a means of taking stock of what sort of year it has been for Meath GAA.
Yes, it may seem a tad odd to be doing so now with the camogie team still motoring at the time of typing but - and maybe this is just me - there was an air of finality about seeing the ladies exit the race for the Brendan Martin Cup. With regard to county teams at least.
So where are we now? Well, though it gives me no pleasure, it would have to be said that for the men’s senior footballers, it was a season of stagnation at best.
When you look at the progress made by their fellow Div 2 competitors, Donegal, Armagh, Cork and, in particular, Louth, and it would have to be conceded that Meath are not at a commensurate level to any of the above. Likewise Roscommon who, although relegated from Div 1 of the National League, still made the last eight in the race for Sam.
Granted, in reality, neither of the two Ulster outfits listed above belong in Div 2 and, in mitigation on Meath’s behalf, the magnificent Leinster u-20 FC win should see an infusion of new talent come on stream for the senior setup. How that is managed - and the transition for, say, this year’s Minors up to the next level - will be critical for the next five years at least.
Looking at the situation regarding the county hurling teams, stagnation and frustration are the words that come to mind here also. However, again, I feel all concerned are entitled to a little slack.
Firstly having been shorn of the services of players such as Damien Healy, Kyle Donnelly, James Murray, Jack Regan and Eamon Og O Donnchadha for some or in some cases all of the season.
However, equally or more likely even more disruptive to their prospects was the turmoil which landed in their camp mid season. Culminating in the departures of Hurling Chair Martin O’Halloran and senior manager Seoirse Bulfin.
On that score, seeing interim senior boss Steven Clynch and U-20 manager Sean Corrigan step away from their roles wouldn’t exactly imbue a soul with hope. Like the football scenario though, you’d hope matters could be steered in such a way - and bridges rebuilt - so as to move things forward again. Remember, with last year’s Peadar Lehane Cup winners surely primed for their next step, the talent is certainly there to do so.
And so, we arrive back at the lady footballers. Whose demise led to the thought stream which has in turn morphed into what you are now reading. In no way would I accept Meath have become a bad team.
Honestly, have they regressed a bit from the halcyon Croker days? Yes, but given the player turnover and the chaos which unsettled matters last season in particular, that mightn’t be the greatest shock.
The tails to those heads, though, is that, erring on the side of positivity here, if the likes of Sarah and Vikki Wall, Mary Kate Lynch, Niamh Gallogly, Shelly Melia, Maire O’Shaughnessy, Aoibhin Cleary and Megan Thynne are willing to go again, Emma Duggan will still only be 23 in 2025, then the future remains positive..
Just momentarily park all that and consider the continued burgeoning of the likes of Aine Sheridan, Nicole Troy, Kerrie Cole, Ciara Smyth, Meadhbh Byrne, Marion Farrelly, Ella Moyles and Karla Kealy - and there are more - and there’s little doubt there’s the capacity there to be a force for a while yet. A few arrivals on a jetplane would never do any harm either!
At this point I will admit to not being as au fait with all things Meath camogie as should be the case, but, even with what is an increasing grasp thereof, the potential of the current county senior panel is obvious.
Mind you, as has been a running theme throughout this column, absent faces and off-field matters have made their continuing odyssey all the more daunting too.
Outside the white line, there was the loss of manager Neil Cole due to illness before the season had begun in earnest while being without players of the calibre of Abbye Donnelly and Aoife Minogue - possibly among others - wouldn’t be great for any team’s prospects.
Yet, as has always been the Meath way, they hung in there and kept swinging. Literally and metaphorically. Indeed, cognisant that it was a win or bust situation against Kerry, they could hardly have hoped for a better start when Amy Gaffney raised a green flag inside two minutes.
Summer sunsets will last for another while yet, and we await developments on the bigger picture with interest.