The Meath senior hurling team were named Team of the YHear at the Meath Chronicle Sports Awards in Bective Tearooms last Friday at the presentation (from left) were Tom Gannon (Meath Chronicle), Meath selector John Andrews, Noel Moran (Bective Tea Rooms), Sean Quigley, Padraig O`Hanrahan, Valerie Moran (Bective Tea Rooms) and Hurling Committee chairman Martin O`Halloran.

Meath Sports Awards: County hurlers’ double success honoured at Bective ceremony

TEAM OF THE YEAR: League and Ring Cup victories recalled

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The Meath senior hurling team were named Team of the YHear at the Meath Chronicle Sports Awards in Bective Tearooms last Friday at the presentation (from left) were Tom Gannon (Meath Chronicle), Meath selector John Andrews, Noel Moran (Bective Tea Rooms), Sean Quigley, Padraig O`Hanrahan, Valerie Moran (Bective Tea Rooms) and Hurling Committee chairman Martin O`Halloran. David Mullen

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Enjoying the Meath Chronicle Sports Awards wdere Meath hurling representatives Padraic O`Hanrahan, Sean Quigley and John Andrews. David Mullen

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The Meath players celebrate following the Christy Ring Cup final win over Derry in Croke Park. Gerry Shanahan

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Meath joint captains Charlie Ennis and Jack Regan raise the Christy Ring Cup. Gerry Shanahan

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Meath Chronicle's Tom Gannon chats with Meath hurlers Sean Quigley and Padraig O`Hanrahan at the Sports Awards. David Mullen

Fergal Lynch

Published: Tue 13 Feb 2024, 9:27 PM

Last updated: Tue 13 Feb 2024, 9:56 PM

The Meath Hurlers were announced on Friday as the Meath Chronicle Team of the Year following a marvellous 2023 campaign.

The Royal hurlers achieved a fantastic League and Championship double. Following their success in the NHL 2B, Meath produced some fine performances to reach the final of the Christy Ring Cup. A strong first-half performance saw them claim a two-point victory over Derry and gain promotion to this year’s Joe McDonagh.

Two current stars of the Meath hurlers, Padraic O’Hanrahan and Sean Quigley were on hand at Bective Tea Rooms on Friday morning to accept the award, chat about a fantastic 2023 and look ahead to the challenges they will face in the year ahead.

O’Hanrahan was grateful to the Meath Chronicle for recognising the achievements of the Meath senior hurlers in 2023.

“It is a great honour for us to get this award today from the Meath Chronicle. It is nice to get appreciation for what we did last year and hopefully, we can kick on this year again," said the Ratoath player.

Quigley was also gracious for the recognition and support that the Meath Chronicle has provided the team throughout the year.

“It was a positive year last year and it was very enjoyable. To win both league and championship, no matter the grade is always a very good thing for the county. To get this recognition from the Meath Chronicle today is brilliant. It is a lovely award to receive and it goes hand in hand with the support that the paper has given us, so long may it continue," said the St Peter's Dunboyne star.

The Christy Ring final itself was a tight affair. Following a fantastic Meath first-half performance, Derry attempted to stage a comeback and Meath just held on to win by two points. Quigley spoke about how that game played out and what was going through his and his teammate's heads as Derry started to force themselves back into the game.

“Yeah to be fair we probably had a game plan going into the game. We had a plan to target some of their key forwards and as the game progressed, I think a lot more of their key forwards came into the game, especially a few of them that had been a little bit quieter in the first half. The lads didn’t panic though. We were trying to do the right thing with the ball. We just stuck with it and the gameplan paid off."

As O'Hanrahan Padraig explained, it was a huge relief when the final whistle in Croke Park did sound. The Ratoath hurler is very proud of the outstanding achievements of the Meath hurlers in 2023.

“It’s hard to explain that feeling, It was amazing. There was an element of relief as well. For the last few minutes Derry were pushing forward and dropping balls in so when we came out with that last ball there was certainly a sigh of relief. Once what we had done had sunk in it was amazing. I’m very proud to be part of what was a massive achievement.”

There were some big expectations around this Meath side and what they could achieve last year. However, O’Hanrahan said that the favourites tag never really entered his own thoughts or the thoughts of his teammates. He explained about just trying to go out on individual days and perform.

“Personally, I kind of leave it to one side. I wouldn’t put a lot of stock into thinking whether we are the underdog or the favourite. At the end of the day, you are just trying to go out and perform. For the good of Meath hurling, we had to be up a level. We needed to be back in the Joe McDonagh Cup and 2A in the league. I think really it was about getting them wins and getting over the line.”

Last Sunday week the Meath hurlers had a fantastic victory against neighbours Kildare in the opening round of the Div 2A league. Quigley recognises that he and his teammates can draw a lot of confidence from that performance but is adamant that tougher challenges lie ahead for the men in green and gold.

The Meath Sports Awards are kindly supported by Bective Stud and Tea Rooms, Meath Co Council and Meath Local Sports Partnership

“We can draw a lot of confidence from the Kildare game. It was a real workmanlike performance. I think the subs that came on had a really good impact. Everyone from 1-20 contributed well. The next few games will probably be somewhat of a step up from Kildare. We have to be prepared for them. We are looking forward to the challenge and the rest of the games in the league campaign."

O’Hanrahan also recognises that the win against Kildare was a great confidence booster, however, expectations have to remain checked for the moment as he and this Meath team are not looking beyond the next game.

“I think we just have to take it game by game and see how it goes. We have to keep trying to improve as the year goes on. We had a good performance in our opening league game against Kildare but we cannot afford to dwell on that. We have to push on again. We really need to put in a better performance in each game. We still have to play the likes of Kerry, Down and Laois in the league. The Joe McDonagh will be another step up again from there. So, we just have to try and keep building at be at our best when Joe McDonagh comes around."

Quigley finished by making the point that the lack of a relegation threat from the league has somewhat eased the pressure in this year’s league campaign. Quigley also agrees with O'Hanrahan in terms of taking each game as it comes and not looking past the next one.

“The league has a bit of a novelty element to it this year with the fact that there is no relegation. In the back of your mind that takes a little bit of the pressure off," said Quigley.

"It lets you play with a little bit more freedom when we are out on the pitch. We probably showed that against Kildare. I think we have to still take it game by game. You can never look too far ahead.

"I suppose we probably do have some goals and objective’s but that’s something that we are going to keep within the camp internally. So yeah, game by game is probably the best approach to take and we will see what happens," concluded the new Meath joint captain.