BOYLAN TALKS SPORT: 'There won’t be a dry eye or glass in a lot of places this week'

“When it’s not always raining, there’ll be days like this, when there’s no one complaining, there’ll be days like this, when everything falls into place at the flick of a switch, I just have to remember, there’ll be days like this”...

Colm O’Rourke quoted the above Van Morrison chorus at the beginning of his piece chronicling his guiding of Simonstown Gaels to their first Meath SFC success in 2016. In contrast, those invested in - or writing about - GAA in Meath or several other places for that matter may have to paraphrase Van’s hit somewhat to make it read “There’ll be weeks like this”. To tend to matters close to home first, it’s actually difficult to know where to start. Such was the avalanche of glorious sporting tumult ongoing.

Where to begin? Well, we may as well go chronologically. So to the remarkable little parish of Meath Hill it is. The following is meant in the most complimentary manner possible - the picturesque hamlet which straddles Louth, Cavan and Monaghan have taken punching above their weight to a remarkable artform in the recent past.

Now, they’ve always had good footballers. Going back as far as Tom Matthews in 1980, to Lee Breslin, who plastered my sister’s house in 1995, and, along with Francis Callaghan, was called into the Meath panel at the end of the 1996 season after the blue and white and their parochial rivals Drumconrath contested the Meath JFC Final. Paddy Reilly from the red corner got the same call.

Then came Tadhg Boyle who featured with several Meath underage teams - as did Paul Callaghan, who would then go on to forge a career as a top level jockey in the UK. Barry Kieran represented the blue and white on the Meath team which won the All Ireland JFC in 2003 and - the most recent this writer can recall was Dominic Yorke, who got a few runs between the posts during Andy McEntee’s tenure.

That number is surely going to be added to now following the remarkable rise engineered by Shane McCoy and his side over the last half decade or so. Now, I’ll be honest and admit to being unsure as to whether it was initially through the inception of the Regional Football Championship or just from general cognisance of the local club scene, but, players such as Cormac Sheehy and Jack Slavin and Ryan Owens and Gary Breslin have flickered brightly on the radar for some home. Though that they were quite as good as has turned out to be the case mightn’t have been fully appraised at the time.

However, over the past few weeks, they have made the rest of the GAA world sit up and take note. Firstly, by defeating a Kilbride team who had mirrored the progress the Hill had made in the last couple of years by making the step up to Intermediate.

Ironically, though, it was Meath Hill’s extra couple of years nous at the grade that guided them over the third last hurdle at Walterstown. Whereas, against Ballivor in the semi final and again on Saturday last, it was their redoubtable obduracy which won the days and boldly took them where they’ve never been before.

In fact, they produced their best display of mountain scaling until the biggest day of all against the county’s most storied club, Navan O’Mahonys. The burgeoning Breslin, Sheehy and Slavin all raised white flags, while Robbie Keelaghan and Darragh Maguire replied at the other end. Meaning that McCoy’s men led by 0-5 to 0-4 at half time.

When Breslin bolstered that lead immediately after half time, what might have seemed unimaginable to many loomed larger on the horizon. Then, for a period, it became a shootout between Gary Breslin and Robbie Keelaghan. Before Maguire and Sean Betson appeared to have steered the Hoops for home.

But no, the Hill were the men who couldn’t be moved, and Jack McMahon curled over a splendid equaliser. Then, two Shane McCabe points and one from Breslin appeared to seal the envelope with the fairytale therein as it left the underdogs clear by 0-15 to 0-12. Again, to their credit O’Mahonys again rallied, with a pair of Aodhan Mallon points, but, again, McCabe split the posts, creating history and reserving their place at Meath’s top table.

***

If Meath Hill’s heroics were astounding in one way, it’s actually quite difficult to know where to begin with the story of Dunsany’s day of deliverance. As a neutral observer, I couldn’t but be overjoyed for the people of the great club. Whilst at the same time recalling the many great Gaels and friends who never got to see them reach the promised land.

No matter what sport you are involved in or fond of, you will have more disappointing days than glorious ones. And while it is true that what doesn’t break you will make you stronger, I’m not sure even Lazarus could keep bouncing back after EIGHT county final defeats, but back Dunsany kept coming.

Over the years, the club has produced so many fine footballers - male and female - who have represented the county with distinction. But on the day of days, it was the man deemed surplus to requirements by the now former county senior management, Eoin Harkin, stood up and did what great leaders always do, drove his kinfolk by deed.

Now, with the mountain top finally scaled, a whole new challenge awaits them. That will be a matter for a different day though. Lord knows they’ve waited long enough for a party!

***

So to the senior decider. The build up thereto reminded me of the preamble to the Meath-Galway All Ireland Final. Generally accepted wisdom was that the ball was very much in Dunshaughlin’s court. The formbook might have said so, but there’s no better outfit to fling that document in the furnace than Wolfe Tones.

Yet again they did so as well. As, despite the favourites enjoying the lion’s share of possession, their profligacy and Tones being Tones saw the purple and gold open up a 0-3 to 0-1 buffer through the tried and trusted boots of Thomas O’Reilly and Saran O’Fionnagain.

Mind you, whatever about there being days or even weeks like this, for Dunshaughlin’s Ruairi Kinsella, it’s been a season like this. With the stylish and accurate forward pivotal to their smash and grab win over Summerhill, dizzying the Dunboyne defence in the semi final and ultimately, drilling the ball low under Ciaran O’Gallachoir to infuse what had been a stuttering effort by Richie Kealy’s team up to that point with red diesel. Pun intended.

At this stage it’s only fair to point out that Storm Ashley flittered whatever chance either side had of playing anything like the football they were capable of. Ironically, though, gut feeling would’ve been that if it came down to a dogfight, a more seasoned, battle hardened Tones might have held the slenderest of edges. Especially when one considers that luminaries of the Kilberry outfit, Cian Ward and Stephen Sheppard were able to delay their entrances until the last quarter.

The other factor, though, was that once the former of the pair entered the fray, something positive was bound to happen for those whom he has spiritually and literally led for two decades. What nobody would foretold or wished, however, was the identity of the player whose misfortune seemed to have tipped Paidi O’Se’s grains of rice away from the then three time kingpins.

Who or whatever Mat Costello was looking for when spraying a wild free back in the direction of his own goal, he might never even know himself. But what everyone knows is that, whether Cian Ward is 38, 48, or 58 if you give him one-on-one ball 21 yards out, there’s only going to be one outcome!

Then Saran curled over a delicious score before punching the air as if a ‘we have it’ to his late grandfather Fintan Ginnitty in the boardroom far away.

Dunshaughlin have tragically too much representation in that venue as well and, as has been my inclination all season, Maria Kealy, Denis Kealy, Paul Costello and Fergus Clancy ensured the amply proportioned performer hadn’t even cleared her throat at that stage.

The grains of rice had to go to the other side of the scale. That they most certainly did. The ill-fitting villain tag was torn clear off Costello’s back and the most valuable left boot in Meath prodded it’s owner to redemption, embellished by a point seconds later as Tom Keegan was headed back up the M3.

There won’t be a dry eye or glass in a lot of places this week.