2009 will bring up fond memories of Gaeil Colmcille’s last Meath Minor Hurling Division 1 Championship win when the Kells men defeated Kilmessan 3-11 to 3-07 in the Final. See below an extract on the Hoganstand.
The decision to play the Meath minor hurling championship at the start of the year was one that the Gaeil Colmcille club will not be arguing over as the North Meath side lifted the premier
title for the first time in 15 years when they defeated Kilmessan in the final.
Now, place the Kells outfit against the might of Kilmessan in any grade and the favourite will always be the same as the blue and whites have dominated the small ball code for many years, but every now and again, a fairytale story in thrown up and in this case, it lies with Gaeil Colmcille.
Kells are more noted as a footballing area, but the stark reality is that the club are senior in hurling, while they only ply their trade in the intermediate grade in football. The main reason for this is that a great emphasis has been placed on the club’s underage hurling structure, which has begun to reap the benefits of the hard work and dedication undertaken by a small number within the club.
The fruits of their labour really came to the fore earlier this year with the success in the minor championship and selector Bob Tormey spoke to the Meath GAA Yearbook about their emphatic win and what he hopes that the future holds for the club.
Following last year’s success in the intermediate championship, Gaeil Colmcille enter the top flight, quietly confident of holding their own in the grade, throw in the victory in the minor and that confidence is justified.
For too many years, the town team have been failing to fulfill their true potential, but that could all be about to change and there is a renewed belief in the club. Many teams have dined at the top table of the senior hurling, but given a bit of time and there is no reason why Gaeil Colmcille cannot be among them.
Certainly, winning the minor title helps that cause and with so many talented players at their disposal, Kells will be a big threat to many sides over the coming year.
However, the minor success is to be celebrated and we review a remarkable campaign that ended in glory, causing quite a stir among the hurling fraternity in the county.
Indeed, Bob admitted that at the start of the year, no one really know what this side was capable of, making the journey all that more excitable.
“To be fair, I don’t think there were too many lads thinking that we could win the minor, but the fact that we were knocked out of the minor football early, meant that the lads could concentrate solely on the hurling,” said Bob.
Indeed the fact that they could only scrape a team for the first round match against Dunboyne, suggests that the commitment was not there early on.
“We had 13 going up to play Dunboyne in the first round and another two lads turned up and to be honest I didn’t think we’d beat them as they were one of the favourites for the title. However, a number of the lads played very well and we came away with a two-point win.”
This meant that the Kells outfit was through to the semi final where they would play Longwood for a place in the decider and once again a close match was the outcome.
“After the Dunboyne game, there was a renewed confidence in the squad that we could actually win this, but we needed all the players to do well, this was not the case in the semi final, but more played well than they did in the quarterfinal and we ran out winners by two points for the second consecutive game.”
There was still much work to be done and although Gaeil Colmcille had looked impressive in their opening two matches, they were still massive underdogs against a Kilmessan side that had a number of county representatives in their ranks.
“We knew we had to up our performance for the final because Kilmessan are a very strong side and they have produced great teams at all levels down through the years. But, the lads felt that they had a great chance, a final is a final as they say.”
The final was played at Pairc Tailteann and what an exciting game it turned out to be as both sides had chances to win it, but Kells held on for a resounding victory.
The win was all the more satisfying as Gaeil Colmcille played most of the match with 14-men while centre back Darren Tormey (Bob’s son) was forced to move to full forward having injured his ankle early on, but that switch proved decisive as the talented youngster found the back of the net on two occasions at critical times in the match.
Corner back Darren Morgan received a straight red card for an off the ball incident before Tormey’s injury, but Kells were still to the fore and with the exceptional Brendan Murray running the show from midfield they raced into 1-6 to 0-0 lead by the start of the second quarter.
However, as expected Kilmessan battled back and reduced the deficit to 2-8 to 1-4 by half time.
It was going to be a titanic battle in the second half, but the town team deserves great credit for the effort they put in as they held on for a 3-11 to 3-7 victory.
Many of these young men will grace the senior team this year and if they keep progressing the year they are then there is no reason why Kells can’t maintain their top flight status.
“Every player was exceptional on the day that was what we needed and that is what we got. It was an amazing performance by the lads and it was just great to win it.”
The management team of Conor Ferguson (manager), Bob Tormay and Willie Keegan (selectors) deserve great credit for their efforts with this side, while Bob feels that this is the culmination of a number of years hard work.
“A lot of work has been put into the underage hurling over the last few years and it certainly has made a difference. Another man that has done great work with the juveniles is Benny Reddy and he deserves a mention also. Hopefully we can go on from here and do well in the senior.”
For the record the victorious minor Gaeil Colmcille team was: Danny McGovern; Alan McGovern, Cormac Keegan, Darren Morgan; John Murray, Darren Tormay, Darren King; Brendan Murray, Fionn Ferguson; Evan Keegan, Conor Murray, Shane Morgan; Seamus Mattimoe, Conor Roche, Ryan Farnham. Subs – J Quigley for McGovern 44mins; Thomas Smith for King 59m; L Carry for Keeagn 60m.
