Dublin-based Kevin McConnell is one of a long list of outstanding full-backs to have represented Meath. Son of Kevin McConnell Snr (a famous member of the Meath All-Ireland winning teams of 1949 and '54), he was part and parcel of the Meath set-up during the 1970s. Unfortunately for Kevin, that was the era when Dublin dominated in Leinster and not even their greatest rivals could break their stranglehold. "Looking back on it now, we were very unlucky not to have made the breakthrough," Kevin recalls. "We were beaten by Dublin in two Leinster finals (1976 and '77) and on both occasions we had enough chances to win. I'll never forget the Leinster final of 1977 and the huge amount of wides we kicked. That defeat probably resulted in the break-up of our team." The footballing career of Kevin McConnell began in the north Meath village of Castletown, with whom he won an Intermediate Championship medal in 1976. Having represented Meath in the underage grades, Kevin graduated to the senior team in early 1973 and made his Leinster championship debut against Westmeath in Mullingar later that year. His memories of the occasion remain vivid. "I was selected at centre-back and was given the job of marking the great Mick Carley. It was a tough game which we won by a couple of points. We went on to reach the Leinster final that year where Offaly proved too strong for us. "At the time, I didn't get overly disappointed because I was new to the scene and was just privileged to have played in a Leinster final." A provincial medal may have eluded Kevin in '73 but there was some consolation to be found in the fact that he played an integral part in helping Dundalk RTC to victory in the All-Ireland Higher Education final. Whilst playing in America during 1974, Kevin picked up an injury which required a cartilage operation and effectively ruled him out of football for two seasons. One of his big regrets was missing out on Meath's National League success in 1975. The following year, Kevin put his injury problems behind him and proceeded to play the best football of his career. As well as savouring Intermediate Championship glory with his beloved Castletown (the club hasn't repeated the feat since), he succeeded the legendary Jack Quinn at full-back for Meath. In 1977, Kevin - at the age of 24 - was selected as Meath Footballer of the Year, thus becoming the youngest player to receive the coveted award. Kevin continued to hold down the Meath number three jersey until 1980 when mounting work commitments forced his retirement from inter-county football. At club level, Kevin continued to line out for Castletown until 1992. About his days as a Castletown player, he has this to say: "There were many great memories but I suppose nothing really compared to our Intermediate Championship win in 1976. We beat our arch rivals Kilmainhamwood and the final is still talked about in the area. "From a personal point of view, that win was one of the highlights of my career because as well as playing, I was also team trainer, coach and selector." Tweet

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