Old rivals and near neighbours Meath and Cavan cross swords again
May 03, 2017
Cavan's Gearoid McKiernan and Meath's Graham Reilly
Ballinlough GFC are set to unveil their new pitch and walking track this Sunday May 7th.
Rival managers Andy McEntee and Mattie McGleenan will continue their preparations for the upcoming provincial championships with a senior football challenge to officially open the new pitch and walking track at Ballinlough GFC.
The North Meath club has a proud history both at local and national level. It has supplied the likes of Frank Nulty, Mattie McDonnell, Toss Gibney, Tom Muldoon, Jim Ryan, Vincent Lynch, Vinny Ryan, Jody Devine and Peadar Byrne to winning county teams.
The North Meath club have won Intermediate championships in 1954, 1991 and 2014, a Junior championship in 1988, Division 1 league titles in 1997 and 1999 along with Division 2 and 3 A leagues. Their latest success came in 2014 when after winning the Meath title, the Tom Shine managed squad reached the Leinster Club IFC final only to lose out to Sean O'Mahonys of Louth.
That 1991 Intermediate Championship winning team was managed by the late and very popular Shane McEntee, ex TD. Shane is the brother of the present Meath manager Andy and selector Gerry. Their uncle, the late Phil O Brien was Ballinlough Club President for a number of years.
After extensive work to remove the roadside ditch and build a wall and an entrance, the club opened its grounds in 1993 with a SF challenge between Meath and Derry. A massive crowd turned up to see that year's All Ireland champions managed by Eamon Coleman play the Royals on August 1st, 24 years ago.
The past two years have seen the club realign and put down a new pitch, erect modern fencing around it with a state of the art, fully lit walking track alongside. Former Cavan captain Alan Clarke was the lead architect that oversaw the project.
To mark the offical opening of this brilliant facility Meath and Cavan will play in a senior football challenge match next Sunday evening 7th of May at 6 o' clock.
The last time the two counties met in a competitive fixture was in the 2016 National Football League Division 2 at Pairc Tailteann.
It promises to be a very entertaining evening as the neighbouring counties begin their countdown to the championship. The pitch itself is less than 3 miles from the Cavan border.
Ballinlough Under 8's and 10's will provide the half time entertainment and GAA President GAA Aogan O' Fearghail will attend the official opening.
