Meath Spearhead Tommy Dowd There is a moment in every players career when he comes of age, when the apprenticeship ends and he joins the ranks of the masters. For Tommy Dowd that moment arrived in the 1991 All-Ireland semi final. Playing Roscommon Dowd lined out in the Meath half forward line. Wearing the number 11 jersey the Dunderry man, then only 21, gave a virtuoso performance bobbing and weaving often acting as a third midfielder, catching and kicking his way through the Roscommon defence with his scrummaging, tank-like frame tormenting the Connacht champions for seventy, sweltering minutes. Dowd literally had the game of his life and the man of the match award inadequately described the part played in helping Meath to a 0-15 to 1-11 victory. He only contributed two points to his team's tally but his general play, especially in the second half helped spark off another revival in what was a year of gripping Meath revivals. Unfortunately for Dowd, his team mates and the travel-weary supporters the Royal's unprecedented ten game Championship campaign came unstuck in the All-Ireland final when Down's skill and gritty determination propelled them to a two point victory. It was a huge disappointment for the young Dunderry player but in the intervening three years Dowd has bounced back to emerge as one of Gaelic football's caused celebre, a household name with his distinguished gait and unerring accuracy making him one of Meath's most feared attackers and one of the forwards the Green and Gold will look towards to overcome Dublin in Sunday's Leinster final. Since making his intercounty debut in 1990, Tommy Dowd has played in almost every forward position for Meath but in recent times, he has appeared at the fulcrum of the Royal attack wearing the number 14 jersey. "I enjoy playing at full forward especially if you get the right kind of ball but playing in the half forwards you get a little more space to move around in. But the way the competition for places is going I'm just glad to be on the team", he says. Born in Leicester twenty four years ago Tommy Dowd moved back with his parents to Ireland, settling in the quiet Meath village of Dunderry. Encouraged by his father, Tommy Senior who played football for mid-Meath and London the youngster took to football with alacrity and at 16 was playing in the local Senior team. Remarkably Tommy Junior never played Minor for his county although he did make it onto the panel. By his late teens Dowd was developing into a very promising young prospect and a spell in the Under 21 team prefaced a call up to the Senior squad and a Championship debut against Longford in the early summer of 1990. The Dunderry lad maintained his place on the team throughout the campaign as Meath defeated Dublin in the Leinster final, Donegal in the semi final before facing Cork in the All-Ireland decider. On the Thursday evening before the final Sean Boylan pulled Dowd aside during the training session and told the young man he would not be on the starting fifteen. It was a blow to the player who had done so much to get his team that far but he gracefully accepted the decision. "I was disappointed not to get on but Sean explained the situation to me and I accepted that. He said they were going to put Gerry McEntee in instead of me and move Colm Brady. As it turned out I came on late in the game, so at least I got a taste of the action". In naming the people who have influenced him along the way the Meath forward mentions his father and Billy Bliigh, a Dunderry coach and official, and Sean Boylan, the man who came from nowhere in 1983 to lead his county out of the wilderness. "When Sean took over as manager he picked Meath football off the ground, he has done an awful lot for the game in the county. He is very enthusiastic and has the ability to get the best out of players, they will dig deep a bit more for him. Paul Kenny also has done great work at Minor and Under 21". Growing up Dowd looked up to great players like Matt Connor and the Kerry duo of Mikey Sheehy and Sean Egan as his heroes with the achievements of the great Kerry team of the seventies in particular firing the youngsters imagination. Meath's All-Ireland victories of '87 and '88 brought the county to life and spawned an ambition among the young players to repeat the achievements of Lyons, McEntee, O'Rourke and company. Tommy Dowd's big chance came in 1991 but Peter McGrath's team spiked his hopes of a Celtic Cross medal, although the Dunderry man gained some compensation with an All-Star award the same year. Over the past three seasons Meath have fallen at vital stages of the Championship with the most surprising setback occurring in 1992 when the Royal County lost out to Laois on a scorching hot day in Navan. "I think we were a little complacent going into that game, we didn't expect Laois to be as good as they were and they were hungrier than us, Laois are a very underrated team, they have some very good players, Damien Delaney, for instance is one of the best forwards around". Since '91 Meath have steadily rebuilt their team introducing a string of new players who have taken over from some of the old guard. The emergence of a coterie of talented young stars gives grounds for optimism that a sixth All-Ireland title can be notched up in the near future. "The players who have come on the team over the last two or three years have done very well and if they keep developing the way they have, Meath has a great chance of winning an All-Ireland within the next three or four years". This year's triumphant League campaign has burdened Meath with the tag of Championship favourites. An impressive win over Laois followed by an unimpressive victory over Wexford has set up a Leinster final with the auld enemy Dublin, but Dowd knows only two well the Sky Blues have the capability to scupper even the best laid plans. "We did well to win the League but the Championship is a different story altogether. You can never take anything for granted against them, there is always a great contest between the teams and anything you get you earn. There is always big crowds at Meath, Dublin games and to play in front of 30,000 or 40,000 people is a great buzz, especially in games like that". A Senior intercounty footballer for the past four years. Tommy Dowd is very familiar with the commitment the sacrifice and total dedication needed to survive at the top level. The Dunderry man often leaves his home early in the morning (to go to work with Callaghan's Aluminium and P.V.C.) and arrive home late at night after a training session with Meath. It can be tough, rewarding schedule. "My wife Geraldine often doesn't see me until 9.30 or 10 o'clock at night, you have to train very hard especially preparing for the big games but I don't complain especially if the team keeps winning, but some weeks I see more of Sean (Boylan) than I do of Geraldine". Dowd savours playing each game these days after he spent an enforced spell on the sideline at the start of last summer with an arm injury that forced him to miss Meath's Championship joust with Laois. The experience of watching from the sideline turned out to be considerably more harrowing than actually playing. "People ask me if I am nervous before big games but I find it far more nerve wrecking to watch games than to play in them. Against Laois I thought the game would never end. I was more tired watching the game than I would be if I was playing". When not appearing in the green and gold jersey Dowd turns out in the black and white of Dunderry. A strong organised club they have made the most of the resources available to them. Fielding teams in Senior hurling and football with Dowd playing in both codes. Tommy enjoys an occasional game of hurling but it is as a footballer nature has endowed him most, with a unique talent and strength, making him a handful for the wiliest of full backs (as Laois's Pat Roe and Martin Dempsey will testify) and while Dowd came of age in that memorable game against Roscommon three years ago he is still only a younger player with a big future ahead of him and conceivable the best is yet to come. Written by the Hogan Stand Magazine 29th July '94 Tweet

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