With the Covid 19 Lockdown extended for another number weeks and with no sign of the GAA calendar resuming we, with the assistance of Royal County Meath GAA Yearbook and the Hoganstand.com archives, will revisit some memorable moments on the Meath club and county scene over the past 20 years.

The early 2000's was a glorious time for Meath College football with St. Pats of Navan taking no less than three All Ireland senior football titles in the space of five years.

The third chapter in that brilliant achievement came in 2004 and unfortunately it proved the last success for a Meath school in the Hogan Cup.

On this weekend 16 years ago Parnell Park provided the setting for the that remarkable achievement. Perhaps if Leitrim or Carlow were to win the Sam Maguire Cup on as many occasions in the same time span then we might be talking of acceptable comparisons. 

Colm O'Rourke's charges claimed their first Hogan Cup in 2000 and 12 months later retained the title. St. Mels of Longford proved too strong in 2002 and 2003.

The Navan school began their 2003/2004 campaign with a 4-14 to 0-7 win over St. Benildus of Kilmacud. Kevin Mulvaney scored 2-2, Cian Ward 1-5 and Cathal O'Dwyer grabbed 0-4.

Mullingar's Colaiste Mhuire were dispatched 1-11 to 0-7 in round 2 and a place in the Leinster quarter finals was secured.

Marist of Athlone provided the opposition in Tubberclair in early Febuary. The occasion produced an abundance of drama both before and during the game with St. Pats experiencing serious transport difficulties on the way to the match.

The bus carrying the players developed a brake problem which generated an unhealthy amount of smoke and fumes and before alternative transport could be organised in Mullingar a number of players had been physically sick. For a time it looked as if St Pats would have to field without a few of their selected players but by throw in time all was well again in the camp. In the end St Pats held out for a narrow 1-5 to 0-7 win. Shane O'Rourke and Henry Finnegan were involved in providing the crucial goal opportunity for Cian Ward.

Another Westmeath side, St. Josephs of Rochfortbridge were beaten in the semi final with Henry Finnegan 1-3 and Ward 0-5 taking the scoring honours.

St. Pats were through to the Leinster final for the 5th year in succession. Carlow's Knockbeg College stood in their way. Keen to avoid a 3rd successive final defeat they eventually succeeded but only after extra time 0-11 to 0-8. The scorers against Knockbeg were Cian Ward 0-4, Henry Finnegan 0-3, Shane O'Rourke 0-2, Stephen O'Toole 0-1, Kevin Mulvaney 0-1.

Nenagh was the venue for the All Ireland semi final against Cork's Colaiste Chriost Ri. St. Pats led at the break 2-5 to 0-3 but had to withstand serious second half pressure to advance to the final on a 2-8 to 1-6 scoreline.

St. Patricks Dungannon stood in the way of a third Hogan Cup success and although the McRory Cup winners dominated the early exchanges it was the Navan Pats who went in at the break 1-7 to 0-3 in front.

The crucial score came at the end of the first quarter and it must have brought a proud smile to the face of Colm O'Rourke. His son Shane collected the ball close to the half way line before setting off on a brilliant run through the heart of the Dungannon defence. He then unleashed a powerful drive to the back of the net to put his team firmly in the driving seat.

But the Dungannon school were far from finished and with 5 minutes remaining the teams were level 1-9 each. Forced to dig deep St. Pats Navan got the crucial scores from Ward and O'Rourke to seal another memorable day for Meath football on a scoreline of 1-11 to 1-10. St Pats scorers on final day were Cian Ward 0-6, Shane O'Rourke 1-0, Paddy Smyth 0-2, Stephen O'Toole and Cathal O'Dwyer 0-1 each.

After the game Cian Ward picked up the Man of the Match award while captain Ciaran Kenny was presented with the Hogan Cup.

St Pats squad: Sean Conaty, Ciaran Martin, Kevin Mulvaney, Michael Gleeson, Cian Byrne, Cathal O'Dwyer, Ciaran Kenny, Daire Corcoran, Wayne Donegan, Henry Finnegan, Stephen Sheridan, Shane O'Rourke, Brendan O'Donnell, Paddy Smyth, Stephen O'Toole, Vinny Reilly, Eoghan McCormack, Stephen Finnegan, Mark Gaffney, Daryl Clare, Brian Meade, Kevin Reilly, Niall McMahon, Patrick Murray, Cian Ward, Cormac McGuinness, John Fagan

 

 

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