1962 JUNIORS
Honoured at half time during the senior football final at Pairc Tailteann, front l/r: Joe Rochford, Padraig McCormack, Mick White, Barney Allen (county board chairman), Jimmy Walsh, Jack Kane, Gerry Quinn, Peter Price. Back: Jim Curtis (committee), Sean McCormack, Cianan Black (representing Peter Black), Tom Flynn, Michael Mulvany (representing Paddy Mulvany), Cormac Ward, Jim Ryan, Michael Clarke, Jack Quinn, Bill Eiffe, Paddy Hanley, Ollie Kealy, Tom Muldoon, Darragh Monaghan (representing Tom Monaghan), Paddy Christie, Toss Gibney, John Carolan, Tommie Collins (committee).
Meath have won the AllIreland JFC title on five occasions and while each of those successes was memorable and significant in its own right, the competition also provided a stepping-stone to success at senior level for many Royal County players down through the years.
T
hat was certainly the case in 1962 when Meath won their third All-Ireland title in the junior grade with a highly talented panel which included five players who would help the county to Sam Maguire Cup success five years later – Jack Quinn, Sean McCormack, Jimmy Walsh, Gerry Quinn and Peter Black. Meath beat London in the final that year and it had been the same 15 years earlier when a side captained by Nobber clubman Larry McGuinness claimed the county’s first All-Ireland football title in any grade. The team included Paddy Connell and Des Taaffe who were later to become household names
GIBNEY RECALLS 50 YEARS AGO with the seniors. Kevin Lenehan, Tom O’Brien and Tom Moriarty were key players when Meath won a second All-Ireland SFC title in 1954 and they had tasted junior success two years earlier when London were again the beaten finalists. The 1952 team included Castletown’s John Donegan who had also been part of the victorious 1947 side. The importance of the junior grade in blooding future senior players was never more evident than in 1962 when Meath once again clinched AllIreland honours with a final win over London. Jack Quinn, who was to play a starring role at full-back in the senior triumph five years later, played at left corner-back with the juniors in 1962, while Sean McCormack, later to be an outstanding goalkeeper for the seniors, was in the opposite corner. Jimmy Walsh started the All-Ireland junior final at left half-forward and was a substitute for the 1967 senior success. He was captain for the ’62
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junior triumph. Gerry Quinn and Peter Black were both introduced during the junior decider and added All-Ireland senior medals five years later when they were important members of the panel which completed a memorable campaign by defeating Cork in the final. Ashford provided the setting for Meath’s first outing in the 1962 Leinster JFC and it proved to be a successful trip to the Garden County when they defeated Wicklow by 2-9 to 1-6. Things got considerably easier next time out when Carlow were beaten by 3-13 to 0-5 at Navan and that was followed by another comprehensive victory at the same venue when Longford were beaten by 3-11 to 0-6 in a semi-final. Meath had built up a serious head of steam at this stage and provincial honours were annexed with a 2-11 to 1-4 victory over Wexford in the final at Croke Park. It meant they were three wins away from a third national title in the junior