All-Star nominee Jordan Morris recovered from an ACL tear in the spring to feature prominently as Meath reached the All-Ireland SFC semi-finals before helping Kingscourt win the Cavan SFC title
Meath flyer Jordan Morris grew up in Kingscourt, following Cavan.
His father is a former Cavan minor and under-21 player, and he went to primary school in the county as well.
Family circumstances brought him to Nobber in Meath, the club he won an Intermediate Championship with, back in 2019.
As a teenager Morris was in Meath development squads, but club wise the All Star nominee moved back to Kingscourt at the start of the 2022 season.
Kingscourt were hammered in the County Final by Gowna in 2023.
But, a week and a half ago, former Louth manager and player Colin Kelly guided them to a county decider victory over the same opposition with Morris hitting 0-9 to secure a first senior title in a decade.
“I grew up in a housing estate there in Kingscourt,” said Morris (24). “I lived there until I was 10 or 11.
“I obviously went to primary school there. I would have played a lot of soccer and a few different sports with a few different boys there on the team. I would have known them all even from just being around town.
“I just didn’t manage to play football with them. I would have known most of them.
“I would have grown up going to Cavan games with grandad, uncles and dad.
“I’ve been playing with Meath since under-14. When that started, that was always the goal.”
Morris could do with a break after a long season, but there’s no sign of one on the horizon.
Kingscourt face the winners of Saturday’s Fermanagh replay (Erne Gaels v Derrygonnelly) in the Ulster quarter-final (November 8/9) at Kingspan Breffni.
After a rollercoaster year, which saw Meath miss out on relegation and silverware, but claim the championship scalps of Dublin, Kerry and Galway, Morris was delighted to get his hands on a major trophy with Kingscourt.
“It’s lovely to finish it off with that,” said the TUD Sport Health and Science student.
“Hopefully we’re not done. We’ll look to push on now and see what we can do in Ulster.”
Morris’ season looked in tatters when he went down in agony at the end of the final round league derby with Louth at Inniskeen.
But when he got a reprieve the inside forward took full advantage, showing his worth in hitting a stunning goal in the win over Cork and shooting 1-6 from play in the shock All-Ireland quarter-final victory over Galway.
“(I) went to the hospital and found out it was a grade 2 tear in my ACL and PCL,” he recalls. “I was, ‘Right, what’s the next step forward?’
“Ray Moran said surgery wasn’t needed. Basically I got a bit of an injection up there to help relax the knee. Then there was a fairly intense rehab program.
“It was six or seven weeks until the Leinster final and that was my target. I’d do it three or four times a day, every day.
“I only got back on the pitch five or six days before the Leinster Final and was put through my paces. Thank God it held up.
“I came on for 20 minutes. You can’t beat match fitness and I didn’t really have that. Cork, Roscommon, Kerry – all those games were building blocks.
“Then (we) went into Galway and I felt like I was flying. Probably had the best game of my life.
“It was just like, ‘I want the ball,’ and I just feel like I could do anything. I don’t know whatever mad way the mind works.
“You get a few scores and you think you’re unstoppable. It was strange enough to be fair. It was an unreal feeling.”
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