Ringtown hurling club has seen many changes in the past few years with the development of their grounds and clubhouse at Whitehall. On the playing field success in this year's Under-16 B championship final was a memorable occasion for the North Westmeath side. In the senior championship, Ringtown made it to the quarter-finals of the championship, which was a remarkable achievement for a side that had been playing in the intermediate ranks the previous year. In the last few years, the club's underage structure has gone from strength to strength and after contesting a number of Premier minor finals as part of the amalgamation side Derravaragh Gaels with Castlepollard, the club's senior side have begun to benefit from the hard work put in by Michael John Corrigan and David Kilcoyne to name but a few at the grass roots level. Success in the Under-16 B championship was earned the hard way as it took a replay to separate Ringtown and the amalgamation side of Southern Gaels/Fr Dalton's with the first match being played in St Oliver Plunkett's GAA grounds. With both club's winning Under-14 titles in 2002 a close game was always expected and that's the way it transpired as a pointed free by Ringtown's Niall Kilcoyne sent the game to a replay. Ringtown captain Eanna Doolin opened the scoring after only four minutes of play but Southern Gaels/Fr Dalton responded with a goal after only five minutes. Niall Kilcoyne won possession from the resultant puck out and passed to Aidan O'Grady who in turn rifled a low shot into the corner of the net. Ringtown were then dealt a huge blow when midfielder John Boyhan was sent-off but it did not seem to hinder the green and gold's as they regrouped and held their shape. The amalgamation side hit back with a point and that's how the scoreline remained for the next 15 minutes only for the impressive Kilcoyne to blast a powerful shot to the roof of the Southern Gaels/Fr Dalton's net five minutes before half time. It was definitely a case of score for score as the South Westmeath side scored a magnificent goal after a great run and shot by Eoin Jordan just as the interval approached. Southern Gael's/Fr Dalton's got the first point of the second half but as was in the first half a long period elapsed before the next score came, 18 minutes in fact and once again it was Kilcoyne who delivered the goods for Ringtown, when he scored a fine point after an excellent run. SG/FD then made use of their numerical advantage, Ringtown goalkeeper Jeffrey Nea saved well from a powerful shot but the rebound fell to Eoin Jordan and he made no mistake firing the ball into the net. Ringtown now trailed by a goal as the game entered its final few minutes, but Aidan O'Grady scored his second goal of the evening to level matters once again. It looked all over for the Whitehall based club when Robert English fired over a point at the end of normal time, but man-of-the-match Kilcoyne held his nerve to point an injury time free. The replay was played just over a week later and this time theses talented teams got to display their talents in Cusack Park, but the game will be remembered because referee Shane Corcoran walked off the pitch after an incident involving people on the line. The game was held up for 15 minutes in the second half due to Corcoran's reluctance to oversee the match but after a lot of soul searching between the people involved the match resumed, much to the relief of the players. Aidan O'Grady tried to continue his excellent goalscoring form from the first match when he had the first opportunity of a goal in the opening seconds of the replay but Southern Gaels/Fr Dalton's goalkeeper Ciaran Duncan saved well. Ringtown then took control of the match with points from Eanna Doolin and Niall Kilcoyne (2) before another mazy run by Kilcoyne ended with the talented youngster rattling a shot off the crossbar, where goal machine O'Grady was on hand to strike the ball into the back of the net. It was turning into the Niall Kilcoyne show shortly after as the same player scored 2-1 without reply to put Ringtown firmly in the driving seat as half time approached. The sides swapped wides before the half time whistle to leave the score 3-4 to 0-0 in Ringtown's favour. Southern Gaels/Fr Dalton's hit two wides at the start of the second half as they looked to cut the deficit between the sides. Moments later one of their players was injured which was the cause of the verbal abuse the referee received and after 15 minutes of stoppages the game resumed. The long delay seemed to have a dreadful affect on the Ringtown players as Southern Gaels/Fr Dalton's ran riot. Firstly they scored a point and this was soon followed by a goal. Moments later another point was followed by their second goal and Ringtown were now really beginning to panic. A third goal for the combination side really put the cat among the pigeons as there was now only two points between the sides, but a point by Shane Boyce seemed to settle the Whitehall outfit and when captain Eanna Doolin scored his side's fourth goal it was game over and Ringtown were crowned the 2003 Under-16 B champions on a scoreline of 4-5 to 3-2. As pointed out Ringtown made it to the quarter-final of the senior hurling championship having come second in a group that contained Castletown Geoghegan, Raharney and Brownstown. Their first match against Castletown Geoghegan was played in Cusack Park and for much of this game the sides were evenly matched only for the concession of 1-3 in the final ten minutes to prove Ringtown's downfall. A goal separated the sides at half time as Castletown converted a semi-penalty right at the end of the half to leave the scores 1-6 to 0-6 in the black and amber's favour. Castletown stretched their lead with a point at the start of the second half before Vincent Bateman raised a white flag for Ringtown while their opponents tagged on another point. Martin Burke then scored a goal to leave a point between the sides. The sides then exchanged two points a piece before Castletown finished the match strongly to begin their campaign with a win and immediately put pressure on Ringtown. A win against Raharney in their next match was essential to keep their hopes of a place in the knockout stages of the championship well and truly alive. That they did in an exciting match that could have went either way. The Deelsiders raced into a 1-1 to 0-0 lead in the first few minutes of the match before Vinny Bateman and Padraic Fanning scored a point a piece for Ringtown before Fanning put the green and gold's in front with a well taken goal. Raharney replied with two points to level matters but Bateman and Martin Cunningham both fired over to leave the scoreline 1-5 to 1-3 in Ringtown's favour. The sides were level once again shortly after the interval when Raharney scored two points with Fanning edging Ringtown in front with a well taken point. Both sides then raised white flags but man-of-the-match Fanning scored his second goal of the afternoon and a Bateman free extended their lead. A 20 metre free was drilled to the Ringtown net to narrow the gap and when they scored their third in injury time, it looked as if the blues would make a remarkable comeback but time was against them and Ringtown claimed their first points of the championship. Brownstown were the opponents in their last match and a win was still essential to ensure Ringtown's safe passage through to the next stage of the championship. As expected the first half was a close contest as has proved between theses sides all down through the years with Ringtown leading by 1-9 to 0-9 at the break, their goal coming from Martin Cunningham. In the second half Ringtown produced their best display in the game for many years as they totally out played their opponents scoring 3-9 in the process. Cunningham, Martin Burke and Keith Melia grabbing the second half goals. Neighbours Catlepollard were the opponents in the last eight with the game producing an incredible 28 scores, eight of which were goals. Pollard led by 1-3 to 0-0 after ten minutes and it looked very bleak for Ringtown but this young side has shown great character throughout the campaign. Padraic Fanning pulled a goal back to give his side a lift. Pollard netted again before Keith Melia tapped home from close range after a mix up in the Pollard defence. Vinny Bateman then powered a shot past the Pollard keeper to leave a point between the sides but the concession of third Pollard goal left the score at half time 3-7 to 3-3 in the 1997 champions favour. The second half was very much a one sided affair despite a brave effort from Ringtown and they went down on a scoreline of 4-14 to 4-6 as Colin Murphy scored their fourth goal late on. Ringtown can be proud of their performance in last year's championship and they will be hoping to build on that in the 2004 campaign. With success at underage level coming at a yearly basis recently, it may not be too long before they end the barren spell of not winning the SHC since 1987. 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