A year which began with Clonkill lifting the All-Ireland intermediate club hurling title in Croke Park ended with a surprise defeat to Raharney in the senior championship decider. But the disappointment was offset somewhat by the club's achievements in winning the under 21 and minor titles. After becoming the first Westmeath club to taste All-Ireland success last February, Clonkill struggled to reach the same heights in last year's senior hurling championship and their quest for back-to-back Examiner Cups ended in a flat county final performance against Raharney. While taking nothing away from Raharney, who he stresses were full value for their victory, Clonkill chairman Jimmy Fitzsimons believes the Loughegar side were suffering from an All-Ireland final hangover and were well short of their best during the entire campaign. "It was always going to be hard for the lads to come down from the massive high of winning the All-Ireland, and sadly that's how it turned out," he says. "The big problem we faced after the All-Ireland was that we were straight back into another campaign. Our players got no break from hurling, especially the lads who were on the county team. Without playing that well, we made it back to the county final but when it came down to it, we weren't able to match Raharney's hunger or desire. "We never performed to our capabilities after the All-Ireland and I would put that down to the lads being tired more than anything else. Also, Enda Loughlin emigrated to Australia and he would be a huge loss to any team." While the All-Ireland intermediate final victory over Galway's Tommy Larkins at Croke Park has gone down as one of the greatest achievements by any Westmeath team in either code, Fitzsimons is disappointed that Clonkill haven't won more than two county senior championships since coming back to the fore a decade ago. "We've definitely underachieved," he says ruefully. "We have just two county titles to show for (2001 and 2007), despite having being in five finals and 12 semi-finals in-a-row. That is a disappointing return and we want to improve on that record. The lads should be a lot fresher this year and if they play to their potential, they are more than capable of winning another championship," adds Jimmy, whose father James captained the green and golds to a remarkable seven senior championships from 1929 to '32 and 1939 to '41. Under the management once again of Pat O'Toole and his selectors Mick Murtagh and Peter Loughlin, Clonkill began their county title defence with a hard-earned 2-15 to 3-8 victory over St. Oliver Plunkett's at Cusack Park. Plunkett's made life difficult for the champions throughout and had trailed by just two points before late scores from county stars Brendan Murtagh and Enda Loughlin made sure of the win, although Eoin Price was called upon in injury-time to save a Cian O'Leary penalty. That victory ensured Clonkill of their place in the winners' group where they recorded further wins over Castletown-Geoghegan (0-19 to 1-8), Raharney (2-14 to 1-10) and Lough Lene Gaels (2-15 to 0-8). They faced Castletown-Geoghegan again in the semi-final and prevailed on a 1-15 to 1-11 scoreline thanks to a fortuitous goal from veteran wing back Sean Loughlin whose long delivery was deflected into his own net by Castletown full back Emmett Dalton with eight minutes remaining. The county final on October 5 brought together the two top teams in the county. Favourites Clonkill got a lucky break in the eighth minute when Christopher Austin's harmless looking ball across the edge of the small square fell to Larry Donoghue who guided it to the net. But with full forward Brian Smyth excelling in his roving role, Raharney were level within five minutes thanks to a point from Francis Boyle and two from Smyth himself. A Brian Connaughton '65 edged the underdogs in front before Clonkill scored another goal of the 'soft' variety courtesy of an Andrew Mitchell free from inside his own half. Once again, Raharney responded with points from John Shaw and Niall Flanagan, but Clonkill finished the first half with efforts from substitute Shane Power and wing back John Fagan to lead 2-3 to 0-7 at the break. Clonkill's two-point interval advantage lasted only three minutes after the restart thanks to points from Shaw and Alan Giles. Two frees from Andrew Mitchell and the strangely subdued Brendan Murtagh restored the champions' advantage, but with John Shaw beginning to find his feet after a quiet first half, Raharney eventually took the lead in the 17th minute through a point from Brendan Murtagh, and further scores from Shaw (two) and Francis Boyle in an exciting finish saw an off-colour Clonkill slip to a 2-6 to 0-15 defeat. Along with Castletown-Geoghegan and Raharney to a lesser extent, Clonkill have dominated the underage scene in recent years and that was once again the case last year when they captured both the minor and under 21 championships, as well as the under 16 league. They also contested the junior final against Castlepollard and fielded a second string team in the intermediate championship. "The club is in great shape from top to bottom," the chairman proudly states. "There is huge work being done by so many people behind-the-scenes and without them we wouldn't have wouldn't have experienced that memorable night we had in Croke Park last February. "We were delighted to win both the minor and under 21 titles, and the under 16s also had a good year, winning the league after Castletown beat them in the championship semi-final. The under 14s reached the championship and Feile finals, only to lose to Raharney and Castletown. We were able to field senior, intermediate and junior teams which is a great sign for any club," adds Jimmy, whose sons John and James are members of the senior panel. In the curtain-raiser to the senior final, Clonkill overcame Lough Lene Gaels by 1-12 to 0-13 to claim the minor spoils. Under the guidance of Peter Curran, Michael Morrison and Oliver Scally, the Clonkill young guns shaded a tremendously exciting contest to bring the Ben Kelly Memorial Cup back to Loughegar. Star of the show for the winners was wing forward Anthony Price, who scored 1-10, 1-6 from play, in a virtuoso display. Clonkill raced into an early 0-4 to 0-1 lead, only for the Gaels to get back on level terms after 20 minutes. But three superb points from Price helped Clonkill to a 0-8 to 0-6 interval lead. Although they had finished the first half strongly, Clonkill found themselves on the back foot for much of the third quarter and trailed by 0-8 to 0-11 after 50 minutes. But following the introduction of Enda Morrison, the green and golds began to assert their authority once again and three quick points from Price saw them regain parity before the same player scored the only goal after being set up by Sean Dunne with three minutes to go. An Alan McGrath '65 made it a four-point game, but the Gaels never gave up and late scores from Philip Reilly and Stephen Bardon left just two points between the sides at the final whistle. Clonkill also broke Lough Lene Gaels hearts in the under 21 final which took place in Collinstown over the Christmas period, edging a close contest by 2-7 to 1-9. A two-goal salvo in the final 10 minutes of the first half proved decisive as Clonkill survived a late scare to succeed Raharney as champions. Winners over St. Oliver Plunkett's in the semi-final and under the management of Bill Keogh, Pat O'Toole and Michael McCormack, Clonkill fell behind to an early Philip Reilly point. They continued to trail until the 20th minute when a slick three-man move involving Luke Folan, Conradh Reilly and Alan McGrath culminated in the latter firing the opening goal. Two minutes later, McGrath set up Mickey Heffernan for a second goal and all of a sudden, the margin was five points. The Gaels rallied to trail by 0-7 to 2-3 at half-time, but they had fallen five points in arrears once again by the 42nd minute after McGrath had slotted over two frees. But despite being reduced to 14 players, the home side kept plugging away and Clonkill were left hanging on for victory after Vincent Clarke beat Sean McCormack with an unstoppable shot in injury-time. Jimmy concludes by saying: "We had high hopes for the under 21s as it was the same team that won the minor championship four years ago. And despite the absence of Adam Price through injury, they still managed to come out on top in the final." The Clonkill team which contested the SHC final was: Eoin Price; Steven Cleary, Adam Price, Fergal Fagan; John Fagan, Andrew Mitchell, Sean Loughlin; Conradh Reilly, Paddy Dowdall; Luke Folan, Brendan Murtagh, Alan Dowdall; Mark Keegan, Larry Donoghue, Christopher Austin. Subs used: Shane Power, Martin Scally and Paul Farrell. Clonkill's minor championship winning line-up was: Cathal Scally; Thomas McLoughlin, Alan McGrath, John Egan; Kelvin Reilly, Sean McCormack, Michael Heffernan (captain); Paul Poynton, Conor Thompson; Joe Doherty, Niall Folan, Anthony Price; Niall Dowdall, Brian Dunne, Hugh Gaffney. Subs used: Enda Morrison and John Heffernan. The Clonkill under 21 team that defeated Lough Lene Gaels in the county final was: Sean McCormack; James Hallinan, John Fitzsimons, Colm Coffey; Mark Keegan, Eoin Price, Shane Power; Damien Scally, Luke Folan; Conradh Reilly, James McCormack, Joe Doherty; Mickey Heffernan, Alan McGrath, Lorcan Caffrey. Sub used: Darren Quinn. Tweet

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