Having lost the last three senior hurling championship semi-finals, St Oliver Plunkett's could be forgiven for throwing in the towel and forgetting about their dream of winning that first elusive title, but that is certainly not the case for the club as secretary Conleth McCormack explains. It is fair to say that Plunkett's have yet to fulfill their potential in the senior championship, the players are there, the structure within the club is there, they've had an excellent manager in Eddie Casey for the past three years, so why have they not yet lifted the Westmeath Examiner Cup. "Some people say that we are inexperienced, but I totally disagree with that as most of these lads have been around a few years now and have played in county semi finals. Indeed when you take into account that we have had two replays at the semi final stage means that we have actually played in five semi finals in three years," pointed out Conleth. The club secretary was full in his praise for the outgoing manager, whose record in the job is rivalled by very few indeed, especially in this county. "Eddie brought us to three semi finals and to be fair we had our chances to win some of them, particularly last year's one against Raharney. We showed great spirit to come back against them in the drawn game and that proved we had the experience to cope with the pressure. There were a couple of decisions that didn't go our way that day, but in all honestly, Raharney really hit form in the replay and we were no match for them on the day. "To leave with such a record is a testament of Eddie's managerial and coaching skills, but he felt that it was time for a chance and we have a new management team in place for the coming year." Conleth revealed that renowned coach John Davis has been brought on board and he will work alongside club man James Heffernan, who has been earning rave reviews as a trainer for the past few years. "We are hopeful that John and James can bring us that extra step, we know that we have the players capable of winning a championship and I'm certain that with a bit of luck, we can go on and win it, because that would be the ultimate for our club." A narrow four point defeat by Clonkill meant that Plunkett's would be in the 'losers' group in the championship where they would face Castlepollard, Ringtown and Crookedwood. Plunkett's lived up to their favourites tag by topping the group and thus earning a place in the county semi final where they met Raharney and as explained, they once again lost out on a place in the final after a replay. "Understandably, the lads were devastated to lose and as you can expect its hard to pick them up afterwards, but they are a resilient bunch and they will go all out again next year to try and win the title. "Hopefully, we can achieve this as these players certainly deserve to win a county title with the effort that they have put in over the last few years. Their dedication and commitment has got to be admired and I'm sure if they give their all to John and James then there is no reason why we can't go all the way." Realistically, there are about five teams that can win the championship on any given year, Raharney, Clonkill, the Gaels, Castletown and Plunkett's. Conleth believes that there is nothing separating any of these sides on any given day. "There is no question that any of the top five are capable of beating each other. Raharney and Clonkill might be just a little ahead of the rest at the moment, but anything can happen over 60 minutes of hurling." If anyone was concerned over players coming through the ranks, than they need not fear as the club's under-12 side won the championship in 2008, while the under-16's reached the county final, where they were defeated by a strong Castletown Geoghegan side in the decider. "Our underage is still very strong and numbers are good at most levels, although, at certain grades we might struggle a bit. We also have the people willing to work with the various teams and this is very important, without them it would be impossible to cater for all." The fact that the Robinstown-based outfit are fielding three adult teams this year is a testament to their strength in depth and Conleth feels it is equally important to give everyone games, no matter what the level. "We hope to have three senior teams competing this year in at adult level. That is senior intermediate and junior. We would like to be more competitive at intermediate and junior, but it is essential to give lads games and keep them interested in the club." When asked about the aims for 2009, Conleth stated the obvious, while he also revealed that the purposed sale of their grounds was also still on the agenda. "Without question, winning the senior championship is our number on target. I think everyone in the club would agree with that. We have been long enough knocking on the door and it is time that we made that next step. "We will also find out later in the year, whether or not the sale of our grounds will go through. That is still up for discussion, although the current economic crisis has slowed that down slightly." This could well be a one of the biggest years in the St Oliver Plunkett's club's history as they may well be on the move from their present location, to a new state of the art site, while who knows a certain Cup may well be at the top table at their dinner dance later in the year. 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