Bunbrosna's spell in the senior ranks came to an end in 2009, but this thriving rural club will be keen to make a swift return to the top flight for next year's campaign.

For the last few years, the blue and whites have breathed a new life into Westmeath football as their free flowing style of play caused many problems for opposition defences.
However, the loss of some key players for last year's campaign proved detrimental to their chances of survival and unfortunately for Bun, they failed to avoid the drop.
Even though relegation was a bitterly disappointing end to the year, there were still plenty of positives to take as the club annexed the under-21 13-a-side title when defeating Coralstown-Kinnegad in the decider, while they reached the minor decider also.
The likes of Tommy Murphy, Paul Connaughton, Finian Newman and Aidan Finnan looked after these teams and they deserve great credit for the work that they did.
The club has placed a great emphasis on its underage structure in recent years, but club chairman Jim Finnan admitted that there was plenty of work to be done.
"We formed an underage committee for the first time last year and that is working to put a proper structure in place once again. From under-12 down, we have good numbers, but there is a problem at under-14 and under-16, where we are lacking players. It is unfortunate situation to be in, but the fact is that there is a shortage of players at these age groups," said Jim.
"In the last few seasons, we have had ten players transfer out of the club, most of which went to town teams and this is a problem that has to be addressed at county board level."
Bun held a very successful dinner dance at the start of last year where the minors and under-21s of 2008 were presented with their medals. The club's new gym is now well up and running and is available to all club members.
Jim revealed that they are still awaiting funding from the National Council in order to complete the development work at their grounds. As part of the 125th Anniversary, they held a very successful sports day and the club as a whole is in a very strong position.
But it is the relegation of the senior team to the intermediate ranks for the 2010 campaign that the year will be remembered for, despite promising so much early on.
Drawn in a group alongside Maryland, Castledaly, Garrycastle, Mullingar Shamrocks and Killucan, it was all to play for Bunbrosna as they set about retaining their status for yet another year.
The first game saw them pitted against Maryland and on paper this was a game that Bun would have been slight favourites for, but it was the former Celebrity Bainisteoir champions that came out on top by a five-point margin.
Castledaly provided the opposition for the next outing and as always there wasn't much to separate the sides. Bun certainly had their chances to win this one and it was a case of letting another one slip by as the south Westmeath came away with a one-point win.
Eventual county champions Garrycastle inflicted a heavy defeat on Bun and the panic buttons were beginning to sound, but they showed great resolve to rally round and put up a decent performance against Shamrocks. However, the sending off of star player Aidan Finnan proved vital and the town team used the extra man to their benefit as they inflicted another defeat on Bun.
Nonetheless, it was all to play for in the last group match as Bunbrosna faced Killucan. A win for Bun would mean that they stayed up senior, while a draw would do for the Saffrons.
It was easy to see that both sides knew what was at stake and there was nothing to separate the teams throughout and that was the case at the final whistle as a draw was the outcome, but it was of no use to Bun.
And so it went on to a relegation final with The Downs bidding to avoid the drop. The match was played in Shandonagh a large crowd turned out to see who could save their status.
For long periods, The Downs were in control, but a late burst by Bunbrosna almost yielded a much sought win, but it was not to be as the black and ambers held on to their senior status for another year.
"It was very disappointing to be relegated. We were short of a number of players during the year, but you can't use that as an excuse. We just have to look ahead at this year's campaign. The intermediate campaign is very tough and a number of teams are capable of winning it so there is plenty of work to be done.
"A lot of last year's under-21 team are eligible for the grade again this year, so we will be hoping to do well in that championship this year too. As I said there is a lot of work being done at underage level and its an area we will be looking to improve, especially at the weaker grades."
Bun go into the 2010 campaign with the same management team as last year. Tom Rehill, who guided Edenderry to an All-Ireland Colleges title last year, will be manager and he will be ably assisted by his selectors Paddy McCormack and John Walsh.
Bun's cause this year will be aided by the return of some key players, while the fact that they are the only intermediate club playing in division one should also stand them in good stead when the championship begins.
This year is a massive campaign for the club, but with the likes of Aidan Finnan, Finian Newman, Padraig Walshe, Noel Kiernan, Andrew Whitney, Peter Tormey and Simon Moorehead in their ranks, it would take a brave man to bet against them winning the intermediate title.
Off the field, Bunbrosna have had their fair share of success in Scor as they won the county final in the Fleadh and came third in the All-Ireland final. Tweet

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