It says something about a club when they are bitterly disappointed to exit the championship at the semi-final stage and Raharney found themselves in that position in 2009.

Nonetheless, club chairman Sean Greville reveals to the Maroon & White that the early signs show that the hunger and desire to regain the title is there once again.
The Deelsiders were last crowned Westmeath senior hurling champions in 2008 and they were high hopes that they could put back-to-back titles together. That is something that is easier said than done as there are a number of teams in the county that have genuine designs on the title.
Following a good start to the campaign when they defeated old rivals Clonkill after a replay, the signs looked good for Raharney.
They progressed through the group stages comfortably enough and they were many people's favourites for the title, but being successful often comes at a price.
Raharney were tipped to see of Lough Lene Gaels in the semi final, but things did not go according to plan and on the day, the Collinstown outfit were the better team as the progressed to the decider, while their opponents were left to wonder what might have been.
Sean admits that the Gaels were deserved winners, but he feels that a hectic schedule played a big factor in the outcome of the semi-final.
"The Gaels played well in fairness. The majority of our lads play senior football with Killucan as well and at one stage during the championship, they were out nine Sundays in a row, which meant that we couldn't get any proper training done, while challenges were out of the question," said Sean.
"Tiredness was a major factor in the semi final and the fact that we have a lot of lads involved with the various county teams doesn't help our cause either."
Sean feels that there is a standoff between county and club teams; a situation that the former Westmeath goalkeeper feels needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.
"There is definitely a problem there. County teams tell players that they can't line out with their clubs and it leaves it very hard for clubs to get teams out.
"It's impossible to get a settled side in place as you will always be missing your county players for league and challenge matches. Then you have the problem of what to do when those lads return, other lads have to make way and that can cause problems too.
"This is something I would like to see discussed at county board level to see if a compromise can be found. For example, there was one game we were due to play last year and we were missing 12 lads between senior, under-21 and minor hurling county teams.
"We also have the situation with Frank Boyle who is a regular with the county footballers. Frank is a very good hurler and would be a huge help to us, but we probably won't see him till next August, which means he will be doing no hurling during the year."
The current format of the senior hurling championship usually means that the first round is played in late May or early June and then once the various county teams are in action, the club scene more or less comes to a halt.
"It is very hard to keep the momentum going during that time. You can play all the challenge matches you want, but it's just not the same. When the championships do resume there is a glut of games and it's hard for players to go from one extreme to another."
For the past number of years, Raharney have made huge strides at underage level and they can now boast one of the best structures in the county.
The hard work has certainly paid off and success is now obtained on an annual basis. The reason for this is that there are many people willing to help out the various teams.
"The underage is very strong and there is a good core of people that put in a lot of time and effort to look after the various teams. Declan Mullen is doing a great job looking after the underage and the good thing is that we have different people looking after the various teams and its not just left the same few all the time.
"We have good numbers at all age groups and an important factor is that there are at least a couple of lads coming through from minor to the senior squad on a yearly basis.
"We took part in an under-10 hurling tournament and had 40 kids eager to play, so for a small enough catchment area, the interest in certainly there."
Off the field, the club have major development plans at the grounds in Joristown that will help cater for the large number of teams that Raharney field.
"We recently bought five acres of lad adjacent to the existing pitch in Joristown with the plan being to develop that into two more playing pitches. Killucan are developing their own grounds in the town and we bought their share of Joristown.
"Development work has begun, but it is very much in the early stages. It will be a long procedure and we will be organising a number of fundraisers to help pay for the development, although we now that won't be easy in the current economic climate.
"We have a brochure out explaining what will be done and we're hoping that more people in the area will get involved as it is for the benefit of the community."
The 2010 campaign is now underway and Sean believes that the club will once again be challenging for honours this year under their new management team.
"Johnny Greville has decided to step down as a player and he is taking over as manager. He was the players' choice and Stephen Morley and Kevin McHugh will be his selectors. There are high hopes for this year and there is no reason why we can't go the whole way.
"We have a number of strong underage teams and we will be hoping for more success there too, so all in all we are looking forward to a good year ahead." Tweet

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