Twelve months after their shock demotion to the intermediate ranks, Castlepollard regained their senior status with a comfortable victory over Delvin in last season's intermediate hurling decider. Here, we take a look back at how the Adrian Murray Cup was won. Castlepollard became the first winners of the newly presented Adrian Murray Cup on September 23 last when, rather predictably, they saw off the challenge of Delvin in a one-sided intermediate hurling championship final at Cusack Park. It was a case of 'job done' for 'Pollard who were sensationally relegated from the top flight in 2006, just 12 months after they celebrated a 14th senior championship triumph. Nothing less than an instant return to the senior ranks was going to satisfy their supporters last year, and after breezing through the group phase, the blue and goals enjoyed big wins over St. Brigid's and Delvin in the semi-final and final respectively to regain their place among the 'big boys' for 2008. There can be little doubt that Castlepollard's pride was badly bruised after their shock demotion in 2006. After all, they are one of the superpowers of Westmeath hurling and are second only to Brownstown in the senior hurling roll of honour. Given their proud tradition, experience and the quality of players at their disposal, 'Pollard were always going to be the team to beat in last year's intermediate championship and despite carrying the tag of overwhelming favourites into every game they played, they never allowed complacency to become an issue and won the intermediate championship in a canter. Under Mick Macken's management, the north Westmeath club had just one serious test en route to capturing their first intermediate title. That was against Delvin in the second round of the league section when they were forced to come from eight points down at half-time to win by three. Boosted by the return of county stars Darren McCormack and Barry Kennedy, who missed most of the ill-fated 2006 campaign through injury and suspension respectively, 'Pollard signalled their intentions with a 3-21 to 2-6 demolition of Cullion in their opening game on May 11 at Loughegar. This was followed by their toughest game of the campaign against Delvin at The Downs on June 3. In a classic game of two halves, Delvin dominated the first half, only to be overhauled by a rejuvenated 'Pollard following the resumption. Delvin stormed into a 1-2 to 0-0 lead inside 10 minutes, and another four minutes passed before Barry Kennedy eventually opened the blue and golds' account. The Valleymen struck another decisive blow in the 24th minute when centre forward Damien McHugh reacted quickest to a breaking ball in the 'Pollard square and fired home goal number two. Such was 'Pollard's lack of scoring power in the first half that they relied totally on veteran Kennedy for all of their scores, and could have no complaints to be trailing by 0-4 to 2-6 at the break. Predictably, a different 'Pollard emerged for the start of the second half and immediately set about clawing back the deficit. The inspirational Kennedy had the ball in the Delvin net in double-quick time and this tonic score, combined with a flurry of points from Kennedy, Darren McCormack, Martin Egan and Kevin Gavigan, had 'Pollard ahead by the 46th minute. The only reply Delvin could muster in normal time was a Kevin Williams free in the 50th minute, but they remained in contention until a brace of late points from Kennedy sealed the win for 'Pollard. Thereafter, it was all so easy for Mick Macken's charges who hardly broke sweat in their remaining six matches. On July 1, they beat Southern Gaels by 1-14 to 0-8 at Shandonagh and a 4-22 to 0-12 trouncing of Turin in their next outing secured their place in the semi-finals. Despite conceding 1-3 without reply to Clonkill's second string in the opening 15 minutes against Clonkill's second string at Archerstown on August 19, 'Pollard came roaring back to win by 5-26 to 1-3. And they made it six wins from six when accounting for St. Brigid's by 1-16 to 0-8 at Loughegar. By coincidence, St. Brigid's were also Castlepollard's opponents in the semi-final on September 9. This time 'Pollard were even more emphatic winners, 4-13 to 0-5, but the scoreline did little justice to the Dalystown men who conceded three goals in the final quarter. Although Dermot Faulkner opened the scoring for St. Brigid's when pointing a sideline cut and the sides were level on 0-2 each after 10 minutes, Castlepollard soon took control and never looked back after veteran midfielder Alfie Devine converted a '65' to give them the lead in the 12th minute. Moments later, Alan Devine drove the sliothar to the roof of the St. Brigid's net with a first-time pull and further points from Kennedy and Kevin Brazil helped eased the favourites into a 1-6 to 0-2 interval lead. After their sloppy first half performance, 'Pollard improved dramatically in the second half and five unanswered points inside the first 10 minutes effectively ended the game as a contest. The pick of these scores was a brilliant individual effort by Westmeath captain Darren McCormack, who made a superb catch and then broke through a number of tough tackles before splitting the posts. Brigid's rallied with three points in as many minutes from Darren Quinn, but their weaknesses were brutally exposed in the closing quarter when two goals from Kevin Brazil and another from Andrew Dermody propelled 'Pollard to a somewhat flattering 20-point win. The big concern for 'Pollard entering the final against Delvin was the ease with which they had qualified. By contrast, Delvin had the benefit of a tough semi-final against Southern Gaels and, having pushed the favourites all the way in their earlier meeting, were confident of causing an upset. The clash of the north Westmeath neighbours and keen rivals drew a big crowd to Cusack Park, but the final never reached any great heights and the standard was especially poor in the first half when the teams could only must five scores between them. But the experience and craft of Castlepollard came to light in the second half and they gradually wore down their opponents to win by 2-9 to 0-5. Appearing in their second successive final, Delvin registered the first two points through Kevin Williams. Castlepollard looked tentative and the fact that Patrick Clune was doing a superb man-marking job on their danger man Barry Kennedy meant that they struggled to put scores on the board. It took 22 minutes for them to open their account through Donal Devine, but they hit the front a short time later when Kevin Brazil pounced for the opening goal after Delvin 'keeper Gareth Halpin had failed to deal with Barry Kennedy's delivery. Darren McCormack tagged on a point to give 'Pollard a 1-2 to 0-2 lead at the end of an uninspiring first half. On the restart, Stephen Bardon and Kevin Williams exchanged points but there were already signs that 'Pollard were taking control. When Alan Devine, Barry Kennedy and Alfie Devine combined for the latter to shoot over from 60 metres, the blue and golds moved four points clear for a second time. Further points from Alfie and Donal Devine pushed Castlepollard six points clear and they then produced another flowing move that led to veteran substitute Sean McLoughlin blasting over. McLoughlin had another gilt-edged chance in the 53rd minute when Darren McCormack's long-range free landed in the danger area, but the former county star drove his shot inches wide of the target. After an unsightly melee which led to the dismissal of two players, a by now rampant 'Pollard wrapped up the win when Shane Egan, John Paul Murray and Sean McLoughlin combined to set up Kevin Brazil for his second goal. While the spine of the Castlepollard team may be getting on in years, a number of promising young players came to the fore this year, including Jamie Ward, Paul Dermody, Stephen Bardon, Andrew Dermody, Alan Devine and Martin and Shane Egan, and their emergence suggests that the blue and golds will be battling hard for senior honours in 2008 and beyond. The Castlepollard team which became the inaugural winners of the Adrian Murray Cup was: Noel Boylan; Paul Dermody, Brendan Murphy, Ollie Devine; Donal Devine, Darren McCormack, Jamie Ward; Alfie Devine, Stephen Bardon; Martin Egan, Kevin Gavigan, Kevin Brazil; Alan Devine, John Paul Murray (captain), Barry Kennedy. Subs used: Shane Egan, Andrew Dermody, Sean McLoughlin and Simon Ryan. Tweet

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