In 2001 Cullion reached their first ever senior hurling final only to lose to Clonkill, twelve months later the club were relegated from the senior ranks. Club secretary and county star Frank Shaw tells us what happened. Cullion's participation in the final over a year ago was seen by many as a major boost to hurling in the county and gave many of the so-called weaker clubs the belief that a county final appearance was far from impossible. Buoyed by their achievements, the men from the outskirts of Mullingar felt they could go one better this season and training began in February, once again under the guidance of Benny Dowd. Large turn-outs gave all involved in the club a sense of belief that they could out do the previous year's feat, but a number of injuries to key players in the weeks before their first match against Brownstown was to have a major impact on their season. "We were disappointed to have lost the final, but still proud to have played in a county final.We had great numbers out training early and some nights there were 36 lads there which was a great boost. "Just before the first round, a few of the lads got injured including myself. Robbie Galvin pulled his hamstring, Steve Martin was ruled out of the year when he broke his collar bone, I strained my groin and Ollie Fay was doing exams before he went to the US for the summer. Cullion faced Brownstown in Collinstown on Sunday May 26 and even though Shaw and Galvin lined out it was obvious they were not fully fit as the Archerstown outfit had a flattering 3-12 to 0-6 win. "Despite the injuries, we probably were a little over confident going in to the first game. Having done so well the year before we took it for granted that we would come out of the group at least, but as you know we didn't." Castletown Geoghegan were their next opponents and a chance for Cullion to get their championship back on track. Leading by six points at one stage during the second half, Cullion should have collected two points but a remarkable comeback from Castletown earned them their second win in the group stages. Cullion started the brighter an early goal settled any nerves they had and they always looked in control with Robbie Galvin being outstanding in midfield and he was ably assisted by Shaw, Colin Whyte and Rodney Martin. With just minutes remaining, Castletown clawed their way back into the match and a goal from veteran Pat Connaughton broke Cullion hearts and gave the black and amber a three point win they didn't deserve, 2-11 to 2-08. "Morale just went down after that defeat. Although we kept training, the interest wasn't there and a few problems developed in the camp which resulted in Benny Dowd stepping down as trainer. "We knew we were going to struggle against Oliver Plunkett's. Declan Gillen took over training us but although he tried hard, he wasn't getting the response from the players before the Plunkett's match." As expected, Cullion fell to their third defeat of the championship when Plunkett's beat them by five points, 1-10 to 0-08. The game itself was a scrappy affair and the standard of hurling produced was way below what both of these exciting young teams can produce on their day. Cullion's year reached an all time low when they now had to prepare for a relegation battle with Raharney, but the team under the guidance of Gillen decided to get their act together and six challenge games were played in a matter of a few weeks in preparation for the biggest game of their year. Having reached the county final the previous year, Cullion were determined to not to go down without a fight and they immediately took the game to Raharney and had the Joristown outfit on the ropes for the majority of the match. Cullion got the perfect start to the match when Frank Shaw and Colin Whyte points were followed by a Gerry Gillen goal. Raharney came back strong and levelled matters when John Shaw scored a goal. Robbie Galvin, who had been outstanding all year was once again leading the attack for Cullion and an excellent goal by him on the stroke of half time left five points between the sides, 2-6 to 1-04. Veteran Declan Gillen was introduced as a half-time substitute and he made his presence felt almost immediately when he scored two points for Cullion. Raharney responded with two points before Galvin got his second goal of the afternoon, when he fired homed from close range. Once again, Raharney came back and a Niall Flanagan goal left five points between the sides, before Whyte and Galvin added two more points to leave the score 3-10 to 2-06 with 15 minutes remaining. John Shaw single handedly brought Raharney back into the match with a goal and two points, then a opportunist goal by Brian Connaughton from a '65 turned the game on it's head as Raharney led by for the first time in the match with time almost up. Declan Gillen showed his vast experience by keeping a cool head an slotting over his third point of the match to level matters and although there was a further three minutes of injury time, neither side could get the winner and a replay was needed. As usually the case, the replay failed for long periods to live up to the standard of the first game, although the latter stages of normal time and extra-time were to far exceed anything produced on a Westmeath hurling field in recent years. A John Shaw goal was all that separated the sides at half-time in a dour first half as both sides found scores hard to come by, hence the 1-03 to 0-3 scoreline after thirty minutes of play. Points just after the break from Galvin and Gillen left the minimum between the sides, before Padraig Connaughton, who had been switched from wing forward to the number 14 position began to stamp his authority on the match with a well taken goal. A Frank Shaw goal was soon followed by a pointed Colin Whyte free to level matters once again with time almost up. Connaughton struck again for Raharney for his second goal in injury time, but Cullion pressed hard and almost immediately Mark Gaye scored a goal to send the game into extra-time. The teams matched each other score for score as Connaughton completed his hat-trick in between points for Robbie Galvin and John Shaw. Cullion, not for the first time in the match levelled matters when substitute Kenny Maleady scored a goal to level the teams for the fourth time in the match The second period of extra-time saw the sides tire, although it was obvious that neither side wanted to lose, John Shaw and Galvin exchanged points with the clock ticking down, then Brian Connaughton scored a goal and this was quickly followed by another Shaw point. Galvin struck a late goal to leave the minimum between the sides, but that elusive score would not come for Cullion and they were confined to the intermediate ranks for the coming year. "It was terribly disappointing to lose to Raharney, we had done so much work in the weeks coming up to it. It was just sickening to lose. The game could have gone either way, but that's hurling for you." Although Cullion's year on the field was hindered by various different problems, the club have been a huge success in other areas. In Scor the club won the Leinster title and reached the All-Ireland final in the novelty act only to be beaten by a dubious half point. They have also developed their club house and now have a bar available. In underage Cullion were beaten in the Under 21 and Under 14 'B' finals by St Brigid's and Southern Gaels respectively and they have begun building their underage structure and currently play indoor hurling in St Mary's gym Mullingar under the guidance of Benny Dowd, John Burke and many others. Although the club from the outskirts of Mullingar will be playing their hurling in a lower grade this year, it may not be too long before they are contesting the senior championship again and this time, relegation will be a long way from their thoughts. The Cullion team that lost to Raharney in the replay was: Jim Baker, John Shaw, Rodney Martin, Denis Reynolds, Mark Gaye, Philip Galvin, JP Reynolds, Frank Shaw, Colin Whyte, Paul Reynolds, Robert Galvin, Mark Keane, John Maher, Declan Gillen, Brendan Brady. Subs: Gerry Gillen for Brendan Brady; David Reynolds for Rodney Martin (inj); Kenny Maleady for John Maher, Derek Kerrigan for Jim Baker (inj). Tweet

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