Without question Lough Lene Gaels have been the dominant force in the Westmeath senior hurling championship throughout the past decade. Although 2003 did not go according to plan for the senior hurlers in the Collinstown based club, the club's under-12 and under-16 teams ensured the trophy cabinet would not be empty. At adult level, Lough Lene Gaels were beaten in three championship semi-finals: at senior, intermediate and junior, while they also lost the Feis Cup final to Clonkill, thus making it a very disappointing year for the North Westmeath side. But the fact that they still captured two underage titles bodes well for the future and although their Under-16 Premier winning championship side were amalgamated with Turin, the majority of the team were from Collinstown. There is no doubt that Lough Lene Gaels will again be one of the favourites for the senior hurling championship in 2004 and for many years to come as an abundance of talent seem to be coming through the ranks on a yearly basis. But for a club that has enjoyed so much success in the past decade, the year 2003 will be one that they will want to forget, particularly in the senior championship when their early season form promised so much. In their first match in the senior championship the defending champions faced old foes Clonkill. These sides have served up some classics in recent years and the opening match of the 2003 championship was to prove no different. Brendan Murtagh opened the scoring for Clonkill in the second minute but Daniel Carty replied soon after with a score from long range. The sides exchanged points before Paul Williams gave a perfect pass to John Kennedy who in turn fired a powerful shot to the back of the Clonkill net. The Loughegar club responded well to falling behind and were a point ahead only a few minutes later only for Carty to restore parity with another good point. Mark Briody saved well from an Andrew Mitchell free 20 metres out but Brendan Murtagh pointed from the resultant '65. Clonkill were well on top at this stage and stretched their lead to four points as half time approached. The Gaels responded as champions do and points from Carty and Brendan Williams (2) left one between the sides, Enda Loughlin then pointed for Clonkill before Brendan Williams narrowed the gap to a point. There was one final twist left in the half as John Gavigan gathered a ball out on the touchline and he crossed to Derek McNicholas and he fired past Clonkill goalkeeper Paddy Walsh to give his side a 2-7 to 0-11 interval lead. John Kennedy extended that lead to three points right at the start of the second half. Clonkill came back with two points before McNicholas raised another white flag for the purple and gold. The gap was narrowed to one again when Murtagh fired over. Two points from Carty and one from Kennedy in the final few minutes gave the Gaels some breathing space although when Gerard Fagan rifled a shot into the top corner, the match was set for a tense finish. Carty and Mitchell fired over for their respective sides as the defending champions began the defence of their crown with a win, 2-13 to 1-15. Underdogs St Oliver Plunkett's had caused a surprise in their opening match when they defeated Castlepollard and they were not to be taken lightly when the Gaels met them in the Down's in the last week of June. And so it proved as Lough Lene Gaels took part in their second classic of the year against a young hungry enthusiastic side that were eager to upset the odds. Paul Williams opened the Gaels account with the first point of the match but St Oliver Plunkett's soon replied. David Cunningham put the Gaels in front with a good point from play but Plunkett's fired over the next three scores to give them a 0-4 to 0-2 lead after 15 minutes and they kept the momentum going as they stretched their lead to six points. Three points from Daniel Carty and one from John Gavigan brought the Gaels right back into contention by half time as the sides left the field with the scores at 0-8 to 0-6 in Plunkett's favour. Carty and Greg Gavin exchanged scores at the start of the second half before Carty again and Mark McNicholas levelled the match. With ten minutes remaining the Gaels trailed by 0-13 to 0-11 but like true champions they fought back with points from Brendan Williams (2) and Gary Briody to lead by one. Plunkett's levelled but it was to be their last score of the match as the purple and gold hit another three unanswered points to give them their second win of the campaign. The win over Plunkett's ensured the defending champions of a place in the knock out stages of the championship with one game left to play in their group against old rivals Castlepollard. Pollard had lost their opening two matches and needed to beat the Gaels and hope that Clonkill would beat Plunkett's to force a play-off to remain in the championship. Whether it was a case that the Gaels were not bothered or the fact that they were played off the park when they met Pollard in the group stage, no-one will ever really know, but the fact remains that Pollard had eleven points (2-9 to 0-4) to spare over their neighbours and with Clonkill beating Plunkett's, they were still in the championship. Lough Lene Gaels were through to the semi-final where they would meet surprise packet Castlepollard, who beat Plunkett's in the play-off and Ringtown in the quarter-final to set up an eagerly awaited showdown. The Gaels have had the upper hand on their neighbours in recent years and entered this match as favourites despite the scoreline in the group match between the two. The match itself never reached its true potential although the opening four minutes produced three scores with Pollard leading by 0-2 to 0-1, that lead was extended shortly when Donal Devine pointed for Pollard. Brendan Williams pulled one back for the Gaels from a free as almost fifteen minutes of play passed before the next score of the match when Daniel Carty fired over his second point of the afternoon. Pollard edged in front once again just before the break to leave the scores at 0-4 to 0-3. Francis O'Farrell scored the first point of the second half to level matters and then centre back Christo Murtagh put the Gaels in the lead for the first time in the match with a long distance point. After the sides exchanged points, Lough Lene went two points clear with the impressive Carty and John Kennedy raising white flags. Castlepollard were not about to lie down and points by Barry Kennedy and Alfie Devine tied the match before Sean McLoughlin gave the Town the lead with ten minutes remaining. Kennedy and McLoughlin added two more points to put three between the sides. Brendan Williams did pull one back but this was to be the Gaels last score as McLoughlin ensured that Pollard were through to the 2003 decider. The semi-final defeat hurt Lough Lene Gaels but they did have another chance to collect some silverware for the year when they made it to the final of the Feis Cup where Clonkill would be the opponents. It was definitely a game of two halves as Clonkill got all their scores in the opening 30 minutes. John Gavigan gave his side the perfect lead when he scored a goal in the opening few minutes. Clonkill replied the best way possible, scoring three goals that rocked Lough Lene. With the half time score being 3-7 to 1-4 in the Loughegar based club's favour, the Gaels had it all to do in the remaining 30 minutes. They immediately narrowed the gap with some fine points and when Paul Williams and Daniel Carty both managed to raise the green flag there was only a point between the sides with 15 minutes left to play. Amazingly there were no more scores for the remainder of the match as Clonkill held on take the 2003 Feis Cup on a scoreline of 3-7 to 3-6 and leave the Gaels from Collinstown empty handed for the year. In the intermediate championship, the purple and gold made it to the last four but Cullion proved too strong and ran out easy winners, although it must be pointed out that is Cullion's first team. The juniors also fell at the penultimate stage of the championship leaving the club to rely on their underage teams to bring home the honours. As stated the Under-16's won the Premier championship, although they were pushed all the way in the decider by Castletown Geoghegan where a replay had to played to separate the sides with Turin Gaels victorious by a point. In the under-12 A championship Lough Lene Gaels would face neighbours and fierce rivals Castlepollard in the final. Only two weeks previous their senior counterparts had meet in the SHC and this was a chance for the Collinstown based side to go some way to avenging that defeat. It took 15 minutes for the first score of the match when Alan Fitzsimons pointed for the Gaels. The classy centre forward added a second shortly after and these were the only scores of an entertaining first half. Castlepollard took the lead midway through the second half when a '45 was allowed all the way into the Gaels net. Thomas Doyle scored a point to level matters, although Pollard replied immediately to tie the match once again. The game was entering its final five minutes when Derek Healy dropped a ball into the Pollard goalmouth and Stephen Jennings was on hand to blast the ball home. This was to be the last action of the match as the referee blew for full-time. Although the club's main ambition every year would be to win the senior hurling championship, success at underage is equally important and these youngsters are heroes of the area for 2003. The winning Under 12 team was: Gary Cosgrove, Kevin Shiel, Derek Healy, Jason Smith, Sean Paul Hogg, Philip Reilly, Ross Craig, Stephen Jennings (1-0), Thomas Doyle (0-2), John Egan, Alan Fitzsimons (0-1), Jamie Nolan, Shane Fitzsimons, Ciara Cosgrove, Chris Egginton. Sub: Darren Lynch for C Egginton. Castlegar win Darren Mortimer hurling tournament Galway giants Castlegar were victorious in the Darren Mortimer Memorial hurling tournament which was hosted by the Lough Lene Gaels club last July. Four teams took part in last year's tournament which honours the memory of former Lough Lene Gaels player Darren Mortimer who died in a tragic accident some years ago. Castlegar, Mullagh and Meelick-Eyrecourt travelled from Galway, while Lough Lene Gaels provided the local interest. In the first semi-final, the Gaels recovered from a sluggish start to beat Mullagh by 4-12 to 0-12. Castlegar prevailed in the second semi-final, overcoming Meelick-Eyrecourt by 4-16 to 3-10. The final at Collinstown was dominated by an impressive Castlegar outfit. They gained the upperhand early on and had established a 1-9 to 0-3 lead at the interval. The Gaels were more competitive in the second half, but the visitors still ran out comfortable winners by 3-15 to 2-8. After the final, Ashleigh Mortimer, daughter of the late Darren Mortimer, presented the cup bearing his name to the Castlegar captain Aidan Connolly. No sooner had the final ended than Lough Lene Gaels members were already planning for this year's tournament. Tweet

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