Westmeath clubs made a major impact on the 2007 Leinster club championships with Tyrrellspass, Rosemount and Castlepollard reaching provincial finals and Clonkill claiming Leinster honours en route to an historic All-Ireland intermediate hurling success. 2007 was an exceptional year for Westmeath as far as the Leinster club championships were concerned. Of the five clubs who represented the county, four of them reached their respective finals with Clonkill winning theirs and going on to create history by becoming the first Westmeath club, in either hurling or football, to claim All-Ireland honours. As Clonkill's groundbreaking achievements are covered elsewhere in this Yearbook, we will be taking a look back at the successful campaigns of Tyrrellspass, Rosemount and Castlepollard in this piece. We will also be reviewing Ballinagore's Leinster intermediate football campaign which ended at the quarter-final stage. It is a measure of how much playing standards have improved in both codes in Westmeath that the county was able to produce three provincial runners-up and one provincial winner in 2007. It's a far cry from a few years ago when the Lake County champions were accustomed to early exits. St. Oliver Plunkett's victory in the 2001 Leinster junior hurling championship, when they defeated Emeralds of Kilkenny, marked a turning point in the county's recent fortunes on the provincial stage. In 2005, Ballinagore emulated that feat when they won the Leinster junior football championship before going on to lose to Loughrea of Galway by a solitary point in the All-Ireland semi-final. 2006 saw the Westmeath senior hurling champions enter the Leinster intermediate championship for the first time, and Raharney came tantalizingly close to capturing provincial honours when they lost the final to Ardclough of Kildare. Tyrrellspass also caused a stir when they recorded senior football wins over Abbeylara (Longford) and Arles/Killeen (Laois) before losing to eventual champions Moorefield (Kildare) by 0-7 to 0-8 at the semi-final stage. After retaining their county crown last year, Tyrrellspass set their sights on becoming the first Westmeath team to win a Leinster club football title. And they almost achieved that goal when they reached the Leinster final, only to lose to a star-studded St. Vincent's (Dublin) in the provincial final. Pat Flanagan's charges opened their campaign with a 2-6 to 0-11 quarter-final defeat of former Leinster kingpins Eire Og in Dr Cullen Park. Eire Og dominated the Leinster club scene for much of the 1990s, and Tyrrellspass needed to display all their battling qualities to come out of Carlow with a win. Keith Scally, who was a late replacement for Ray Sheeran, was a pivotal figure for Tyrrellspass in the first half when he scored their first goal and set up David Glennon for the second to help them to a 2-4 to 0-5 interval lead. But inspired by Derek Hayden, Eire Og came storming back to level in the second half before a late Denis Glennon free gave the 'Tidy Town' victory by the narrowest of margins. Tyrrellspass had a six-week wait before they finally squared up to Moorefield in the semi-final at Cusack Park. The delay was caused by the trilogy of games between Moorefield and Dromard (Longford), and the subsequent investigation into the row that marred the third meeting of the sides. Despite their lack of competitive action, Tyrrellspass produced a strong showing to dethrone the holders on a 1-7 to 0-7 scoreline. A keenly-contested game was decided by Denis Glennon's coolly-taken penalty in the 54th minute, which was awarded after Moorefield goalkeeper Tomas Corely was adjudged to have over-carried the ball inside the small square. One more Moorefield supporter was so incensed by the decision that he aimed a punch in the direction of referee Syl Doyle as he made his way off the pitch, only to connect with a match steward instead. In overcoming Moorefield, Tyrrellspass became only the third Westmeath club and first since The Downs in 1973 to reach a Leinster senior football final. St. Vincent's defeated The Downs on that occasion, and sadly for Tyrrellspass, history was to repeat itself when they crashed to a 0-7 to 2-8 defeat to the Dublin champions at Cusack Park on December 16. Tyrrellspass' dreams of provincial glory were effectively dashed in the opening 20 minutes when Kevin Golden and Pat Gilroy both goaled for the Marino men. Tyrrellspass' misery was compounded when Gavin Hoey looked to have a legitimate goal disallowed for 'square ball' in the 27th minute, and they went into the break trailing by 0-4 to 2-6. St. Vincent's could only manage two further points in the second half but, in truth, they were never seriously threatened by a Tyrrellspass team who were disappointed not to give a better account of themselves in front of the live TV cameras. Twenty-four hours earlier in Pairc Tailteann, Westmeath junior football champions Rosemount experienced similar heartbreak when they lost their provincial final to the home side, Clann na nGael. It was an abrupt end to an otherwise great year for the black and ambers who had bounced back to capture junior honours following their shock relegation from the intermediate ranks in 2006. Jointly managed by former players Des Collins and David Keane, Rosemount opened their provincial campaign with a comfortable 0-14 to 0-4 win over their Louth counterparts Young Irelands. Kildare representatives Ballykelly provided them with a much sterner test in the next round. Ballykelly were clinging onto a 0-7 to 0-6 lead when Cathal Keane levelled the scoring in the dying moments. But just as spectators were preparing themselves for extra-time, Shane Tone popped up to slot over the winning point and give Rosemount a 0-8 to 0-7 victory. The Roses needed a replay to see off the challenge of Laois' Ballinakill at the semi-final stage. The first game in Abbeyleix finished in a 0-15 draw after extra-time. But Rosemount made no mistake in the replay at Tullamore, running out comfortable winners by 3-11 to 2-5. The writing was on the wall for Ballinakill at half-time when they trailed by 3-7 to 0-2 after conceding goals to Declan Mullen, Cathal Keane and Danny Fielding. Former county minor star Keane netted the first in the 24th minute and it was followed by a second from Declan Mullen five minutes later. Then, on the stroke of half-time, Fielding fired home a penalty to effectively end the game as a contest. The Laois champions tried hard in the second half, but the dismissals of forwards Mark Carroll and Damien Walsh on second yellow cards, did little to help their cause. Despite these setbacks, though, they got in for two late goals from Ronan Keoghan and Damien Carter. Rosemount travelled to Pairc Tailteann with high hopes of lifting the Leinster trophy, but like so many Westmeath teams before them, left the Navan venue empty-handed. The black and ambers got off to a blistering start and were 1-5 to 0-2 up by the 13th minute after Declan Mullen intercepted a misplaced pass by Meath star Graham Geraghty to set up Martin Loddick for what proved the only goal. But Clann na nGael, who are a combination of the old Athboy and An Ghaeltacht (Rathcairn) clubs, outscored their opponents by 0-13 to 0-1 in the remaining 47 minutes to chalk up a 0-15 to 1-6 victory. Like Rosemount, the Castlepollard hurlers had plenty to prove last year after a disastrous 2006 which saw them sensationally surrender their senior status. Under their manager Mick Macken, they captured the county intermediate championship before going on to represent Westmeath in the Leinster junior hurling championship. After comfortably accounting for Moorefield by 5-15 to 0-8 in the opening round, they required extra-time to beat Offaly's Ballinamere by 6-15 to 1-18 in the semi-final. For long periods, 'Pollard struggled to come to terms with a gritty Ballinamere side, which had home advantage, but a late point from the ever-dependable Barry Kennedy levelled the game at the end of normal time. The introduction of Westmeath captain Darren McCormack, who was unable to start because of a hand injury, along with Sean McLoughlin and Alan Devine, turned the tide in 'Pollard's favour in extra-time as goals from McLoughlin (two) and Devine eased them to a 6-15 to 1-18 victory. Castlepollard faced Kilkenny's Conahy Shamrocks in the Leinster final at Loughegar on December 2. Favoured by the wind in the first half, 'Pollard needed a good start but instead it was Conahy who got it when they scored 2-2 inside the opening six minutes. Conahy, which is the club of GAA president Nickey Brennan, went on to lead by 3-6 to 0-3 at half-time and there was no way back for the outclassed Westmeath representatives in the second half, despite a goal from Alan Devine. Conahy subsequently proved what a good team they are by going on to win the All-Ireland junior title on the same night as Clonkill annexed the intermediate crown in Croke Park. Westmeath's intermediate football champions Ballinagore had hoped to add the Leinster intermediate title to their junior win of 2005. They beat Longford's Mullinaghta by 3-5 to 0-9 in the opening round, but the sending off of county star Michael Ennis in the 48th minute of their quarter-final clash with Suncroft had a big bearing on the outcome as the Kildare side came from three points down in the closing stages to snatch a 1-8 to 0-10 win. Tweet

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