2007 will go down as one of the most successful years ever for Westmeath underage hurling thanks to the achievements of the Castletown-Geoghegan and county under 14 teams. It was also a year to remember for Clonkill who won the Westmeath-Offaly under 16 inter-club league title. Whisper it quietly, but could Westmeath underage hurling be on the verge of something big? Following the historic successes at under 14 level last year, there is real hope of a breakthrough in the Leinster minor championship in the next three or four years. 2007 was a memorable year for both the Castletown-Geoghegan and county under 14 teams who enjoyed magnificent victories at the All-Ireland Feile na nGael finals and Tony Forristal Festival of Hurling respectively. Further evidence of Westmeath underage hurling's current well-being was provided by Clonkill's success in the Westmeath-Offaly under 16 inter-club league, and by the county under 16 side who defeated Offaly in the final of a five-team tournament last May. The weekend of June 15-17 will live long in the memories of Castletown-Geoghegan followers who were in Nowlan Park, Kilkenny to witness the under 14 team's capture of the All-Ireland Feile na nGael Division 2. In doing so, they emulated the feat of St. Oliver Plunkett's who were the last Westmeath club to lift the coveted Canon Fogarty Cup in 1995. The weekend started on Friday morning when a party of 18 players, along with their mentors Ciaran Kirby, Pat O'Brien and Matt Kirby, and several parents, set out for their base in Myshall in Co. Carlow. Shortly after their arrival, Castletown played the host club in their first game and ran out comfortable winners on a 4-16 to 1-3 scoreline. On Friday evening, the team and mentors took part in the Feile parade through Kilkenny city where they were joined by camogie skills representative Sarah Jackson, also from Castletown, their county colleagues from Raharney and Lough Lene Gaels (camogie), and up to 5,000 children from all over Ireland and further afield. The following morning, the team was back on the hurling field against the Carlow champions, Mhuinebheag. After an evenly contested first half, the black and ambers pulled away in the second half for a 3-7 to 1-3 win. After 90 minutes rest, Castletown faced Ardfert for a place in the semi-final and they proved much strong for the Kerry kingpins, running out easy winners by 7-19 to 0-4. Following lunch provided by Myshall, the team headed off to Borris to meet Derry champions Robert Emmets, who had beaten Rower-Instioge of Kilkenny in the group stage. Castletown played some marvellous hurling in the first 10 minutes to open up a 2-6 to 0-0 lead. The Derry lads had no answer to the speed and skill of the black and ambers who prevailed by 5-12 to 0-3. On their return to Myshall, the host club provided a disco for the players and tea and refreshments for all the supporters. On Sunday morning, after attending Mass, the Castletown boys left their Myshall base for the final time for Nowlan Park. Both players and mentors were very excited about playing in front of a large crowd and the Setanta TV cameras. Castletown's opponents in the final were the 2006 champions, St. John's from Antrim. The first half was a hard-fought affair, at the end of which the Westmeath representatives held a slender 0-6 to 0-5 lead. But with team captain Aonghus Clarke, whose father and club stalwart Finbarr passed away just two months earlier, in unstoppable form (he finished with a personal tally of 0-12), Castletown cut loose after the break to record a magnificent 0-21 to 0-6 victory. Afterwards, GAA president Nickey Brennan presented Aonghus with the Canon Fogarty Cup and remembered Finbarr in his presentation speech. The victory was warmly welcomed by all Westmeath hurling enthusiasts and provided a timely boost for the county under 14 side - which featured a number of Castletown-Geoghegan players - ahead of their August trip to Waterford for the Tony Forristal Festival of Hurling. Following their defeat in the 2006 Division 2 final, Westmeath and their mentors Martin Carey, Paul Moore and Ray Gavin were keen to go one better. And after recording wins over Derry, Down and Kerry, they defeated neighbours Meath by 1-8 to 0-5 in the final to bring Division 2 honours back to the Lake County for the first time since 1996. Westmeath signalled their intentions with a 4-15 to 0-7 victory over Derry in their opening game. A feature of the game was the impressive shooting of the Westmeath forwards and, in particular, Neal Kirby, who helped himself to 2-7. In their second outing against Down, David Higgins led the scoring charge for the Lake County in a 4-14 to 0-2 victory. After taking on board much needed refreshments, the Westmeath lads returned to action on the Saturday evening for a semi-final clash against Kerry. The Kingdom had previously disposed of Antrim and Waterford 'B', but they proved no match for a skilful Westmeath side who ran out emphatic 2-14 to 0-5 winners. The final was played at Walsh Park at 12 noon on Sunday and proved too be by far Westmeath's toughest assignment. Meath, who had earlier overcome Laois, Carlow and Kildare, enjoyed the lion's share of possession in the first half, but trailed by 0-1 to 0-3 at the break. Following the resumption, the Royals battled back to level the scoring at 0-5 piece, but Westmeath were not to be denied and after Neal Kirby and Paul Fennell scored points, David Higgins swooped for his sixth goal of the weekend to give them breathing space for the first time. Aonghus Clarke capped another man of the match performance when he fired over a last-minute free and afterwards, the gifted Castletown-Geoghegan youngster received the Sonny Walsh Cup from Stella Walsh, wife of the late Sonny Walsh. The highlight of the year at under 16 level was Clonkill's victory in the new Westmeath-Offaly inter-club league. Managed by Peter Curran, Clonkill defeated the famous Offaly club St. Rynagh's in the final by 1-14 to 0-7 on August 12. Having lost to the Banagher boys earlier in the competition, Clonkill were eager to gain revenge and they were well on their way to victory at half-time when an Andrew Murtagh goal helped them to a 1-8 to 0-4 lead. St. Rynagh's scored two quick points after the restart to close the gap, but Clonkill maintained their composure and four points from Alan McGrath put the result beyond doubt. The county under 16 side were triumphant in a tournament which also featured Meath, Kildare Wicklow and Offaly, and finished third in the All-Ireland 'B' championship which was played on a blitz format for the first time. Indeed, Westmeath hosted the blitz on the last Saturday of August. Earlier in the year, after comprehensively beating Meath, Kildare and Wicklow, Westmeath overcame Offaly by 2-13 to 2-6 in the final of a successful five-team tournament at Cusack Park. Stephen Boylan and Darren Flynn accounted for the Westmeath goals, while there were also fine performances from Michael Boyle, Barry O'Meara, Conor Foley and team captain Cormac Boyle. Twelve counties took part in the All-Ireland 'B' championship blitz with Coralstown/Kinnegad, The Downs, St. Oliver Plunkett's and Cusack Park hosting the games. Following the group stage, Westmeath lost to Kerry in the 'A' semi-final, but had the consolation of beating Roscommon by 1-6 to 1-3 in the third/fourth place play-off. The Westmeath team that lined out against Meath in the Tony Forristal Division 2 final was: J Moore; D McDermott, T Doyle, M Glennon; D Fennell, J Boyle, P Poynton; S Deegan, P Fennell; J O'Kelly-Lynch, A Clarke (captain), D Lynch; N Leonard, D Higgins, N Kirby. Subs used: C Slevin and J O'Reilly. U14 hurlers make their debut in Croke Park. It's not many hurlers get to play in Croke Park but Westmeath U14 hurlers were afforded that opportunity on the June Bank Holiday Monday as part of the Croke Park Hurling Exhibition organized by Leinster Council Coaching in conjunction with the Hurling Development Administration. The day was officially opened by Liam O'Neill Cathaoirleach Comhairle Laighean and each player was presented with a souvenir match programme with details of all the Leinster teams involved in the day's activities. First up for Westmeath and indeed the highlight of the day, was a series of games on the hallowed turf itself. Westmeath were grouped with Laois, Carlow and Meath in 3 by 15 minute games, the objective being that all 30 players get the same length of time on the pitch. Rather fittingly Aonghus Clarke was the first Westmeath player to score in Croke Park when he slotted over a 40 metre free against Laois. Westmeath 'Whites' went on to defeat Laois on a score line of 1-3 to 0-2. Team and scorers: J. Moore, D. McDermott, T. Doyle, C. Scally, D. Fennell, P. Poynton, S. Carey, P. Fennell, S. Deegan, J. O'Kelly-Lynch, A. Clarke (0-3F), D. Lynch, D. Rice, D.Higgins (1-0), N. Kirby. In the second game Westmeath 'Maroons' defeated Carlow on a score line of 1-1 to 0-1. Team and scorers: A. Orme, J. Farrell, M. Glennon, C. Foley, D' O Keeffe, K. Gill, R. Daly, J.Mangan, Jay O'Reilly, D. McCormack, D. Judge, C. O'Connor, C. Slevin (1-1), N.Leonard, C. Daly. In the final game Westmeath played against Meath, with the 'Whites' playing the first half, and the 'Maroons' playing the second half. Things were looking ominous for Westmeath when Meath were 2 points up with the clock ticking down but with literally the last puck of the ball John Mangan stuck the sliothar in the back of the net to give Westmeath 3 wins out of 3 on a score line of 1-0 to 0-2. After a light lunch Westmeath met with guest speakers Paudie Butler (National Hurling Development Coordinator), Declan Coyle (Motivation for the younger player) and a question and answer session with guest players Eddie Brennan, Damien Fitzhenry and Jackie Tyrrell. Jackie Tyrrell mentioned that as a young player he was not the most talented player in his club but he was prepared to listen and indeed ask for advice from his coach/mentors. One piece of valuable advice he passed onto the young players was HARD WORK ALWAYS BEATS TALENT - WHEN TALENT FAILS TO WORK HARD! The final activity of the day was a tour of the GAA museum and of the stadium including a visit to the players' dressing rooms and a chance to sit in the Ard Comhairle section of Croke Park, the best seats in the house! Before departing the Westmeath players tucked into a hearty meal and a presentation was made to each player and their mentors. Many thanks to mentors Paul Moore, Ray Gavin and Martin Carey for giving up their time, and for preparing the players for the day's events. Throughout the season, the late Finbarr Clarke was never far from the players' or mentors' thoughts. Finbarr first broguth the group together as Under 13s and was team manager at the time of his sudden death last April. D. J. Carey - July 9-13th 2007 County:Westmeath U-14 HURLING SQUAD NAME CLUB 1 James Moore Brownstown 2 Dean McDermott Castletown Geoghegan 3 Thomas Doyle Lough Lene Gaels 4 Cathal Scally Clonkill 5 David Fennell Castletown Geoghegan 6 Paul Poynton Clonkill 7 David Lynch Castletown Geoghegan 8 Paul Fennell Castletown Geoghegan 9 Sean Deegan St Brigids 10 Jack O'Kelly Lynch Southern Gaels/Fr. Daltons 11 Aonghus Clarke Castletown Geoghegan 12 Conor Slevin St Brigids 13 Neal Kirby Castletown Geoghegan 14 David Higgins Castlepollard 15 Dylan Rice St. Oliver Plunketts 16 Aaron Orme Crookedwood 17 John Mangan Delvin 18 Cian O'Connor Raharney 19 Niall Leonard Brownstown 20 Darren Brady Raharney 21 Ciaran Daly St. Brigids 22 Sean Carey Southern Gaels/Fr. Daltons 23 Cormac Foley Brownstown 24 Cathal McGrane Southern Gaels/Fr. Daltons 25 Jay O'Reilly Raharney Mentors: Martin Carey Southern Gaels/Fr Daltons Paul Moore Brownstown Tweet

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