Cullion hurlers had plenty of reason to celebrate in 2004. Although their main priority was to make a return to the senior ranks, a win in the junior B championship gave the club a boost ahead of this year's campaign in which they will be once again be the main contenders for the intermediate title. Over the past decade, Cullion have been up and down between the senior and intermediate ranks. The pinnacle of the club's history came in 2001 when they contested their first ever senior hurling final. Although they lost to Clonkill, the players knew that they had achieved something special. It was a case of joy to despair the following year after a titanic struggle with Raharney that saw their relegation tie going to a replay and extra time, Cullion eventually were defeated by the Deelsiders and returned to the intermediate ranks, where they still reside. Defeat to Delvin in the 2003 intermediate final was a shock to many neutrals. However, in last year's campaign, the club on the outskirts of Mullingar met their neighbours and rivals St Oliver Plunkett's in the semi final of the championship in what turned out to be one of the games of the year. Cullion began their campaign with a comprehensive win over Southern Gaels way back in June. The 2-13 to 1-04 score line reflects the dominance that the maroons produced during the match as they were always on top. Former county stars Robert Galvin and Frank Shaw lead the way on the scoring front and as always this duo were going to be a handful for anyone in the intermediate grade. A fortnight later and old rivals Turin were the opponents. Cullion once again proved to be far stronger as they ran out easy winners, 2-11 to 1-06. On the day, Ollie Fay, Mark Keane and Jim Baker were most impressive. Two wins out of two left Cullion with maximum points and they recorded their biggest win of the campaign against St Brigid's in their next outing. Thirteen points separated the sides at the end as Cullion qualified for the semi final of the championship, even though they had two games left to play in the group stages. Their impressive form in the earlier rounds of the campaign suggested that Cullion were capable of going all the way. But a six-point defeat to Crookedwood in the next round brought the maroons back down to earth with a bang as local rivalry and pride took centre stage. Even though both teams were through to the last four, the match was played at a fast tempo and proved to be an entertaining contest, but it was Crookedwood who emerged victorious as the two sides now prepared for the semi finals. The draw for the last four saw Cullion paired with neighbours St Oliver Plunkett's and although the rivalry between the maroons and Crookedwood was intense, it was nothing compared to when these two sides met. There was no question about it - both sides went into this match hungry for success as they had their fair share of setbacks in recent years. Plunkett's opened the scoring with a point before Colin Whyte equalised from a free for Cullion. The town team went ahead with another point before a move started by Frank Shaw was picked up by Whyte, who showed terrific skill to get in a shot that the Plunkett's goalkeeper saved only for Robbie Galvin to pounce on the rebound and smash the sliothar into the net. Midfielder Ollie Fay then stretched Cullion's lead with a well taken point. Plunkett's fired over three scores to level matters as both sides saw goal chances go astray. Galvin (3) and Fay pointed for Cullion to give them a four point lead ten minutes before half time. Plunkett's managed to close the gap to two points before half time, but it was Cullion who looked the sharper as they held a 1-7 to 0-8 interval lead. Plunkett's experienced somewhat of a team revival in the second half and took a stronger hold on the game, although their goalkeeper was called into action when Robbie Galvin's shot looked goal bound only for the 'keeper to get his hurl to the sliothar and deny Cullion a certain goal. Soon after Whyte pointed a free before Plunkett's hit back and raised two white flags of their own to bring them within two points of their opponents. Disaster struck moments later when the saints scored a goal to put them a point in front with fifteen minutes remaining in the match. But Cullion stood up to the challenge and levelled matters soon after as Whyte and Frank Shaw pointed from play. The lead swayed each way as Plunkett's regained the advantage. Shaw then hit three points to put the rural club in front once again. The Mullingar side then hit three points unanswered to leave the score 1-15 to 1-13 as normal time elapsed. However, there were to be six minutes injury time in this epic encounter. Robbie Galvin fired over his third point of the evening to leave one between the sides, but it was to be their last score of the match as Cullion wasted a number of opportunities to draw level and it was to be further heartbreak for the side. Cullion intermediates had the chance to somewhat make amends for their defeat in the championship when they made it through to the intermediate cup final after a comfortable victory over St Brigid's in the semi final. Crookedwood were the opponents in the final and as was the case in their championship meeting, the 'wood came out on top after a closely fought encounter. The clubs were to meet for a third time in 2004 when they both qualified for the Junior 'B' final which was played in the first week of December. The heavy sodden underfoot conditions did nothing for the standard of hurling produced during this match. Only three scores were awarded in the first half but crucially Cullion scored two goals during the opening half as the 'wood could only manage a solitary point. A long range free by centre forward Jim Baker was deflected into his own net by the Crookedwood goalkeeper to give the maroons the perfect start after five minutes. Defences were generally on top throughout the opening half, but it was Cullion who made the most of their chances. It was fifteen minutes before Crookedwood opened their account with a point and 13 minutes went by before the next score of the match. It was Cullion who registered that score when James Bradley kicked the ball into the net from close range. This was to be the last score of the half. Crookedwood made a number of changes during the second half and they had a positive affect on the tricolours as they began to claw back the deficit. Cullion full back John Shaw began to have a major impact on the game as he cleared a number of the 'Wood's attacks. Two points for Crookedwood left three between the teams and they now had the bit between their teeth as the gap was eventually closed to one with seven minutes remaining. It looked as if Crookedwood were going to win their second piece of silverware for 2004 and complete a 'double' over Cullion, but with just five minutes remaining midfielder Mark Kane fired over a point from long range to ease Cullion's nerves and they held on for a merited win. It was Cullion's first Junior title since 1989 and two members of last year's winning squad were part of the panel 15 years earlier. Gerry Gillen and Sean Connelly have given great service to the Cullion club down through the years and it was a fitting end to the year that these two club stalwarts should end up with another championship medal in their pockets. Despite being one of the smallest clubs in the county, Cullion have a strong tradition and will continue to produce teams at all levels. Many of the so called bigger clubs in Westmeath could do well to have a look at the strong bond some of the smaller clubs like Cullion can produce and maybe if they did then hurling in the county could reach a higher level. Club Piece - Secretary's report Intermediate On Saturday Feb 7th after last year's AGM Terry O' Dowd called a players meeting and he announced his selectors/trainers. They were Seamus White, Pat Gaffney, and Micko Hynes. It was the first time the league consisted of a mixture of senior and intermediate teams. We were drawn with Castletown, Raharney , Turin and St. Brigid's. We played our first game of the league against Castletown away in which we played well and ran them close for most of the game, only to be narrowly defeated in the last few minutes . We beat Turin in the second round only to be beaten by Raharney in the third round and thus we didn't qualify for the knock out stages. We played the first round of the championship on Sunday the 11th of May in Castletown against Southern Gaels where we won on a score line of 2 - 12 to 1 - 08 in a hard fought game where we played very well and things looked promising for the year. In the second round of the championship we had an easy win over St Brigids in St. Lomans followed by another win in the third round against Turin. We then played Crookedwood in the fourth round in St. Lomans also, where we were beaten on a score line of 2-08 to 1-07 in a disappointing match in which we lacked both spirit and determination. This meant we were to play St. Oliver Plunketts in the fifth and final round but as the championship had paned out there was no need to play this game as Plunketts and Cullion had already qualified in second and third positions in the championship with the Wood first and Turin finishing in fourth spot. This set up two semi finals Cullion v St. Oliver Plunketts and Crookedwood v Turin. We played Oliver Plunketts in St Lomans again in what was probably the game of the year. Having lead for almost the whole game we went behind by a point with 10 minutes remaining and try as we could we couldn't score for the last 10 mins and the game finished on a score line of 1-15 to 1-14. This was a very disappointing loss for Cullion . In the Intermediate cup we got a bye in the first round and that put us straight into the semi final of this competition against St. Oliver Plunketts. It was hard to get players out at this stage because of the disappointment of the championship but fair play to the stalwarts of the club as backboned by the championship winning Junior team we had a great win over Plunketts in Robinstown on a score line of 1-12 to 0- 10. This set us up for an Intermediate cup final with Crookedwood in Cullion. It proved disappointment again as Cullion went down on a score line of 1-10 to 1-06 having dominated for 80% of the game. Junior Let me just start by quoting the last two lines of my secretaries report for 2003 " I want to pay tribute to the Junior team who might not have had many wins but fielded and contested every match in 2003 and we'll try and get a few more wins under the belt this year and contest the Junior B Championship." We started out in the mixed Junior championship of Senior and Intermediate clubs where we went down to Clonkill, St. Oliver Plunketts and Lough Lene Gaels before we won the last game against Crookedwood, which meant we finished in fourth place of the league. This qualified us into the semi final of the Junior B championship against St Oliver Plunketts. Cullion won this semi-final setting up a Junior B Championship final against the 'Wood where pride was really at stake after losing twice to them earlier in the year in the intermediate championship and cup. This final was played in St. Lomans before a large crowd on a blustery Sunday morning. In a very close tight game Cullion emerged victories on a bazaar score line of 2-01 to 0-05 points. Captain Derek Kerrigan accepted the Junior B cup County hurling Board Chairman Liam Davitt on behalf of a thoroughly deserved and determined Junior hurling squad. U21 It was a very disappointing year for our U21 team who were in the 13 a side competition which consisted of six teams. Cullion got a bye straight into the semi final against Turin in which they lost in an embarrassing score line of 2-15 to 1-00. This was very disappointing after contesting the final the previous year. Hopefully the U21 can make a big improvement this year . Scór Scór Sinsír Congratulation to Cullion Sinsír Scór team who qualified in both the Sketch and Question time events in The Downs clubhouse. Scór Na Nóg It was another good year for the Scór Na Nóg team who had 27 members participating this year in a range of ages from 8 to 16 years old who took part in a variety of Acts consisting of Question Time, Irish Dancing, Sketch, Solo Singing, Instrumental Music, Recitations and the Ballad group. There was a lot of time and effort put in this year as always and a grant from the National Lottery was a great help this year for the youngsters taking part in the buying of props such as dancing shoes etc. I would like to thank all of the club members who represented the club in Scór Sinsír and Scór Na Nóg and long may it continue at both grades as it is a great way for club members to meet and have fun though out the year. Tweet

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