Promotion from Division 4 of the All-County League proved to be the highlight of Bunbrosna's year according to ace marksman and county under 21 panellist Aidan Finnan. In a year when they narrowly missed out on a place in the knock-out stages of the intermediate football championship, Bunbrosna had the consolation of finally gaining promotion from Division 4 of the All-County League. Since winning the junior championship in 2001, league promotion had been as much of a priority for Bun as consolidating their position in the intermediate ranks. Two years ago, they were pipped for promotion by Tyrrellspass, but last year they made no mistake by winning seven of their eight games. "It was very important to get out of Division 4 because up until last year, we were the only intermediate club playing at that level in the league," says midfielder-cum-forward Aidan Finnan. "There was as much relief as anything else when we got promoted because of the fact that we had been stuck in Division 4 for so long. If we had stayed there any longer, it would have been very difficult to make progress in the championship. A team with intermediate championship aspirations has to be playing in Division 3 at the very least," he adds. Bunbrosna were a cut above the rest in Division 4 last season, finishing three points clear of their nearest rivals Garrycastle. Their seven wins came at the expense of Rosemount, St. Mary's, Athlone, Moate All-Whites, St. Paul's, Kilbeggan Shamrocks and Garrycastle, while the only point they dropped was against St. Joseph's. "The fact that we went through the league unbeaten shows just how seriously we took it. It was between ourselves and Garrycastle until we beat them in our last game," Finnan explains. Bunbrosna found the going a lot tougher in the championship, but were still somewhat unfortunate to miss out on the knock-out stages. They opened their championship campaign with a 0-9 to 1-6 draw against Shandonagh at St. Loman's. Shandonagh were three points to the good at the interval, but favoured by the wind in the second half, Bun battled back to claim a share of the spoils. The Longford-border outfit paid the price for a poor first half performance in their second outing against Milltownpass, going down by 1-6 to 2-5. Bun were well off the pace in the opening half and trailed by 2-4 to 0-1 at the break. But despite restricting their opponents to a solitary point following the resumption, they failed to make up the deficit. Against Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall in their next outing, Bunbrosna were much quicker into their stride. The losers actually opened the scoring, but Bun hit back with points from Finian Newman, Colin Burke, Seamus Moran and Finnan as well as a goal from Padraig Tighe to establish a 1-4 to 0-1 advantage after just 10 minutes. Castletown-Finea then came into the game more, scoring 1-2 without reply to reduce the deficit to the minimum. But points from Padraig Walsh and Burke ensured Bun of a 1-7 to 1-4 interval lead. On the restart, Castletown-Finea added three more points to leave the minimum between the sides once again. However, Bun finished the stronger with points from Noel Kiernan, substitute Ray Carolan and Finnan sealing a 1-11 to 1-7 victory. Bunbrosna recorded their second win when they overcame Tang by 2-11 to 0-8 at Kilbeggan. Fielding a similar team to that which defeated Castletown-Finea, the blue and whites never looked back after Padraig Tighe scored an early goal. Finnan and Noel Yourell tagged on points before Padraig Walsh collected Tommy Murphy's long clearance from defence before blasting home a second goal. Further minors from Tighe and Finian Newman left Bun sitting on a commanding 2-5 to 0-3 lead at the break. Following the change of ends, Bunbrosna consolidated their advantage with a series of fine points from Finnan, Tighe, Newman and John McCormack. Having also received a walkover from St. Loman's, Bunbrosna went into their final group game against Killucan knowing that a win would see them through to the quarter-finals. But Killucan proved more than a match for John Smith's charges and emerged as winners on a 2-8 to 1-7 scoreline. "Had we started the championship a bit better, I'm sure we would have made the knock-out stages," says Finnan, who is a member of this year's Westmeath under 21 panel. "We drew with Shandonagh in our first game and then allowed Milltownpass to build up a big lead against us in our second. We did well to force our way back into the championship reckoning after that, but Killucan were that bit too strong for us in our last game." It was also a big year for Bunbrosna off the field with the club's 30-year involvement in Scór being marked by the launch of the book '30 years of Scór'. The book remembers Bun's many successes in Scór down the years, including the All-Ireland triumphs of Christy Duffy in 1978, the set dancers in 2000 and Avril Whitney in 2002. Plans to further upgrade the club's playing facilities were also unveiled during 2003. The NUIG student expects Bunbrosna to be a tougher proposition this year, particularly as Cormac McCormack and Peter Tormey are available to them again after missing all of last year. "Cormac (away in Germany) and Peter (broken leg) were major losses to us last year, so it is a big boost to have both of them back. The experience which Cormac brings to the team was badly missed last year, but he is now back as captain. "Assuming everybody is available to us, I think we have a great chance of reaching the knock-out stages. We've been drawn in a tough group along with Rosemount, St. Mary's, Milltownpass, Milltown, Mullingar Shamrocks and St. Loman's, but they are all teams we are well capable of beating." While he refuses to rule out Bunbrosna's chances of winning this year's intermediate championship, Finnan feels that they may still be short of experience. "We're still a very young team and that might count against us. The average age of the team is around 22 or 23 and realistically, it could take another two or three years for us to win an intermediate championship. "But there is no shortage of talent and when you think that we have four players (Finian and Conor Newman, Peter Tormey and Finnan) on this year's county under 21 panel, we shouldn't have any reason to fear anyone. "Most of us have won minor championship medals with Inny Gaels, so the days when Bunbrosna players had an inferiority complex are long gone," he concludes. Tweet

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