The 2003 senior hurling championship will live long in the memories of the Raharney hurling club but for all the wrong reasons as they were controversially thrown out of the campaign for failing to field in their quarter-final match against Clonkill. The Deelsiders were due to meet their neighbours on Saturday, July 26 in Cusack Park after they had qualified for the knock-out stages of the championship courtesy of a win over Brownstown in their opening group match and a draw with Castletown Geoghegan. However, they made it known to the county board that they were withdrawing from the match as they had a number of players unavailable due to holidays. Raharney had asked the Westmeath GAC to reschedule the match for a later date but they refused, only for the match to be cancelled following the death of one of the Clonkill player's father. With their players still unavailable, Raharney wrote to the GAC stating that they would not be fielding a team against Clonkill and the decision of the county board to dismiss them from the championship caused a major shock within hurling circles in the county. Even though the majority of clubs within the county felt that a new date should have been fixed for the match, the GAC felt that the club had broken the rules and had no choice but to eliminate the Joristown based outfit. There's no doubt that the decision to throw Raharney out of the championship will be a thorn in their side for many years to come and has left ill feeling between the club, county board and most likely Clonkill. But they must now concentrate on making their side into the strong team that they once use to be and although they are going through a transitional period at the moment, success at underage level and an appearance in this junior final with a relatively young side bodes well for the future. The year got off to a great start as Raharney secured a victory in the group stages of the championship, something they failed to do the previous year and resulted in them playing Cullion in the relegation play-off, which they won after a replay and extra-time. St Lomans was the venue for their tie with Brownstown as two clubs that once dominated the Westmeath scene were now scraping for survival, as both knew a win was essential to keep their hopes of staying in the competition alive even at that early stage. Raharney were slight favourites going into the match with an opportunist goal by halfback Paul Greville being the decisive moment in the match. It was 0-2 apiece after 10 minutes as Brian Smyth pointed two frees for the Deelsiders. Brownstown scored 1-2 without reply to rattle their opponents but Raharney's ability to come back strongly showed as they were more than a match for the Archerstown based outfit. Brian Connaughton and Cormac Reilly exchanged points before Paul Briody and Connaughton narrowed the lead to just three points and then Briody pounced on a loose ball to fire home and level the tie. Smyth then pointed another free on the stroke of half time to give his side a 1-6 to 1-5 lead at the interval. Two early second half points for Brownstown sent them back in front with Smyth replying from a placed ball. It was tit-for-tat as scores were exchanged at either end before Greville launched a long ball into the Brownstown goalmouth and the flight of the ball deceived everyone and ended up in the back of the net. The goal gave Raharney a huge lift while at the same time seemed to knock the confidence out of Brownstown. Smyth then added two points to his tally for the afternoon with yet another free and one from play. Brownstown could only manage one more score for the remainder of the match as Smyth, Michael Raleigh and the impressive Brendan McKeogh raised white flags for the team in Saffron. The final score was 2-12 to 1-10. The win set Raharney up nicely for the remainder of the group matches, as they knew that Brownstown would now have to beat either Castletown or Ringtown to force a play-off at the very least. But failure to beat Ringtown in their next match meant the pressure was back on the North Westmeath side, although they will be disappointed with their display in Cusack Park on Sunday June 22 after they lead by five points early on. Paul Greville got the first score of the match with a long range point before John Fitzgerald rifled home a goal to extend Raharney's lead but Ringtown came back strongly and led by two points at half time, 1-5 to 1-3. Greville and Brian Smyth levelled the match straight after the interval but Ringtown struck three unanswered points to edge them in front once again. A Brian Connaughton free narrowed the gap before a second goal for the Whitehall club extended their lead. Raharney replied the best way possible when Connaughton buried a 20 metre free past Pat Burke in the Ringtown goal and although Connaughton scored his second and Raharney's third late on a further three points by Ringtown ensured they had a two point lead at the final whistle on a score line of 2-13 to 3-7. In their final group match, the Deelsiders knew that they needed at least a point to secure their place in the knockout stages of the competition but they were up against a Castletown Geoghegan side that had won their previous two matches. The Black and Ambers raced into a two-point lead before Brian Connaughton pointed a '65. Brian Smyth pulled another one back before Castletown went three up. The sides exchanged points, although a Padraig Connaughton goal levelled matters and his brother Brian pointed another free to give them a half time lead of 1-5 to 0-7. Nick Weir got on the score sheet at the start of the second half when he raised a white flag to extend his side's lead but in a space of as many minutes Castletown fired over two points to draw the match yet again. John Fitzgerald netted for Raharney after their opponents had taken a one-point lead and with ten minutes remaining two converted frees for the Black and Ambers by Ronan Whelan levelled the match. But there was still plenty of excitement left in this game as in stoppage time Whelan pointed a '65 only to see the blues being awarded a 50 metre free which Connaughton slotted over to gave Raharney a deserved share of the spoils. With the much-needed point in the bag, it was now time to prepare for a quarter-final clash with neighbours Clonkill but as stated already events off the pitch ensured that the game never proceeded. It was now left to the club's junior side to try and win some silverware at adult level and the strength in depth of the senior squad was evident as the second string made it all the way to the junior final where they faced Castletown Geoghegan. There was further heartache for Raharney in this competition as a pointed free four minutes into injury time handed Castletown the title which resulted in euphoria for the black and ambers and total dejection for the Deelside blues. Castletown had 1-2 on the board before Raharney opened their account when Brian Connaughton scored from play. The same player added another two points to his sides tally shortly after to bring them back into the match. Both sides scored a point each for the remainder of the half to leave the half time score 1-3 to 0-4. Connaughton closed the gap to a point in the second half after a mesmerising run from midfield by Niall Flanagan. Castletown responded with a free, but the Deelsiders took the lead for the first time in the match when Brian Smyth netted a goal. The game was set up for a grandstand finish as Castletown drew level with two pointed frees and both sides hit an equal number of wides as an Eamon og Clarke free in stoppage time gave his side the lead. Although Connaughton had the opportunity to draw the match again from a free, his shot sailed narrowly wide and the title went to Castletown. The Raharney team that lined out in the junior final was: John Weir, Donie Carey, James Farrelly, Stephen Morley, Dave Flanagan, Peter Mullen, Anthony Doyle, Niall Flanagan, Paul Briody, Brian Smyth (1-1), Brian Connaughton (0-5), Alan Doyle, Michael Raleigh, Conor Jordan, Seamus Mullen. Subs: Francis Boyle for Michael Raleigh, Declan Lynam for Alan Doyle. Tweet

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