Mighty St. Munna's maintained their vice-like grip on the Westmeath senior camogie championship crown when they defeated Cullion in the final, while other highlights from the camogie year included Delvin's senior 'B' and under 18 championship successes. It was business as usual for St. Munna's in 2005 as they chalked up their fourth senior camogie championship triumph in-a-row at the expense of old rivals Cullion. A 3-9 to 1-7 victory at Cusack Park in July gave the Turin-based club their 17th title in 18 years and reaffirmed their dominance of the Westmeath camogie scene. Their only defeat in that time was to Lough Lene Gaels in the 2001 decider when they were bidding for their 14th title on the trot. Six teams competed in last year's championship which was played on a league basis. Managed by Mick Heffernan, St. Munna's recorded wins over Cullion, Drumraney, Lough Lene Gaels and drew with Raharney to ease into the semi-final. There, they accounted for Raharney by 1-12 to 1-6. In the other semi-final, Cullion defeated Lough Lene Gaels by 2-11 to 1-8 to set up a repeat of the 2003 final which St. Munna's won by 0-8 to 0-6. Despite overcoming Cullion by 4-4 to 0-1 in the opening game of the championship, St. Munna's could afford to take nothing for granted against a Cullion side whose form was vastly improved on 2004. As it transpired, a player of the match display by full forward Annette Heffernan inspired the team in red and white to a deserved victory. On a damp evening, both teams showed signs of nerves in the early stages, although the winners got off to a somewhat fortuitous start when a 60-metre free by Heffernan evaded everyone and ended up in the net. Andrea Martin replied with a pointed free for Cullion before Heffernan fired over the next two points. Martin's second point made it 0-2 to 1-3, but the remainder of the half belonged to St. Munna's who scored three unanswered points per Dinah Loughlin, Lorraine Leavy and the experienced Heffernan to leave the half-time score reading 1-6 to 0-2. The Turin-based outfit continued where they left off before the break when Heffernan pointed a free. Cullion closed the gap with points from Aileen Martin and Therese Allen, only for the imperious Heffernan to hit back with another point which gave the holders a 1-8 to 0-5 lead after 47 minutes. Andrea Martin and Heffernan exchanged points before St. Munna's effectively put the result beyond doubt 10 minutes later when Loughlin's sublime sideline ball was snatched from the air by Heffernan who clinically finished to the net from close range. Cullion replied instantly with a goal from Jessica Weldon, but Mick Heffernan's charges were not to be denied and sealed the win with another splendid goal from Annette Heffernan, who finished with a personal tally of 3-6. As county champions, St. Munna's went on to compete in the Leinster junior championship and qualified for the final where they suffered an agonising 3-7 to 4-9 defeat to Offaly champions Drumcullen. The final was played at McCabe Park in Turin on October 16 and the signs were encouraging for the home side at half-time when they led by 2-4 to 0-4 after Annette Heffernan had bagged a brace of goals. Drumcullen battled their way back onto level terms before a third goal from Aileen Lawlor gave St. Munna's the upper hand again. But Drumcullen applied tremendous pressure in the final quarter and with Maggie Lynch helping herself to 1-5, ran out five-point winners. Castletown-Geoghegan had a bloodless victory in the junior championship final after their opponents Crookedwood failed to field. Castletown lost the 2004 final to Raharney, but are unlikely to have taken much satisfaction from last year's final fiasco. En route to the final, the black and ambers beat Ringtown, Clonkill and the 'Wood, while they also won out a tournament in Roscommon a few weeks before the junior final was due to take place. 2005 will go down as a successful year for Delvin who won the senior 'B' and under 18 championships. In the senior 'B' final which was played at a bitterly cold Ringtown in early October, Delvin upset the odds to beat a Cullion team hoping to atone for their senior final reversal by 5-2 to 3-2. Seamus Ennis' side laid the foundations for their victory in the first half, at the end of which they held a 4-2 to 1-0 lead. With the strong wind to their backs in the second half, the more experienced Cullion side staged a determined comeback, but their tally of eight wides ultimately proved costly. Delvin got off to a dream start when Maria Smyth's early point was followed by a goal from Karen Clune. That score was quickly cancelled out by a Bernie Corroon goal for Cullion, but Delvin soon re-established their four-point lead when corner forward Clune grabbed her second goal. Further majors from Cathy Browne and captain Linda Kenny left the Valley girls in a commanding position at the interval. When Eileen O'Driscoll scored a fifth Delvin goal in the 37th minute, Cullion found themselves a massive 14 points in arrears. But they didn't go down without a fight and two goals from Stephanie Kelly brought them back from the brink. However, they left themselves with too much to do as Delvin lifted the Roadstone Cup. With many of the same players on board, Delvin also took the under 18 championship title by virtue of a 6-1 to 0-4 victory over Crookedwood. Delvin had victory all but wrapped up at half-time when goals from Denise McGrath, Elaine Farrelly and Laura Lynch helped them to a 4-0 to 0-2 interval lead. Lynch and McGrath added further goals in the second half to ensure that the cup stayed in Delvin for the fifth year in succession. Raharney, who won the senior 'B' and junior titles in 2004, captured the under 16 (13-a-side) championship following a 4-4 to 2-4 victory over Delvin in the final at Collinstown. Despite leading from start to finish, the Deelsiders were pushed hard by a gallant Delvin team. Two goals from Fiona Leavy and Elaine Finn gave the winners a 2-1 to 0-2 lead at half-time and they sealed the win with further majors from Leavy and Natalie Geraghty in the second half, with Denise McGrath scoring two goals in reply for the Valley girls. The St. Munna's team which retained their senior championship title was: Laura Corcoran; Rachel Scally, Yvette Cully, Catriona Dunne; Deirdre McInerney, Catherine Glynn, Bridget Leavy; Mary Glynn, Lorraine Leavy; Lorraine Scanlon, Dinah Loughlin, Rhona Murtagh; Aileen Lawlor, Annette Heffernan, Debbie Corcoran. Rest of panel: Michelle Scanlon, Vera Heffernan, Sinead Keogh, Louise Martin, Debbie Leech, Sarah McGrath, Pauline O'Neill, Nicola Heffernan, Denise Egan, Sinead McGrath, Laura Heffernan, Ciara Keogh, Rachel Heffernan and Amy Murphy. The Delvin senior 'B' championship winning team was: Rita McGrath; Patricia Smyth, Jenna Clune, Linda Williams; Sarah King, Niamh Barry, Mary Clune; Marianne Murtagh, Maria Smyth; Carmel Harris, Linda Kenny, Eileen O'Driscoll; Karen Clune, Cathy Browne, Deirdre Barry. Rest of panel: Denise McGrath, Rachel Fish, Elaine Farrelly, Jennifer Smyth, Laura Kelleghan, Laura Lynch, Sinead Malone and Aisling O'Neill. The Delvin team which retained the under 18 championship was: Ann McGrath; Grainne O'Driscoll, Sarah King, Jenny Smith; Laura Kelleghan, Mary Clune, Cathy Browne; Marianne Murtagh, Rachel Fish; Aisling O'Neill, Deirdre Barry, Elaine Farrelly; Laura Lynch, Denise McGrath, Aoife Lenihan. Raharney's under 16 championship winning side was: Aine Quinn; Rebecca Boyle, Louise Flynn; Tracey Nea, Louise Grogan, Sinead Lynam; Elaine Finn, Amy Dunne; Rebecca Flynn, Fiona Leavy, Sade Fitzsimons; Dana Weir, Natalie Geraghty. Subs: Laura Mullen and Zoe Murphy. Tweet

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