Two years after they suffered the bitter disappointment of relegation, Brownstown regained their senior status in 2006 following their defeat of neighbours Delvin in the intermediate hurling championship final. Here, we chart their return to the top flight. The county's most successful hurling club - Brownstown - will have senior hurling to look forward to again in 2007 after winning the intermediate championship for a second time last September. Victory over neighbours and fierce rivals Delvin in a surprisingly one-sided final at Cusack Park secured the Archerstown club's passage back to the top flight, and they will go in search of their 16th Examiner Cup win in the coming season. While it might have seemed like the end of the world for some supporters when Brownstown were relegated in 2004, their two-year stint in the intermediate ranks afforded them the opportunity to rebuild, and last year's success will have done wonders for their confidence as they prepare for the 2007 senior campaign. The Brownstown Blues are a club steeped in tradition and when they last won the intermediate championship in 1985, the achievement was completely overshadowed by the club's senior final victory over Lough Lene Gaels in the same year. In the 17 years from 1977 to '93, the Meath-border outfit played in a remarkable 13 senior finals, winning nine and losing four. Of course, they found success much harder to come by over the past decade and such was their downturn in fortunes that no-one was at all surprised when they dropped out of the senior ranks two years. Since then, Brownstown have unearthed several new, young players and they should be better prepared for the rigours of senior championship hurling than they were a couple of years ago. Former county star Pat Clancy doubled up as manager of the Brownstown and St. Paul's teams in 2006, and also made regular appearances as an impact sub for both teams. He couldn't have asked for a better start to the intermediate championship campaign when his team overcame a highly-rated Cullion by 1-15 to 1-8 at Loughegar on May 13. Brownstown laid the foundations for their victory in the opening half when a goal from veteran Seamus Reilly and points from Philip Gilsenan and Maurice Quinn helped them to a 1-11 to 0-4 interval lead. Cullion hit back with a second half goal from Frank Shaw, and four points from Robbie Galvin took them within striking distance of the North Westmeath outfit. But Brownstown weathered the storm to ensure a winning start to their campaign. Brownstown made it two wins from two when a dominant second half performance propelled them to a 2-15 to 0-8 victory over Turin at Collinstown. A point was all that separated the teams at half-time, but Brownstown outscored their opponents by 2-8 to 0-1 after the break to run out emphatic winners. Brownstown had much of the play in the first half, but found the Turin defence hard to break down and only led by 0-8 to 0-7 at half-time. But Brownstown moved up the gears in the second half and goals from Daniel Smith and Ollie Henry broke Turin's resistance. A feature of the game was midfielder Johnny McGuinness' accuracy from both play and from dead ball situations - he hit 0-9 in all. Brownstown then suffered the first of two setbacks when they succumbed to Bobbie Begley's Delvin team by 1-7 to 1-11 at Cusack Park. It could be argued that the Blues were the architects of their own downfall after registering a whopping 18 wides. Pat Clancy's charges opened brightly with Kenny Higgins finding the net inside the first five minutes. They led by 1-4 to 0-4 at the interval, but their lead would have been greater had they not hit eight wides. As Brownstown continued to rack up the wides, Delvin drew level within seven minutes of the restart thanks to three successive frees from Tomas McEnerney. Things got a lot worse for the Archerstown outfit in the 39th minute when McEnerney scored a brilliant solo goal to put Delvin ahead for the first time. Johnny McGuinness replied with two points to reduce the deficit to the minimum, but Delvin had the bit between their teeth and with McEnerney bringing his tally for the evening to 1-6 and JP Farrelly also finding the range, they were not to be denied. Brownstown put that disappointment behind them when they chalked up a third victory at Southern Gaels' expense to qualify for the semi-final. Despite being rooted to the bottom of the league table, Southern Gaels offered stern resistance to a Brownstown team that sorely missed the attacking talents of Dara Brady and Johnny McGuinness, although the latter came on at half-time and provided some inspiration by scoring 0-3. The Athlone side enjoyed the better of the first half exchanges with David Johnson's goal giving them a shock 1-3 to 0-4 interval advantage. But a Brownstown comeback was inevitable and after McGuinness and player/manager Clancy had shot 0-5 between them after coming off the bench, centre forward Ollie Henry sealed a 1-10 to 1-6 win with a late goal. Brownstown failed in their bid to top the league section, losing their final game to a rejuvenated St. Brigid's by 0-4 to 0-10. Once again, Brownstown floundered in front of goal, registering just two points in each half. St. Brigid's led by 0-6 to 0-2 at the break and while points from Daniel Smith and Johnny McGuinness gave Brownstown hope after the break, the Dalystown men never looked in danger as they completed the league campaign with four wins from a possible five. Unsurprisingly, the odds on Brownstown winning the Westmeath Topic Cup lengthened after their inept showing against St. Brigid's, but they answered their critics when coming from behind to defeat Turin by 0-14 to 2-5 in the semi-final at St. Loman's. The Blues recovered from a seven-point deficit at the end of the first quarter to break Turin hearts and move within 60 minutes of a return to the senior ranks. Turin, who entered the semi-final as outsiders, started in lightning fashion with goals from Ray Aughey and Derek Hourihan giving them the perfect platform. But they were hit with a strong resurgence from the favourites and failed to score from the 15th minute until the 50th minute, during which time Brownstown hit answered 0-10. Turin's early goals saw them establish a 2-2 to 0-1 lead, but Brownstown then launched their comeback with a point from Ollie Henry. Turin replied with a Ray Aughey free, but it was all Brownstown from there until half-time with four points from the stick of Johnny McGuinness helping to reduce the deficit to the minimum, 2-3 to 0-8, at half-time. Pat Clancy, who had entered the fray in the 26th minute, brought Brownstown level shortly after the restart and McGuinness gave them the lead for the first time when he converted another free in the 39th minute. McGuinness twice found the range to give Brownstown a three-point cushion, only for Turin to end their long barren spell with a point from Hourihan. Ray Aughey made it a one-point game in injury-time, but Brownstown responded with a brace of scores from Clancy and McGuinness to secure a hard-earned win. In the other semi-final, Delvin recorded a surprise victory over St. Brigid's, thus paving the way for a mouth-watering showdown between the two North Westmeath rivals. The clash failed to live up to expectations, however, as Brownstown completed dominated their opponents to run out comfortable winners by 1-13 to 0-6. Brownstown almost grabbed an early goal when Philip Gilsenan's huge delivery broke for Dara Brady, but Delvin wing back John Cogan put in a vital tackle to avert the danger. After an unsavoury sideline melee was brought under control by referee Rob Cornally in the seventh minute, Brownstown swooped for the only goal three minutes later when Ollie Henry's delivery fell through for Cormac Reilly, and the full forward kept his cool to finish to the net. Two frees from Johnny McGuinness put the Blues four points ahead, but Tomas McEnerney then took centre stage by shooting three points to leave the minimum it at the interval. Brownstown resumed in impressive fashion with two points from Dara Brady, along with efforts from Pat Clancy and impressive substitute David Dolan, giving them a 1-6 to 0-4 lead. McEnerney kept Delvin in touch with his fifth successful free in the 43rd minute, but Clancy and Dolan again obliged to stretch Brownstown's lead to seven points, 1-9 to 0-5, with 11 minutes remaining. Niall and Kevin Williams combined to set up JP Farrelly for Delvin's only score from play in the 50th minute, but Brownstown continued to push on and four late points from Brady, Maurice Quinn and McGuinness (two) saw them claim only their second intermediate crown with 10 points to spare. The Brownstown team which captured the IHC title was: Stephen Reilly; Niall Craig, Maurice Gavigan, Ken Reilly; Jimmy McQuaid (captain), Philip Gilsenan, Ollie Henry; Maurice Quinn, Johnny McGuinness; Gary Gilsenan, Willie Anderson, Kenny Higgins; Daniel Smith, Cormac Reilly, Dara Brady. Subs used: Pat Clancy, David Dolan, Seamus Reilly and Robert Rice. Tweet

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