While Ringtown's 2007 senior hurling championship campaign never really caught fire, it was still a successful year for the Whitehall-based club who captured no fewer than three titles. Under 16 mentor and senior team corner back John Paul Creggy was encouraged by the club's achievements. Ringtown have much to be pleased about after a season that saw the club taste success at under 14, under 21 and senior level. The year began on a positive note with the senior side defeating Cullion in the delayed 2006 All-County League Division 2 final. After a disappointing senior championship campaign that yielded just one win, the club finished the year on a high with the capture of the under 14 Division 3 championship and the retention of the under 21 'B' (13-a-side) championship. "Overall, it was a good year," says Ringtown corner back John Paul Creggy, who also managed the under 16 side along with Gerry Boylan and assisted in the preparation of the under 14 team for their county final win over Crookedwood. "Obviously we were disappointed not to do better in the senior championship after reaching the quarter-final the year before. We wanted to at least equal that feat last year, but the narrow defeats we suffered to Lough Lene Gaels and Raharney proved costly. "However, winning the 2006 Division 2 league title offered us some consolation and it proved to be another successful year for the club at underage level. The success we've had at under 21 level, in particular, over the past two years certainly bodes well for the future." John Paul is very much aware of the potential of Ringtown's under 21 players, having been part of the management set-up when they won the 2006 version of the 13-a-side championship. "Most of the same lads were involved again last year and it didn't surprise me at all to see them retain their title," he says. Under the guidance of club stalwarts David Kilcoyne and Michael John Corrigan, who have also managed the senior team for the past two years, the Ringtown under 21s retained their title with a dramatic 2-8 to 1-10 victory over Brownstown at Archerstown in mid-November. The final was a 12-a-side affair from the fifth minute onwards after referee Terry Dowd issues red cards to Ringtown's Eanna Doolin and Donal Smith from Brownstown following a flare-up. After missing a few chances early on, Niall Kilcoyne broke the deadlock with a well-taken goal in the eighth minute. But it wasn't long before Brownstown got themselves back in contention thanks to points from Philip Gilsenan, Conor Slater and Robert Dugdale. Stephen Dugdale and Slater exchanged points before the home side finished the half strongly with scores from Derek McNamee and Slater to take a 0-6 to 1-1 advantage into the break. Brownstown extended their lead to five points within a minute of the restart when a harmless looking delivery from Robert Dugdale into the square somehow ended up in the Ringtown net following a defensive mix-up. Brownstown continued to hold a healthy lead until three unanswered points from the impressive Niall Kilcoyne reduced the deficit to three, 1-5 to 1-8, after 42 minutes. It remained a three-point game until the 51st minute when a long ball from Tom Macken over the Brownstown defence found Darren Kilcoyne on a one-on-one with goalkeeper Michael Travers and the Ringtown full forward made no mistake to tie the scores. Brownstown briefly regained the lead through Leo Farrell, but after Niall Kilcoyne levelled from a free, the same player caught the resultant puck out and sent it straight back over the bar to give Ringtown victory by the narrowest of margins. Ringtown's other championship success in 2007 was achieved by the under 14 team which was managed by Anthony Nea and John Craig. Having lost to Crookedwood in the league, Ringtown were expected to have a tough battle on their hands when they faced the same opposition in the Division 3 championship decider on September 22 at Clonkill, but a dominant first half performance laid the foundations for an emphatic 3-13 to 1-4 win. Ringtown tore into Crookedwood from the off and midfielder Emmet Corrigan's 12th minute goal had them six points to the good. Corrigan added a second goal later in the half and this, combined with points from Brian Brophy, Ciaran Mallon and team captain David Stell, helped them to a 2-8 to 0-1 half-time lead. Crookedwood's hopes were raised when Simon McCarthy goaled early in the second half, but Ringtown's response was impressive as Corrigan, Evan McGivney, Stell and Michael Connors all found the range. It was left to Paddy Cheevers to put the icing on the cake when he scored Ringtown's third goal in the closing stages. The Whitehall-based club's hopes of a hat-trick of underage triumphs were ended when their minor side suffered a comprehensive defeat to neighbours Castlepollard in the Division 2 (13-a-side) championship final. 'Pollard were dominant in all areas of the field and had victory wrapped up as early as the 17th minute when they led by 3-7 to 0-0. Although Ringtown battled gamely, they proved no match for a rampant Castlepollard team who coasted to a 5-19 to 2-2 victory. Both of Ringtown's goals were scored by full forward Darren Kilcoyne. Competing in the Division 1 championship, Ringtown's under 16s were beaten at the quarter-final stage by eventual champions St. Oliver Plunkett's. John Paul expects this year's under 16 team to be in a better position to challenge for a county title as it will be strengthened by the addition of players from last season's successful under 14 side. As already stated, Ringtown's senior team made a perfect start to 2007 when they accounted for Cullion by 0-10 to 1-4 in the delayed 2006 All-County Hurling League Division 2 final. The highlight of a disappointing contest was the performance of rising star Niall Kilcoyne, who scored four points from play, while Tom Macken was also outstanding in defence for the winners. Ringtown were always in control, leading by 0-6 to 0-0 at the interval, and by 0-9 to 0-3 before a late Cullion rally left just three points in it at the final whistle. The Whitehall men were pitted against Lough Lene Gaels in the opening round of the senior championship. Despite it being one of the toughest draws they could have got, Ringtown were always in the hunt and they had every reason to believe they could pull off a shock win when Martin Burke goaled early in the second half. But the Gaels responded with two quick points and they eventually prevailed by 0-11 to 1-5, condemning Ringtown to the losers' group in the process. David Kilcoyne's charges secured their only win of the campaign when they overcame Brownstown by 1-11 to 0-9 at Kinnegad. It was one-way traffic in the first half with Ringtown leading by 1-7 to 0-2 at half-time. Brownstown showed a big improvement after the resumption, but they left themselves with too much to do and Ringtown took the points. There was heartbreak for Ringtown in their third outing when a last-gasp Paul Greville goal denied them a famous victory over 2006 champions Raharney at Cusack Park. Ringtown looked poised for their second successive win after a brace of Colin Murtagh goals had helped them to a 2-6 to 0-11 lead, but Raharney snatched victory when John Shaw set up Greville for a late, late winner. A 0-9 to 1-16 defeat to Castletown-Geoghegan saw Ringtown exit the championship with a whimper. Ringtown trailed by just two points at half-time, but there was only one team in it in the second half as Castletown cruised to a comfortable victory. "After an encouraging performance against the Gaels and then beating Brownstown, it was disappointing that we failed to reach the knock-out stages. But we have plenty to build on and the future looks bright with the emergence of the under 21 players," John Paul says. "We are hoping to make a serious challenge for championship honours this year under our new manager Dave Foley. Dave, who is a Dubliner, previously managed Raharney, so he is very familiar with club hurling in Westmeath. "Our biggest challenge over the next few years will be to keep the young players together and keep them interested. It's not easy because a lot of them are away in college or are working in places like Dublin. There's a lot of travelling involved for many of them." 2007 also marked Ringtown's return to Scor na nOg competition after a long absence. But despite the valiant efforts of solo singer Jenny Brady and the quiz team of Paul Smith, Stephen Sullivan and Michael Murphy, they failed to achieve county success. No doubt, the experience will stand to them in the future. The under 21 'B' championship winning team was: Feidhlim Burke; Shane Brophy, Thomas Daniels; Philip Smith, Eanna Doolin, Jeffrey Nea; Niall Kilcoyne, John Boyhan; Anthony Caffrey, Thomas Macken, Stephen Sullivan; Darren Kilcoyne, Colm Murtagh. Sub used: Aidan Daniels. Ringtown's under 14 Division 3 championship winning line-up was: Adam O'Keeffe; Anthony McGivney, Shane Craig, Matthew Hurley; Jason Gaffney, Michael Connors, Paddy Cheevers; Evan McGivney, Kevin Duffy; Ciaran Mallon, Emmet Corrigan, Brian Brophy; Ian Kilcoyne, David Stell, Anthony Nea. Subs used: Scott Hynes, Conor Mulligan, Shane Moran, Shane Bardon and Barry Reynolds. Tweet

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