Ringtown once again managed to avoid the drop to the intermediate grade and for the second consecutive year, the Whitehall outfit had to win a relegation play-off to remain in the senior championship. At underage level the club had plenty of reason to celebrate following their victory in the minor 13-a-side championship. To stay in the top grade was an achievement for the club, however club secretary Eamonn Doyle believes now is the time to push on and make more of an impact in the senior championship. "It was great to stay up alright and the win over Delvin was well merited. The lads played very well on the day. But, now it is time for them to take the next step and start competing at the other end of the championship," stressed Eamonn. "There is not too much separating any of the teams, despite the same four clubs contesting the semi finals over the last few years. I can see a change in the trend very soon. Our performances against Castlepollard and Plunkett's were very good and we should have taken something from these matches, which would have left us in the knockout stages." The club have not won the SHC since 1987 and the nineties and new millennium have not been kind to the Whitehall outfit as it has seen them been relegated from the senior championship on more than one than occasion. The 2005 campaign began with a clash against Castletown Geoghegan that resulted in a heavy defeat for the green and golds. Next up were neighbours and fierce rivals Castlepollard. The 2003 champions were expected to win this match with ease, but that was not the case as a spirited display by the Whitehall outfit resulted in a closely fought encounter. Pollard's greater experience shone through at the end and they were grateful to come away with victory on a scoreline of 0-12 to 1-5. Lough Lene Gaels provided the opposition in their next outing, but Ringtown could not build on their opening day performance and the Collinstown side ran out comfortable winners by 2-20 to 0-7. A marked improvement was shown against St Oliver Plunkett's, although the outcome was the same as the town team recorded a 3-9 to 1-11 win to leave Ringtown without any points on the board after four rounds of the championship. At the start of the campaign, many had predicted that Delvin and Ringtown would be left to battle it out to see which side would remain in the senior ranks for 2006 and the first meeting between the teams was unsurprisingly a close affair. The Valley men were favourites, but as has been the case on many occasions, the favourite doesn't always win. A late goal from the impressive Niall Kilcoyne earned the points for Ringtown. Kilcoyne was only introduced at half time, but left his mark on the match with an excellent display, despite being still minor this year. It looked as if Delvin had done enough to win the match, but Ringtown have been down this road before and held on for a 2-10 to 1-12 win to pick up their first points of the campaign. A week later, and Clonkill were the opponents. The Loughegar outfit proved to be a very strong outfit as expected and they ran out comfortable winners by 4-19 to 0-13. This defeat meant that once again Ringtown would have to win a relegation play-off in order to stay in the senior ranks, despite still having one match in the group to play. A 5-15 to 1-4 defeat to Raharney did little for the side's confidence as they prepared to meet Delvin. Following Delvin's dramatic draw against Lough Lene Gaels earlier in the year, it was envisaged that they would have enough firepower to see of the challenge of Ringtown. However, with the excellent Vincent Bateman in fine form and the rest of the side rising to the occasion, the Whitehall outfit once again showed how determined and focused they can be. While, the youthful Kilcoyne stole the show in the first meeting between the sides, it was the evergreen Tommy Cunningham who made a major impact in the play-off when introduced as a second half substitute. Cunningham settled the younger players and brought about a calmness that helped Ringtown take control of the match and win by four points, 2-8 to 1-7. Relegation had been avoided once again, but where to now for Ringtown hurlers? Eamonn believes with the crop of young players coming through, the club will soon be a force in Westmeath hurling once again. "If we can keep the young lads coming through, then I believe there is no reason why we can't be competing for the senior championship. A lot of the current side have played in minor finals in recent years and they are now settled in the senior team," added Eamonn. However, this year's campaign has already been dealt a blow with the news that their talisman, Vincent Bateman won't be available for the majority of the championship. "Vincent has been a very important player for us over the last few years, but he is heading off on a round the world cycle for charity and will be a huge loss to us." Nonetheless, the future of the club looks very bright indeed as they have an underage structure in place that is beginning to pay off in recent years. Success in the 2005 minor 13-a-side hurling championship against neighbours Castlepollard was the highlight of the year for the club. The club's under-14's also made their mark in 2005 by reaching their final, only to be defeated by Lough Lene Gaels and Eamonn revealed that the club have teams competing in every grade. "Numbers at underage level have increased in recent years and that has helped to promote the game in the area, which we are always trying to do. We have a big enough catchment area and that helps," he said. Over the last few years, Ringtown and Castlepollard have been amalgamated at underage level and they have competed at the right end of every championship, these sides have are made up of virtually half and half from each club. So to say there is no light at the end of the tunnel for the Whitehall outfit would be very foolish indeed. "We have a good underage structure in place. There are a lot of good young hurlers in the area and it is important to look after these lads as they are the future of the club," said Eamonn. "Winning the minor 13-a-side was a big achievement. We were beaten in the premier championship by Cuchulainns (Cullion and Crookedwood) at the semi final stage and that was very disappointing, because we thought we had a good enough team to win it out. "The 13-a-side minor side were looked after by David Kilcoyne, Adrian Moran and Austin O'Grady and they deserve great credit for the work that they carried out during the year," added Eamonn. Only four teams contested the 2005 13-a-side minor championship and following a win over Southern Gaels in the semi-final, a meeting with Pollard was the outcome in the decider. Ringtown dominated early proceedings and Niall Kilcoyne opened the scoring with a point. The Whitehall outfit were further boosted when a sideline cut by Shane Boyce was finished to the net by Aidan O'Grady before Darren Kilcoyne put five points between the sides with a well taken point. Pollard finally opened their account with a point, but almost immediately Jeffrey Nea restored Ringtown's five point lead. The town team hit back with a goal. Ringtown lifted their game and fired over four answered points all coming from the Kilcoyne brothers to leave the half time scoreline 1-7 to 1-1. Pollard hit back with two points shortly after the restart. Darren Kilcoyne scored his third of the match to keep Ringtown in a healthy position. However, Pollard struck back with a goal before their third of the match put them in the lead for the first time. From the resultant puck out, Niall Kilcoyne drew the sides level with a fine point and the same player put Ringtown in front again when he tapped over the bar. Pollard equalised from a free. Then Ringtown were reduced to 12-men when Damien Moran was sent off for a second yellow card, but the dismissal came in the last minute of normal time and with extra time looming they could field the full contingent once again. The Kilcoyne brothers combined before Niall scored another point. Once again, Pollard showed their resilience to draw level and they took the lead a minute into the second period of extra time. Aidan O'Grady sent the Ringtown supporters into raptures with his second goal of the afternoon. Points from Phelim Burke and the exceptional Niall Kilcoyne left Ringtown four points ahead. To their credit, Castlepollard scored their fourth of the afternoon to leave just one point between the sides and despite their best efforts to snatch late equaliser, it was O'Grady who had the final say as he drove the sliothar over the bar from the ground. Final score: Ringtown 2-14 Castlepollard 4-6. Ringtown team: Colin Murtagh, Tom Macken, Shane Brophy; Jason Coffey, Eanna Brophy, Damien Moran, John Boyhan, Shane Boyce, Jeffrey Nea (0-1), Ronan Geoghegan, Darren Kilcoyne (0-3), Niall Kilcoyne (0-8), Aidan O'Grady (2-1). Subs: Phelim Burke (0-1) for Geoghegan, Darren Murtagh (started extra-time, due to player sent off). Tweet

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