Raharney will have to be at their best against Kilmacud Crokes this weekend if they are to progress to the next round of the Leinster Club Championship.

Tough opener for Raharney with the visit of Kilmacud

Gerry Buckley looks ahead to Sunday's match in Cusack Park.

I must selfishly confess that when watching live television coverage of the Dublin senior hurling championship final ten days ago – with new Westmeath bainisteor Joe Fortune as an able co-commentator – I wanted first-time finalists Na Fianna to win, in the hope that a first success might encourage them to celebrate wildly for the fortnight before they were due to come to TEG Cusack Park to face Raharney.

With less than ten minutes to go and the underdogs leading Kilmacud Crokes by nine points, my warped ambition looked like it would come to pass. However, the Stillorgan outfit, who had endured final defeats in 2016, 2017 and 2018, managed to force extra-time with Ronan Hayes in top form, and you just knew that Na Fianna had blown their chance. A 4-26 to 2-25 defeat was tough on the side seeking their first title, but you just can’t beat big match know-how when an experienced team like Crokes gets an unexpected lifeline.

Hayes, having despite miscuing a 55th-minute penalty, was undoubtedly the Kilmacud hero with a late goal that helped force extra-time, followed by six more points therein, to secure a remarkable 16-point swing on the scoreboard by the final whistle. He finished with a massive 1-14 (including seven frees and two ‘65’s), and showed real courage to summon his best form after the penalty miss which looked like it would be decisive at the time. As well as Hayes, Oisín O'Rorke, who chipped in with a significant 1-3 from play, Fergal Whitely and Alex Considine, who scored 1-1 apiece, will be among the players pencilled in for special attention by Brendan McKeogh when the men in purple and white jerseys come to Mullingar next Sunday (throw-in 1 pm).

McKeogh deserves enormous credit for transforming the very-underperforming Deelside outfit of 2020 – they needed a relegation play-off win to retain Westmeath Examiner Cup status in 2021 – into worthy county champions. Naturally, the return from London of Killian Doyle was a massive lift to Raharney, and the gifted forward was on fire in his side’s victory against Castletown-Geoghegan in the Lake County decider earlier this month. Still a couple of years shy of what is considered to be an athlete’s best years, Doyle will be the focus of a lot of team talks in Stillorgan in the days ahead, as joint-managers Donal McGovern and Kieran Dowling make plans for what they will be well aware is a very tough assignment.

However, it will be far from a one-man team which takes the field against the Metropolitans, and it was significant how several relatively unsung men in blue and white came good when most needed in the Westmeath decider. Defenders like team captain Sean Quinn, Darren Finn, Jamie Mulkearns and David Hickey all excelled beside the very influential Robbie Greville. In truth, throw in other experienced campaigners like Cormac Boyle, Ciaran Doyle and Joey Boyle, and Raharney look like a well-balanced team.

This is Raharney’s first Leinster outing against Dublin representatives. The last occasion when Westmeath champions faced Metropolitan champions was unforgettable for the wrong reasons. The tragic death of Annabel Loughlin (and Gaels nationwide are thrilled by her parents Enda and Eileen’s recent happy news) in the days before Clonkill faced Ballyboden St Enda’s (managed by the aforementioned Fortune) in Parnell Park, succinctly put sport firmly in its place.

No Westmeath side has yet managed to knock out Dublin opponents in a competition which has now spanned a half-century, albeit there have only been four such clashes to date. All on Deelside will be very hopeful of replicating some great performances over the years when representing the county in provincial fare. Indeed, who will ever forget the thriller in Mullingar in dense fog against Oulart the Ballagh in 2010, prompting one witty local scribe to refer to a player running close to the sideline on the terrace side of the pitch thus: “Whoever he is, he’s very quick!”

As for next Sunday, a first ever Westmeath win against a Dublin side is distinctly possible if the home team hits top form.

Westmeath v. Dublin, previous meetings in the Leinster Club SHC

22/10/1983, Croke Park, Erin’s Isle 3-8 Brownstown 1-8

1/11/1987, O’Toole Park, Faughs 2-16 Ringtown 1-8

6/11/2011, Cusack Park, Ballyboden St Enda’s 2-12 Clonkill 1-13

6/11/2018, Parnell Park, Ballyboden St Enda’s 2-25 Clonkill 2-19

Raharney’s record in the Leinster Club Championship

(all senior, except when the Westmeath senior champions played in the provincial intermediate championship in 2006 *)

25/11/1973, Trim, Boardsmill (Meath) 2-7 Raharney 1-2

11/11/1984, Rathdowney, Portlaoise (Laois) 3-16 Raharney 0-10

17/10/1992, Castletown-Geoghegan, Clonad (Laois) 0-11 Raharney 0-11 (draw)

24/10/1992, Portlaoise, Clonad (Laois) 2-11 Raharney 1-8 (replay)

16/10/1994, Longford, Raharney 2-15 Wolfe Tones (Longford) 1-2

29/10/1994, Carlow, Raharney 2-9 Naomh Eoin (Carlow) 0-10

12/11/1994, Tullamore, Birr (Offaly) 1-15 Raharney 1-4

29/10/2006, St Loman’s, Mullingar, Raharney 4-12 Rathgarogue-Cushinstown (Wexford) 4-12 (draw) *

4/11/2006, New Ross, Raharney 3-11 Rathgarogue-Cushinstown (Wexford) 3-8 (replay) *

12/11/2006, St Loman’s, Mullingar, Raharney 2-9 Mullinavat (Kilkenny) 1-11 *

19/11/2006, St Loman’s, Mullingar, Ardclough (Kildare) 2-6 Raharney 2-4 (final) *

15/11/2008, Cusack Park, Ballyhale Shamrocks (Kilkenny) 0-26 Raharney 0-9

31/10/2010, Cusack Park, Raharney 0-17 Coolderry (Offaly) 0-14

14/11/2010, Cusack Park, Oulart the Ballagh (Wexford) 4-11 Raharney 4-8

2/11/2014, Cusack Park, Raharney 2-11 St Mullins (Carlow) 0-9

16/11/2014, Cusack Park, Kilcormac/Killoughey (Offaly) 1-13 Raharney 1-8

6/11/2016, TEG Cusack Park, St Mullins (Carlow) 2-14 Raharney 1-11