Raharney impress en route to final showdown

Gerry Buckley reportsThe undoubted ‘big two’ of Westmeath senior hurling in recent years will meet in the 2010 showdown for the Westmeath Examiner Cup, with 2008 champions Raharney impressing last Sunday afternoon in their defeat of old rivals Castlepollard, thereby setting up a mouth-watering decider against 2009 winners Clonkill.The Deelsiders showed no ill effects from their all-too-easy run through the losers’ group in what was a lop-sided championship in the run-up to the knockout stages. Unfortunately for the large crowd present in GAA headquarters, the high standards set in a very enjoyable and competitive first moiety (at the end of which the blue and whites led by just two points) were not maintained on the change of ends, with Raharney pulling away in the second half to record a fully-deserved win. For their part, Castlepollard will probably be content overall with their campaign, although a knockout defeat by one of their longest-standing rivals in Lake County hurling is always a bitter pill to swallow in and around Cionn Torc.On a near-perfect day for hurling, it was the men in the blue and gold jerseys who opened the scoring after a mere 25 seconds, Alan Devine slotting over a fine point. John Shaw levelled in the second minute from a routine free. Raharney survived the near-concession of what would have been a soft goal and duly went in front courtesy of a great point from a tight angle by Cormac Boyle. Directly from the puck-out, ‘Pollard equalised when Andrew Dermody rifled over a great point. The tit-for-tat scoring continued apace with the respective number 12s - Francis Boyle and Andrew Dermody - trading points, leaving the scoreboard reading 0-3 apiece with less than five minutes elapsed. The Deelsiders spurned a couple of very good chances to go ahead before Francis Boyle came up with a terrific point from near the terrace sideline. In the 11th minute, fine approach work by Derek Murray and Alan Devine teed up veteran goalpoacher Barry Kennedy who duly rifled the sliotar to the back of the net. However, in a pulsating encounter at this juncture, three quickfire Raharney points had them ahead again by the midpoint of the half - Brian Smyth (with a neat point), John Shaw (from a 50-metre free) and Brendan McKeogh (after displaying fine stickwork as he prepared to shoot) being the men on target.An opportunist score from Andrew Dermody tied up the scoring again in the 16th minute but, a minute later, Raharney struck a significant blow when Colin McCormack only managed to parry John Shaw’s shot and an alert Chris Flanagan scooped the rebound to the net.The same player could easily have doubled his goal tally in the winners’ next attack, but he shot weakly when a three-pointer looked very likely. Two points in as many minutes ensued for the losers, Shane Egan converting a 60-metre free and Alan Devine scoring a great point under pressure. A fine solo point followed from Cormac Boyle with John Shaw adding another point from a free, after the impressive Chris Flanagan was fouled having produced a great catch. Brendan McKeogh almost improvised a goal for the Deelsiders, but it was ‘Pollard who rounded off first-half scoring, Derek Murray whipping over a great point from 60 metres. An otherwise-sporting contest threatened to spill over in the last few seconds of injury-time. An unseemly melee was thankfully not carried over into the tunnel area. At the break, Raharney led by 1-9 to 1-7.Surprisingly, referee James McGrath, who hadn’t one of his better games overall, took no action when the teams returned for the second moiety other than a quiet word with the two main protagonists in the pre-interval melee. Colin McCormack did well to hold Niall Flanagan’s delivery, but the Castlepollard ’keeper was powerless to prevent the winners edging further ahead with two points in a minute from the sticks of John Shaw (a fine individual effort) and Cormac Boyle (at the end of a patient build-up).An acrobatic save from Raharney netminder Andrew Doyle from Andrew Dermody’s kicked effort resulted in a ‘65’ which was converted by Shane Egan. A converted free from 45 metres by John Shaw and a great point by the very prominent Paul Greville put Raharney five points to the good. The hard-working Derek Murray responded with a fine point, but it was the men in blue with the white hoop who looked the better side at this point and they added two more points by the midpoint of the half, courtesy of John Shaw (from a 35-metre free) and Brendan McKeogh (with a tidy score from the play).With ten minutes of normal time remaining, Castlepollard scored what was to prove to be their last score of the contest when Oliver Devine pointed in style after receiving the sliotar from a quickly-taken lineball. In the closing stages, Raharney’s greater experience at this level began to show with four unanswered points firmly securing their place in the October 17th showdown against Clonkill. A John Shaw free from around 45 metres accounted for the second of these with Chris Flanagan the man on target for the other three, the middle one of which could easily have been a goal, the very promising full forward scooping the ball over Colin McCormack’s crossbar with the net gaping after the latter player was unable to clear Francis Boyle’s initial effort. The nearest the losers came to breaking this scoring spree came when Stephen Bardon almost scored what would been a spectacular goal.The stage is now set for a winner-takes-all contest between what most pundits would have predicted as the likely county finalists back in April. On last Sunday’s evidence, Raharney have every right to believe that they can dethrone their long-time rivals from Clonkill in two-and-a-half weeks from now.Raharney: Andrew Doyle; Declan Mullen, Conor Jordan, Tony Doyle; Alan Giles, Brian Connaughton, Paul Greville (0-1); Niall Flanagan, Stephen Morley; Cormac Boyle (0-3), John Shaw (0-7, 0-6 from frees), Francis Boyle (0-2); Brian Smyth (0-1), Chris Flanagan (1-3), Brendan McKeogh (0-2). Subs: Donie Carey (for Mullen, 25 mins).Castlepollard: Colin McCormack; Paul Dermody, John Paul Murray, Martin Egan; Stephen Bardon, Darren McCormack, Aaron Farrell; Donal Devine, Derek Murray (0-2); Andrew Dermody (0-3), Shane Egan (0-2, 0-1 from a ‘65’, 0-1 from a free), Kevin Brazil; Alan Devine (0-2), Oliver Devine (0-1), Barry Kennedy (1-0). Subs: David Higgins (for P.Dermody, 42 mins), Alfie Devine (for Kennedy, 49 mins).Referee: James McGrath (Turin).