By John Harrington

It took Oulart The Ballagh so long to climb to the top of the mountain that they’re determined to enjoy the view for as long as they possibly can.

Last year’s first ever Leinster Club Hurling title ended a sequence of six final defeats, four of them in a row from 2010 to 2013.

Many of the panel like Keith Rossiter went through eight fruitless Leinster Championship campaigns before they finally lifted the O'Neill Cup last year, but they weren’t content for that to be the uplifting final chapter of their story.

Instead they gritted their teeth, went again, and won the club’s 10th Wexford title in just 13 years. On Sunday they will defend their Leinster crown when they play Offaly Champions St. Rynagh’s in the Provincial Quarter-Final.

“Yeah we're back, when you put it like that, that's exactly the way we looked at it below in Oulart,” says Rossiter.

“After winning Leinster, do we forget about everything now and stop and take our foot off the gas and be happy with it or do you push on and try to get back into the championship?

“That was the goal, the goal was to get back to Wexford Park and to win the championship. We done that, it was brilliant.

“We're in bonus territory again, Leinster Championship, new championship opening again and we'll get nothing easy in this as we well know and we're looking forward to it.”

As soon the 2015/16 campaign ended with an All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Munster champions Na Piarsaigh, the club immediately set to planning for the future again.

The priority was to persuade manager Frank Flannery to remain in charge, which wasn’t straight-forward because by then he was also a  coach with the Cork county senior team.

“Yeah it was a job trying to keep him now to be honest because he was after signing up to the whole Cork thing," says Rossiter. "But it was probably the best thing for the club that we did keep him, just to keep the whole momentum going.

“We've only had him for a year so it was massive to keep him. If you bring in a new manager there, a new coach, they might change everything on you.

“If that happens you mightn't be as successful and success for us this year was winning the championship and keeping Frank was key to that.”

With another County title in the bag, the focus now turns to retaining the Leinster Championship.

If this group is to win an All-Ireland title it’ll probably also have to happen this season too such is the relatively mature age-profile of the team.

They gave the eventual 2016 Champions, Na Piarsaigh of Limerick, a real run for their money in the All-Ireland semi-final when they took them to extra-time, so they’re clearly not far off the standard required to go all the way themselves.

“You'd love to alright but I don't think we can have any regret about that day (against Na Piarsaigh) to be honest,” says Rossiter.

“A couple of little decisions probably went against us. The goal before half-time wasn't great, it was a bitter pill to swallow going in at half-time but we came out well in the second half regardless.

“We were probably the better team for about 25 minutes of the second half so we proved that we can pit it up against the best in the country I suppose. You wouldn't have regrets, if you're looking at regrets I suppose it would be Leinster finals we've lost, the way we didn't perform.

“We'd have no regrets about the Na Piarsaigh game because for 60-odd minutes we gave it everything we had and probably the better team came out on the day. So no regrets but it'd be great to get back there again.”

That ambition can be parked for now, because they know they can’t afford to look past the challenge that St. Rynagh’s will pose on Sunday.

The Offaly senior hurlers might be at a low ebb, but the county still produces strong club teams, as Oulart have discovered first-hand themselves in recent campaigns.

“They beat Coolderry and they beat Kilcormac/Killoughey who we struggled against for the couple of years in Leinster as well,” says Rossiter. “They're knocking on the door in Offaly for the last couple of years and they finally got the breakthrough and now maybe the monkey is off their back, they can go and hurl so we're ready for a massive battle.

“It's going to be nip and tuck, it's going to be very hard to call. Wexford and Offaly traditionally are tough games.

“The last day we went up to Tullamore and beat Kilcormac/Killoughey, I think it was only in the last five minutes we pulled away so it's going to be a tough battle.

“They're probably delighted with their county championship but after the couple of days celebrating that they'll focus in on us as well.”

Oulart might be favourites to win this match, but they don’t feel like they’re going into the game under any burden of pressure.

That was the case for them in previous years the longer their quest for a Leinster title went on, but now that they can finally call themselves Leinster Champions a weight has been lifted.

“That's it, yeah. The pressure for us this year and the major relief was winning the championship, believe it or not," says Rossiter.

“People would laugh at you, you've done it so much in the last 10 years and what pressure is on you when you're doing it the whole time, but it was massive. It was massive because I suppose you build it up within yourselves, within the camp, you get used to county final day and you want to be there again and when we get there then you have to win.

“You have to win because getting bet on county final day is not a nice feeling. That happened to us before. So I suppose, yeah, that's the pressure and the release cap is off I suppose and we're in Leinster now.

“It's just a matter of going and hurling now and God only knows who's going to win Leinster, it's that competitive. It could be anyone.

“History has shown that over the years, that it could be anyone to win it so it's every day you go out you just have to give it down and if you're lucky enough to get one or two breaks, come out on top.”