Westmeath face Louth in Leinster opener as minors meet Offaly

Westmeath GAA Jottings - By Aidan Walsh, Westmeath GAA PRO

 

The 2014 Leinster SFC has its opening encounter in Mullingar on Saturday evening when Westmeath take on Louth at Cusack Park (7pm).

It should be a well contested encounter as there has been very little to separate the counties in their meetings over the past few years. Indeed it is just two years ago in 2012 that Westmeath faced the Wee County in Navan where Louth grabbed a very late goal to grab a one-point win (2-9 to 0-14), sending Westmeath into the qualifiers.

Ironically, in the qualifiers it was Louth who were drawn as Westmeath’s opponents and in a reverse of the result a few weeks earlier, the Lake County prevailed by 1-15 to 0-12 in Mullingar.

The last competitive meeting between the sides was in the National Football League in February 2013 when Westmeath prevailed 0-16 to 2-9 in a feisty encounter at Cusack Park.

So with both counties having less than stellar league campaigns this year, it is safe to say that very little should separate the sides next weekend. Westmeath, since the end of the league, have had useful performances against Wexford, Longford and Galway in challenge games and with no significant injuries to worry about, the home team should be at full strength on Saturday.

Westmeath have had the experience of playing in Division 1 this year and it is a far more onerous place to be than Division 2 where Louth were operating during the spring.

Let’s hope the team can make the most of their Division 1 experience from this season count and qualify for the quarter-finals. The team has the ability to do so.

Minor footballers take on Offaly

In a very busy weekend for Westmeath’s county teams, the Minor footballers make the short journey to O’Connor Park, Tullamore on Friday to take on Offaly in the quarter-finals of the Leinster MFC.

The meeting of Westmeath and Offaly is always a local derby to savour, certainly for those based in the south of the county, and always generates great interest no matter what level the game is at.

Westmeath had a good season last year reaching the All-Ireland quarter-finals when they were defeated by eventual All-Ireland champions Mayo. The Westmeath panel contains a large proportion of the team from last season and, despite losing to Kildare on 19th April, they bounced back by comprehensively defeating Wicklow (2-17 to 1-8) last Wednesday.

Offaly, by comparison, qualified directly for the quarter-finals courtesy of a very easy victory over Kilkenny whom they defeated 7-30 to 0-2 in a total mismatch. From that result one can see that Offaly have the ability to score well when allowed to do so. Offaly have produced some very useful U16 teams in recent seasons and their team at that grade last year was very potent indeed.

Pascal Kellaghan will have them well prepared and they won't have any qualms about facing Westmeath. Tommy Carr will be well aware of the task that his charges face and the prize of a Leinster semi-final place is certainly in reach. Throw-in on Friday is at 7.30pm.

Hurlers seek win against Carlow

While there has been much to admire about Westmeath’s performances against Antrim and Laois in recent weeks, the fact that those games were lost leaves Westmeath needing victory over Carlow next Sunday.

With the top two places decided, the matter of not finishing in the bottom two of the round robin series is vital. The team which finishes bottom will be relegated to the Christy Ring Cup next season with the second from bottom team playing this year’s Christy Ring winners in a play-off for MacCarthy Cup status in 2015.

Carlow had a better season than Westmeath in the league reaching the Division 2A final but they lost to Kerry in the final and since then their results have gone on a downward trend. They drew with London in Ruislip before narrowly losing to Antrim in the opening two round robin games. On Sunday Laois beat the Barrowsiders by 1-22 to 0-14 to end their chances of progressing in the Leinster Championship.

Though neither Westmeath nor Carlow can progress, the game on Sunday is still of vital importance to both sides. The winner will almost certainly finish third in the table and be safe from the quagmire of play-offs. Westmeath certainly can win this game and though I may be in a minority, I quietly fancy them to do so. Throw-in at Dr Cullen Park is at 3pm.