Big weekend of senior football championship action looms

A hectic weekend of football championship action in Westmeath gets underway at TEG Cusack Park on Friday evening as Coralstown/Kinnegad and Tyrrellspass meet.

Coralstown/Kinnegad are under early pressure after a surprise defeat by Tang in the opening round last weekend. Paschal Kellaghan’s side reached last year’s final and were runners-up in the Division 1 league decider in June, but they struggled in wet and challenging conditions at Hogan Park, Moate and lost to a late Tang goal, 1-5 to 0-6.

Tyrrellspass on the other hand, produced a strong finish to overcome Caulry in the first round, in totally different playing conditions at TEG Cusack Park. They return to headquarters full of confidence under new manager Eddie Kinsella and will be stubborn opposition for Coralstown/Kinnegad.

The former All-Ireland football final referee (2014) from Laois is impressed with the spirit and cohesion he has seen from his new club. He’s also impressed with the standard of club football in Westmeath.

“I love it, it's great down there - a brilliant club, Tyrrellspass. It’s a small little village, everyone in it is kind of tight-knit together. They are good lads to train. I'm going to tell you the truth - we didn't start off very well. They were kind of hardly getting down (to the pitch for training) starting off, but after a couple of weeks into training, they were great. And we're getting on well together,” he said.

It will be interesting to see how Coralstown/Kinnegad respond to their first round defeat and that could determine a lot about their chances this year. Even without talisman Ger Egan, Tyrrellspass will be difficult opponents here.

Key men: Tommy Ryan (Tyrrellspass); Josh Gahan (Coralstown/Kinnegad).

Verdict: Coralstown/Kinnegad.

Elsewhere, another high profile manager, Pat Flanagan saw his Caulry side fail in pretty disappointing fashion against Tyrrellsapss and they will certainly be up against it when they meet Athlone on Sunday in Moate. Flanagan has been full of enthusiasm about Caulry's prospects, but that first round defeat is a setback and they are now suddenly in a serious battle to get precious points on the board. The winner of Sunday’s tie could have a fighting chance of making a quarter-final, the loser is in trouble in the group.

Flanagan said his side must learn from their recent two visits to TEG Cusack Park - they lost the league (Div 2 final to Garrycastle before being denied by Tyrrellspass) - and need to mature as a group to challenge at the highest level.

“All of these games are going to be very tough, it's senior championship football, but we have to get this team up to senior championship level. I've been brutally honest, I've been brutally honest inside - we need to work on that senior standard level after today, especially in the second half where we lost control of it. We have the ability, we have the quality, we have the fitness, we just need to cut out the errors,” he remarked.

Key men: Senan Baker (Caulry); Ray Connellan (Athlone).

Verdict: Draw.

Defending champions, St Loman’s Mullingar travel to Ballymore on Saturday to face Tang in the second round and the latter will relish this opportunity after their first round victory over Coralstown/Kinnegad. The venue will be in Tang’s favour and they will look to keep it tight, contest to sit deep and play on the counter attack.

It’s remarkable to think Tang parted company with former Leitrim full back Seamus Quinn and regrouped from within for the championship. Adrian Coughlan and Colm Donoghue have the benefit of former Longford boss Denis Connerton’s experience and it all just came together with that late Eoghan Bannon goal in round one.

St Loman’s have a tendency to just play whatever system they are faced with, but in terms of sheer ability, there’s only one winner of this game.

Key men: Adam Neary (Tang); Sam McCartan (St Loman’s, Mullingar).

Verdict: St Loman’s, Mullingar.

Section B

The Downs have established themselves as the early favourites to win Section B and even in the absence of some big players, they scored 1-18 against Moate All Whites last weekend. Manager Johnny Murray was satisfied with the winning start and keen to stress the importance of team spirit within the group. He is placing no emphasis on the absence of players such as Jonathan Lynam and Kevin O’Sullivan and is playing down the role of talisman Luke Loughlin.

“We got 1-8 from turnovers - fantastic, I'm very happy with that. You can be short any player. You can fall out of the bed tomorrow and break your arm and you can be short that player; walk out of the car and do your ankles. So that's not an excuse for us,” he said.

“It's not about Luke or anyone else, this is a team of 15. Luke understands that better than anyone at this stage himself and he's a serious captain, a serious leader. Luke's a mature guy, it's about 15 or maybe 18 or 19 players. It's a good sign of a team when you are able to come back and get your scores.”

St Malachy’s produced a disappointing display in round one, losing to Killucan, but they are better than they showed. The absence of David Lynch is a bigger blow to them than any of The Downs players, though.

Key men: Luke Loughlin (The Downs); Shane Corcoran (St Malachy’s).

Verdict: The Downs.

Elsewhere, Mullingar Shamrocks will be thrilled with their great start after they comfortably saw off Shandonagh. They are now set up to take second one of the qualifying spots, but the game against Moate All Whites is still fraught with danger. The latter must do better than they did the first day and surely will. Their execution was disappointing and if that improves they still have every chance in this game, which is a lot closer than the first round results suggest.

Key men: Dean Moore (Mullingar Shamrocks); Toby Conteh (Moate All Whites).

Verdict: Mullingar Shamrocks.

The third game in Section B sees Killucan take on Shandonagh.

Killucan won the first day and although not overly impressive, they still have that comfort zone. Shandonagh are under the cosh immediately in the group and if they lose again, it could be the end of qualification prospects. This one doesn't have the potential for a high-scoring affair.

Key men: Devin Hill (Killucan); Gareth Carr (Shandonagh).

Verdict: Draw.