Roscommon aim for promotion as Westmeath seek survival
With the Allianz Football League kicking off this weekend, Kevin Egan examines the prospects of all the teams in Division 2 which includes Westmeath and Roscommon.
ROSCOMMON - Manager: Davy Burke (3rd season). County profile: The last four times Roscommon played in Division Two of the Allianz Football League (2015, 2018, 2020 and 2022), they earned promotion. The Rossies are the ultimate yo-yo team, not quite good enough to hold their own in the top tier consistently, but too good for the level below. Theirs is a mature panel with a lot of natural leaders, so while there has been yet more turnover on the management team, with coach Mark McHugh going across the Shannon to join Dermot McCabe in Westmeath, this group of players shouldn’t be perturbed.
Key man: Brian Stack is that rare breed of a footballer who could play at full-back, centre-back, wing-back, midfield or even centre-forward, and in each one, he would look like one of the top exponents of that position in the country. Roscommon’s greatest need has been at full-back so that’s where he’s played, and in 2023 he was arguably the most effective player in that position in the country.
Potential threat: Numerous online publications have looked at Shane McGinley, top scorer in the 2024 U-20 championship, and assumed that the Strokestown attacker will automatically step up to the next level. But Roscommon don’t need scoring inside forwards, and McGinley needs another 10kgs of heft before he’s ready to displace any of the established inside forwards in the county. Declan Kenny on the other hand, is similarly slight - but his ability to kick points from distance, to gallop upfield in possession and to soar off the ground to win aerial ball, is remarkable.
League prediction: Things seem to be coming together for Burke. Ciaráin Murtagh is back, and in a forward division that’s full of finishers, the St. Faithleach’s player gives a much-needed playmaking element. Cian McKeon, Eddie Nolan and Shane Killoran also fill real needs, as Roscommon lacked players who can break tackles (McKeon), and natural midfielders who are good in the air as well as on the ball (Killoran, Nolan). Add in a plethora of players who love to shoot from range, and they will surf that two-pointer wave all the way to the top of the table.
WESTMEATH - Manager: Dermot McCabe (1st season). County profile: There’s no doubt that there was a lot to like about this job for new Westmeath manager Dermot McCabe, who is a very progressive coach and someone who would have put a lot of thought into his career path. Clearly he believes that this stop in Mullingar will bring him where he wants to go. He probably didn’t allow for so many stalwarts stepping away, however, and the absence of Kevin Maguire and John Heslin in particular leaves two gargantuan holes in key positions at either end of the field.
Nonetheless, the facts of the matter are that the former Gowna player and manager inherits a steady, committed group of senior players who have played six games in the All-Ireland series in the last two years, playing Armagh and Galway twice and one fixture each against Tyrone and Derry. In five of those six games against elite opposition, they were within five points at the final whistle.
Key man: If Ronan O’Toole was available and showing his form from a couple of seasons ago, then the attack would be built around the St Loman’s Mullingar man. Since he's not, however, instead we’ll opt for Ray Connellan. The Athlone club man will be even more crucial to the Lake County cause due to the new rules surrounding two-point scores and the changed kickout landscape. Add in his relentless engine in a game where there should be a little bit more space, and the new game is made for him.
Potential threat: He’s been around the fringes of the panel for a couple of years now, but 2025 looks like the year that Brían Cooney will make a real breakthrough and nail down a starting jersey. For a couple of seasons now, Dessie Dolan has had an either/or debate when it comes to his wing-forwards – does he want ball-winners and warriors who will compete in the air and put in the hard yards, or does he want potential scorers? Cooney ticks both boxes.
League prediction: Out of all the teams on this list, only Westmeath and Cork have taken backwards steps in terms of the personnel available to them. Westmeath’s losses are bigger, and they don’t have a football infrastructure of 150-odd clubs from which to draw replacements. Predictions of relegation are easily found across the local and national media, and it’s just too hard to make a logical case for Westmeath finishing above at least two of their seven opponents, so this column has to fall in line.
CAVAN - Manager: Ray Galligan (2nd season). County profile: Every county at this level feels that they’re passionate about their football, but no-one will trump Cavan on that front. For a comparatively small county, there’s real depth there, as evidenced by the fact that their intermediate champions reached the last two Ulster finals, and they’ve won two of the last four junior titles in the province. Like a lot of traditional counties, the Ulster championship is still their main focus, and last year’s campaign – a win over Monaghan and a one-point defeat to Tyrone – shows what they’re capable of.
Key man: Cavan’s 2024 campaign was completely derailed once Paddy Lynch sustained his ACL injury in April. The Crosserlough man is a prolific scorer and without him, Cavan just lack that sprinkling of magic. His fitness (or otherwise) will set the tone.
Potential threat: Watch out for Seán McEvoy, a former underage international soccer player with the Republic of Ireland who spent three years playing on a scholarship in Baltimore. He caught the eye with his club Ramor United on his return last year and brings elite speed and footwork to the setup.
League prediction: There are a few teams that should just be too good for them over seven games, but they’re too steady and too competent to be relegated either.
CORK - Manager: John Cleary (3rd season). County profile: The Rebels are frustrating to look at and we can only imagine how much of your hair you’d have pulled out if you were from the hardcore football territories in West Cork, watching the likes of last year’s championship campaign. A memorable win over Donegal set them up to top their group, instead they fumbled the bag against Tyrone and then crashed out to Louth in the last 16 stage. There is no shortage of talent in the county, but their track record of mental fragility means that every single team on this list will fancy their chances if their game against Cork is there to be won with ten minutes to play.
Key man: When he’s fit, Seán Powter is a force of nature. Cork’s best performances have often seen the Douglas man dominate proceedings from one of the key diamond positions.
Potential threat: Hugh O’Connor was captain of the Cork U-20 footballers last year but was then poached by the U-20 hurlers, and it looked as if the UCC student and Newmarket clubman might throw in his lot with the small ball crew at senior level too. He hasn’t though, and while he’s still quite raw, the ingredients are there for him to develop into a serious weapon.
League prediction: Steven Sherlock, John O’Rourke and Kevin Flahive are three established key men that have stepped aside for this campaign, and in Flahive’s case in particular, it’s hard to imagine that he would have headed for Australia if he felt that Cork were on the cusp of making a breakthrough. Another league campaign of battling relegation could be in store, particularly if they stumble in their first round clash with Meath, but they should do enough to survive.
DOWN - Manager: Conor Laverty (3rd season). County profile: Like Meath, there is history, underage success, and signs of revival at senior level. Unlike Meath, Down look a lot closer to hitting their own ceiling, even if there are other counties that have more potential. Promotion to Division One looks out of reach as they just don’t have that type of quality in the squad, but Laverty is progressive and should adapt to the new rules quicker than most. Winning the Tailteann Cup means that they are guaranteed a spot in the 2025 All-Ireland series, so that takes a little bit of pressure off for the league. It remains to be seen whether that’s a good or a bad thing for their prospects.
Key man: Down’s ‘MVP’ in 2025 could well be Ryan McEvoy. A defender who can win their own one-on-one battle with good forwards will be almost as crucial to a side’s success as a Con O’Callaghan, Shane Walsh or David Clifford. Down have an elite player in that mould togging out every time McEvoy pulls on a jersey.
Potential threat: Danny Magill has looked the part in the Sigerson Cup with University of Ulster, and his versatility will be the cherry on top that ensures that Laverty will find a role for him somewhere.
League prediction: The concern for Down will be the new kickout battle, as they leaned very heavily on short restarts in 2024. They might need to make a few personnel decisions with that in mind, and having their place in the All-Ireland series secured gives them the freedom to do that. Also, the fixtures have been kind. They have short road trips to Clones and Ardee and the games that should be relegation deciders are in Newry. We’ll say six points from seven games, and retention of Division Two status.
LOUTH - Manager: Ger Brennan (2nd season). County profile: Despite his relative lack of management experience, Ger Brennan proved to be an adept general on the sideline for Louth, meaning that they didn’t regress (as expected) when Mickey Harte had his head turned by Derry. Notwithstanding a quite heavy defeat to Kerry, they were incredibly consistent throughout the season with a balanced and talented team, albeit with one or two spots where a lack of quality holds them back.
Key man: Craig Lennon and Sam Mulroy were the county’s two All-Star nominations, with Lennon picking up the gong at left wing back. However in the new era of Gaelic football, where backs have been treated about as kindly as Mau Mau natives in 1950s Kenya, a proper, sticky, man-marking defender like Donal McKenny is incredibly important to any team’s chances.
Potential threat: 2024 should have been all about the U-20 championship for Tadhg McDonnell of Ardee St Mary’s, but he was just too good to be held back and saw a couple of minutes playing time against Donegal in the All-Ireland quarter-final. He’ll get a lot more in 2025, injury permitting.
League prediction: Given their maturity, the stability of the team and management, and their physical profile, we’ll take Louth as our surprise promotion candidates for this upcoming league campaign. They have four home games too, but that’s balanced by the fact that a lot of those games are short trips for their opponents (Down, Meath, Monaghan).
MEATH - Manager: Robbie Brennan (1st season). County profile: Football pundits who find it tiresome to talk about any counties outside the top ten – you know the ones, they think the season is over in July and love the cliché of “they love their football in Tipp/Waterford/Antrim”, but can’t name any players – secretly long for the return of the Royals. They dream of waxing lyrical about the county’s revered football tradition, and the heady days of Brian Stafford kicking frees off the ground, Mick Lyons terrifying the life out of full-forwards, and Seán Boylan treating hamstring injuries with a mixture of foxglove, amaranth and parsley. The graph is moving upwards slowly, but it’s just hard to get excited about their current panel of players.
Key man: If you were one of the handful of hardcore football supporters who went out in the fog to see TUS Midlands record their extraordinary Sigerson Cup win over University of Maynooth, you saw Meath’s most dangerous weapon kick eight points, five from play. Eoghan Frayne carries the hopes of his county on his shoulders already.
Potential threat: Watch out for Ruairí Kinsella to follow in Frayne’s footsteps in 2025. Also in Maynooth for his studies, the classy and versatile attacker was arguably the star of the 2024 Meath SFC with Dunshaughlin, and he’ll get a lot more game time under Brennan this spring.
League prediction: Brennan will want to hit the ground running and the return of a couple of veterans – Bryan Menton and Pádraic Harnan – who didn’t play in 2024 will be a boost. However there’s a lot of transition happening, and that takes time. Expect them to start slowly and pick up points in the latter end of the campaign, but not enough to avert relegation.
MONAGHAN - Manager: Gabriel Bannigan (1st season). County profile: For several years now, the Farney men have been the poster children for what smaller counties can achieve, competing consistently at the business end of the league and championship and securing a few big scalps along the way. The age profile of the panel is such that they should find it hard to bounce back from last year’s relegation, but the other way of looking at Monaghan is that they played All-Ireland finalists Galway in their knockout game last Summer, and at half-time, they had a strong wind advantage to come and were just one point down. They’re not that far off.
Key man: They’ve always had elite inside forwards, but if Dublin or Kerry went to a training session in Inniskeen to try and pick up a player, it’s Conor McCarthy who would be offered a handy job and a house in Killarney or Kilmacud. Take your pick between the Scotstown wing-back or his club and county goalkeeping colleague Rory Beggan as the jewel in their crown.
Potential threat: Picking out a player who made strong strides forward at senior level in 2024 is cheating a little, but the only obvious choice here is Michael Hamill. The 21-year-old Ulster University student eats up ground, loves to take on defenders and has a real eye for a score.
League prediction: If an outside manager came in and wanted to prioritise promotion at the expense of medium and long-term prosperity, then that could probably be achieved. However Gabriel Bannigan is a local man who served his time under Vinny Corey, he’ll be allowed take some chances in the spring. Personnel-wise, they have the talent to go up but instead, expect a mid-table finish.