Tang to meet Athlone in first game as Caulry face champions

Tang's first Westmeath SFC game in 28 years will be against Athlone, after the draws for the 2022 Westmeath club championships were made in the Mullingar Park Hotel last week.

Having defeated Milltownpass in last year's Westmeath intermediate football final - with Adam Neary kicking the wnning point - Tang will dine at the top table for the first time since 1994 next year.

For their part, Athlone will be managed by club stalwarts Fergal Murray and Eoin Jordan after the departure earlier in the year of former Mayo star Liam MccHale.

Moate All Whites v Killucan and Rosemount v Tyrrellspass are the other first round games in Section B, from which only two teams will qualify for the knockout stages. Moate were very unlucky not to make the quarter-finals last year as a draw with Caulry in their last group game saw them edged out.

In Section A, Westmeath senior champions St Loman's, Mullingar will meet Caulry in their opening game. The Mount Temple side pushed the Mullingar men all the way in last year's quarter-final clash. St Loman's, with All-Ireland winning Offaly U20 manager Declan Kelly still in charge, will be bidding to lift the Flanagan Cup for the third year in a row.

Last year's defeated finalists Garrycastle (now under the management of Denis Connerton and John Donnellan) will meet Mullingar Shamrocks in their opener, while The Downs will face local rivals Coralstown/Kinnegad.

In Section A, four teams will advance to the knockout stages which gives teams considerable wriggle room to recover from a bad start as St Loman's showed last year.

In the Westmeath IFC, Castledaly v Milltown (Section A, a repeat of last year's quarter-final) and Kilbeggan Shamrocks v Tubberclair (Section B) are among the opening round fixtures. Last year's defeated finalists Milltownpass will meet near neighbours St Mary's, Rochfortbridge in their opening round game.

Moving down to ranks, there will be a Junior 1 FC, a Junior 2 FC and a Junior 'B' FC this year. In Section A (the second strings of senior teams) of the Junior 1 FC, there will be local derbies between Garrycastle and Athlone and Mullingar Shamrocks and The Downs in the opening round. Section B consists of clubs whose first team is junior, with St Joseph's v Bunbrosna among the first round games.

Eleven teams will compete in the Junior 2 FC, including the first teams of Delvin and Loughnavalley. The Junior 'B' FC consists of four groups of five teams.

There will be three championships at Under-19 level, with eight teams competing in both Division 1 and 2. The Division 2 championship will feature combination teams like Cill Óige and Lilliput Gaels. In addition, five teams will compete for the Division 3 title.

See below for the first round games in the various Westmeath club football championships in 2022.

Shay Murtagh Precast Westmeath Senior FC

Section A - Round 1: St Loman's, Mullingar v Caulry; Garrycastle v Mullingar Shamrocks; Coralstown/Kinnegad v The Downs

Section B - Round 1: Killucan v Moate All Whites; Athlone v Tang; Tyrrellspass v Rosemount.

Writech Westmeath Intermediate FC

Section A - Round 1: Castledaly v Milltown; St Mary's, Rochfortbridge v Milltownpass; Shandonagh v St Malachy's.

Section B - Round 1: Kilbeggan Shamrocks v Tubberclair; Ballynacargy v Ballymore; Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall v Maryland.

Clarke's Bar Junior 1 FC

Section A - Round 1: St Loman's, Mullingar v Killucan; Mullingar Shamrocks v The Downs; Garrycastle v Athlone.

Section B - Round 1: St Joseph's v Bunbrosna; Ballycomoyle v Multyfarnham; St Paul's v Ballinagore.

Clarke's Bar Junior 2 FC

Section A - Round 1: Delvin v Rosemount; Multyfarnham v Loughnavalley; Caulry v Shandonagh.

Section B - Round 1: Coralstown/Kinnegad v The Downs; Mullingar Shamrocks v Moate All Whites; Killucan - bye.

Junior 'B' FC

Group 1 - Round 1: Milltown v Ballymore; St Malachy's Tyrrellspass; Caulry - bye.

Group 2 - Round 1: Castletown-Finea/Coole/Whitehall v Tang; Milltownpass v Coralstown/Kinnegad; Maryland - bye.

Group 3 - Round 1: Ballycomoyle v Mullingar Shamrocks; St Loman's, Mullingar v Kilbeggan Shamrocks; Tubberclair - bye.

Group 4 - Round 1: Garrycastle v Ballynacargy; St Mary's, Rochfortbridge v Bunbrosna; Castledaly - bye.

Under-19 Division 1 FC

Group 1 - Round 1: St Loman's, Mullingar v Athlone; Tubberclair v Caulry.

Group 2 - Round 1: Killucan v Coralstown/Kinnegad; Shandonagh v Moate All Whites.

Under-19 Division 2 FC

Group 1 - Round 1: Lilliput Gaels v Millmore Gaels; Mullingar Shamrocks v St Mary's, Rochfortbridge.

Group 2 - Round 1: Tyrrellspass v Cill Óige; Garrycastle v The Downs.

Under-19 Division 3 FC

Round 1: Delvin/St Paul's v Kilbeggan Shamrocks; St Michael's v Maryland/Tang; St Joseph's - bye.