Minors disappoint against Kildare.
For the second week in a row, Westmeath minors fell to Kildare in the opening round of the Leinster Minor Championship. While last week, it was the county hurlers who exited the championship, at least the Minor footballers have a second chance to make progress through the qualifiers. For the most part there wasn't much difference between the sides in this match played at Cusack Park in excellent conditions on Saturday but the visitors were certainly more clinical in their finishing as they won by four points on a 1-12 to 1-08 scoreline. Indeed for much of the opening half, Westmeath looked the stronger outfit when leading by 0-4 to 0-3 after the opening twenty minutes. However, the home side had squandered a number of scoring opportunities which proved costly in the final ten minutes before the break as Kildare added on 1-3 without reply to move five points clear by half time. Westmeath dominated the third quarter of the game but crucially couldn't get enough scores to create a winning surge. With Westmeath trailing by 0-7 to 1-7 in the 12th minute of the half, midfielder Fergal Hynes was very unlucky to see his shot trail narrowly wide when an equalising goal looked certain. In the final quarter, Kildare did enough to keep their advantage and while Westmeath did goal three minutes from time, it wasn't enough to swing the result on the day. Kildare qualify for the quarter finals on 17th May while Westmeath will await the outcome of the draw to see who they will play on either 30th April or 7th May. Though disappointed with the result, Tommy Carr and his management team will certainly have seen potential in their squad and they have plenty of ability to progress much further in the competition if the desire is there. The team has a second chance but the focus must be complete if they want to extend the season past the early part of May. Let us hope that they can do the business in the next game.

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship:
Next Sunday (April 27th) sees Westmeath Senior Hurlers open their account in this years Leinster Championship with a difficult away fixture to Antrim in Ballycastle with a throw in time of 3-00pm. This will be the third year in succession for both sides to face one another in the opening round and the score stands at one apiece in those meetings. Two years ago Westmeath came from six points down to claim victory over the saffron's by 0-14 to 0-12 at Cusack Park. Twelve months later, the northerners again made the journey to Mullingar and came from behind to win by 3-18 to 2-13.
In this years league, both sides didn't set the world on fire with disappointing results all around but Antrim did operate in Division 1B while Westmeath were a rung below in Division 2A.
Antrim lost all five group games to prop up the table but significantly they beat Offaly in a play off at Ballycastle three weeks ago by 1-18 to 1-14 to remain in the higher division for next season. Westmeath's league form was poor with just a win over Kildare and a draw against London in Division 2A. It's not exactly inspiring form to carry into the Leinster Championship but the squad has been working hard since the end of the league and there is a hope that the promise within the team can come to fruition next Sunday. Indeed in the teams early season encounter in the Walsh Cup on 19th January, Westmeath had a 3-17 to 0-16 win so the ability is there to carve out what would be a very important win. Westmeath certainly will not be favoured to win next week but they do not have any qualms about playing Antrim and I suspect that there is a good degree of confidence within the squad about this game.

Scór All Ireland:
Westmeath GAA would like to wish the three clubs representing the county in next Saturday's All Ireland Scór finals every success as they strive to attain All Ireland Honours. The finals are in Castlebar and the county will  be represented by Mullingar Shamrocks, St Josephs and The Downs respectively.

Westmeath Football Supporters Draw:
The Westmeath Football Supporters draw is being held on Thursday 24th April 2014 in The Greville Arms Hotel. With a Prize fund of €20000 and first prize being a car, the draw is great value at €50 per ticket. Tickets have been on sale over the past number of weeks and sales have been going very well to date but for anyone that still wants to be in the draw, tickets will be on sale right up to the date of the draw. Information on the draw can be obtained from Paul Daly(Chairman) at 086 8314388 or John Cochrane(Secretary) 087 9008641

GAA Open Night:
The GAA's series of national 'Open Nights', will take place during the week of 5th to 9th May As part of the marketing and promotional plan for the 2014 Championships, county teams made their players available to supporters and local media in a co-ordinated programme of events over two nights. The Westmeath Open night will be in Cusack Park and full details of the event will be announced during the course of the coming week.

Referee Course:
Reminder to ALL Clubs that the Referees Course for young referees i.e students 16 years or older/transition year students is being on Thursday evening next 24th April 2014 at 7.30pm in Cusack Park, Mullingar.
This course is 'tailored' specifically for young players/adults and it's purpose is to have young referee's in clubs to officiate at Under 8's 10's and 12's games.
All clubs are expected to have at least one person attend the course. 

I can be contacted at [email protected] or 086 3992403 Tweet

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