Garrycastle enter 7th Heaven:
Too old, too slow, a spent force were some of the adjectives thrown in the direction of Garrycastle during the year as they spluttered from the group stages of the 2014 Westmeath Senior Football championship. Potential Champions? Nah, not a hope! Boy were we wrong as the Athlone based side deservedly swept to their 7th Flanagan cup triumph since 2001 with a comprehensive win over Mullingar Shamrocks at Cusack Park on Sunday before a crowd of 4675. With Dessie Dolan orchestrating all the important plays, Garrycastle were full value for their 1-11 to 0-08 victory. Alex Gardiners goal in the opening half gave the shannonsiders a vital 1-3 to 0-3 half time lead having played against a strong wind in the opening half. Indeed, they weren't flattered by that lead as Shamrocks were not clicking and did not score until the 21st minute. Mullingar did make a battle of it in the second half with a much improved performance and with successive points from Ciaran Curley and Lorcan Smith they were back to within a point of Garrycastle within the opening five minutes of the second half. However, Des Dolan and Michael Monaghan responded with two points to maintain Garrycastles three point lead midway through the second half. Dolan tagged on another couple of scores to guarantee the result. The 2012 All Ireland Club finalists certainly used all their experience to great effect as they controlled the game throughout and indeed they will quietly fancy their chances of making progress in Leinster. They will face Longford Champions Emmet Og Killoe in two weeks time but for now its celebration time. Comhghairdeas libh go leir.
AIB Leinster Junior Hurling Club Championship:
St Brigids fresh from their Westmeath Intermediate club championship win two weeks ago made a winning start to their Leinster club campaign at Rochfortbridge on Sunday. They had far too much firepower for their opponents Barrindarrig from Wicklow whom they beat by 1-22 to 1-3. They play Knockbridge of Louth in the next round which is on Sunday 9th November in Louth.
Raharney face St Mullins in AIB Leinster Senior Hurling:
For the second successive year, the Senior Hurling champions of Westmeath and Carlow face each other in the quarter finals of the Leinster club championship with Raharney and St Mullins clashing at Cusack Park. Last year, the representatives were Castletown Geoghegan and Mount Leinster Rangers who played a very close contest which saw Rangers win by two points. It was the start of a marvellous odyssey for the South Carlow side who won the Leinster title and reached the All Ireland club final in what was a huge boost not just for Carlow but for all so called weaker counties. Looking forward to next Sundays game, what do St Mullins bring to the table? They won their 24th County Senior championship title on Sunday 19th October when they came from behind to beat Naomh Eoin by two points on a 0-9 to 0-7 scoreline. Their win leaves them sitting proudly on top of the Carlow Senior Championship table and they will be formidable opponents for Raharney. With established County Senior hurlers such as Marty and James Kavanagh, the south Carlow side wont fear Raharney. Raharney will be looking at this game as one where they can make progress from. It is four years since they participated in Leinster and they know that they have the ammunition to get over this hurdle and make an impact in Leinster this year. Back in 2010, Raharney beat Coolderry of Offaly by 0-17 to 0-14 in the quarter finals before losing narrowly to Oulart The Ballagh by 4-11 to 4-07 in a game which they had the winning of. With the nucleus of that team still available plus the addition of new talents such as the Doyle twins, then Raharney will not have any qualms about Sundays game. Johnny Greville has them well tuned and they fully deserved their county final win over Castlepollard on Sunday 19th October. The last time that St Mullins played a Westmeath side in the Leinster club championship was in 2002 when they overcame Lough Lene Gaels by 1-9 to 1-6 in Carlow. I expect Raharney to win next week but not by much; home advantage may well be the key. Throw in at Cusack Park is at 2-30pm.
Price the key man in Irish Win:
Clonkill's Eoin Price was the toast of the Irish team as his haul of 2-5 was instrumental in the Irish win over Scotland at Newry on Saturday 25th October. The Irish team overcame an eight point deficit from the first leg in Scotland a week previously to win by 2-18 to 0-8 and claim the series by seven points at the finish. Price claimed the man of the match award which certainly adds to his great reputation in the compromise series over the past few years.
Scór na nÓg Dates set:
Westmeath GAA's Scór committe set their dates for this years county competitions which commence at the end of November. Two County Semi finals are being held on Saturday 29th November and Sunday 30th November in Ballymore and The Downs respectively. The County final is on Sunday 7th December in Ballymore. The County Quiz final is on Saturday 6th December with the venue to be decided. Clubs are still welcome to enter and information can be obtained from the Secretary Catherine Daly at 087 9185962 or [email protected]
I can be contacted at 086 3992403 or [email protected]