Junior & Intermediate Football Final Previews:

Sunday 4th October marks the opening of a very busy phase in Westmeath GAA circles with the first Adult finals of the season involving Milltown & Multyfarnham at Junior Football and Athlone facing Tubberclair in the Intermediate final.

Proceedings at Cusack Park next Sunday commence with the clash of Milltown and Multyfarnham in the Junior decider.  A bit like the recent All Ireland final in that the two teams most fancied to reach this years decider have succeeded in doing so and for the most part have been very impressive in reaching this stage. They drew in the league stages of the championship and Multyfarnham edged what a rather meaningless play off to decide top spot in the table a few weeks back. Next Sunday's decider is likely to be very tight indeed. Milltown are one of Westmeath's oldest clubs having been first founded back in 1888 and they have six Junior titles to their name with the last being in 2003. Multyfarnham in their current guise are one of the county's younger clubs but their forefathers last claimed a Junior crown back in 1956.  In this years championship, both teams finished the regular season unbeaten with six wins and a draw from their seven group games. As stated earlier, Multyfarnham edged the play off game before narrowly defeating Mullingar shamrocks by 0-17 to 1-12 to gain passage to this years final.  Milltown like their opponents next Sunday, qualified directly for the semi final and faced Ballycomoyle in the last four defeating the North county side by 3-12 to 1-10.  En route to the final, the two teams have been prolific with Milltown accumulating 5-20 as their highest score while Multyfarnham managed a higher 5-26 in one of their group games. Certainly they both have the firepower to create what should be an open and entertaining game. Milltown are probably the more tighter side in a battle while Multyfarnham are more fluid in their overall play. Multyfarnham were in the final last year and were defeated by Moate All Whites while Milltown haven't been in the final since 2010.  I do have a feeling that Milltown are marginally the better bet overall as they really are a solid outfit. Multyfarnham are on a huge upward curve but my instinct is that they may not make the jump this year but it will be mighty close one way or the other.

The Intermediate final sees Tubberclair face their neighbours Athlone in what is a first ever meeting of the sides in a final at this level. Tubberclair are seeking to claim a first title since winning in 2009 while Athlone are looking for a first ever Intermediate Crown. As Athlone have never been out of senior football before this year, then it is not a very surprising fact. This will be the second meeting of the teams so far this year as they both were placed in section B of the Intermediate Championship. In that encounter, played in Moate on 11th August, Athlone came out on top by 0-16 to 1-7 to help them to top spot in the table on full points while Tubberclair claimed second place with that defeat being their only one en route to todays final.  Athlone staged a massive fight back in their semi final against Rosemount three weeks ago when coming back from a 2-05 to 0-2 half time deficit to win by 1-10 to 2-5. Tubberclair had to overcome Moate All Whites by a point in the quarter final and were forced to a replay by Tang before winning the replay at Pairc Chiarian two weeks ago by 0-12 to 0-8. The teams have met in finals before but at Senior level with Athlone coming out on top back in 1988 but that is aeons ago and has no bearing whatsoever on next Sundays encounter. Looking at Athlone first; they were desperately disappointed to lose their Senior Status in 2014 but six losses and a relegation play off defeat to Castldaly consigned them to the Intermediate grade for the first time in their very long history. So far this year, the town side have done all that has been asked of them and with a number of County Senior players on tap, they are undefeated going into next Sunday's decider. However, they did make extremely hard work of disposing of a talented Rosemount outfit in the semi final. Tubberclair have alternated between the Senior & Intermediate Grade quite a number of times in their history but like their neighbours, they will be confident of making the jump back to the top flight. They last claimed the Peter Geraghty Cup in 2009 and certainly wont be in Cusack Park to make up the numbers. They have had a slightly longer route to the final qualifying via the quarter final and a semi final replay and they are well prepared. Athlone will be clear favourites for the title and in my opinion should win. But favourites don't always win as was proved in the senior semi finals last weekend so be prepared for a tightly contested final on Sunday. The Junior final is at 2-00pm with the Intermediate final at 3-30pm on Sunday 4th October.

Castledaly & St Lomans Mullingar qualify for Senior Final:
A bumper crowd turned out on Sunday at Cusack Park for the Senior football semi finals and it was a joyful day for the footballers of Castledaly and St Lomans Mullingar. Castledaly faced Tyrrellspass in the opening game and the south county side who dodged relegation last year outfought the tidy town to deservedly win through to their first final since 2008. St Lomans Mullingar faced their town rivals Mullingar Shamrocks in the second semi final and in a dominant second half performance claimed their place in the final for the second time in three years. It promises to be a mouth watering clash on Sunday 11th October with the clash of town v country always something to look forward to.

Crookedwood & Brownstown to contest Intermediate Hurling final:
Two very interesting Intermediate hurling semi finals at headquarters on Saturday saw Crookedwood overcome Raharney and Brownstown defeat Ringtown to claim their spots in this years final. Crookedwood had seven points to spare in their win and were comfortable winners in a dominant performance. Brownstown had the same margin of victory over Ringtown but this was a tighter affair throughout and the Archerstown side were always in a battle to win this one right up until the finish. The final will be on Saturday 10th October.

Senior Hurling Semi Finals:
Cusack Park will be the venue for both Senior Hurling semi finals on Saturday 3rd October with two very interesting games down for decision. Castlepollard face Clonkill in the opening game which has a 3-15pm throw in time and Lough Lene Gaels clash with Raharney in the second semi final which has a 4-45pm throw in.

GAA NATIONAL CLUB DRAW 2016
Following its success over the past two years, in which over €4.5 million has been raised by clubs, we are pleased to let you know that the G.A.A. National Club Draw will be an annual event. As you may be aware, the sole purpose of the G.A.A. National Club Draw is to assist clubs in their drive to raise much needed funds to aid in the development and the promotion of our games. This is an opportunity for clubs to raise up to €20,000. Each club retains all the proceeds from the tickets sold by their club. All prizes are provided by Ard Chomhairle. Further information, including promotional posters and flyers, will be sent by post to all clubs in the coming weeks. Tickets remain at €10 each a maximum of 2,000 tickets may be requested by each club. The next draw will take place on March 11th 2016.

Westmeath GAA Lotto:
The most recent draw was on Tuesday 22nd September with the Jackpot of €1600. The numbers drawn were 12,16,29 and 30 and there was no Jackpot winner. There were three match 3 winners of €67 each and they were David Gavin C/O St Oliver Plunketts GAA; Jimmy Keeleghan C/O Westmeath Ladies and J.E.T C/O Westmeath ladies. Next draw is on Tuesday 29th September for a Jackpot of €1700.

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

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