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Westmeath Football thread

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Replying To iarmhiabu:  "I understand the situation but it's Maryland Tang & Company who you're trying to deal with here. It's unfortunate for Lilliput. Maryland & Tang are more interested in getting one over the county board."
Put one over the county board at the expense of young fellas. Real classy from Maryland tang. They'll get no luck for it.

2maroonjerseys (Galway) - Posts: 84 - 23/10/2024 12:18:32    2576533

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Replying To TigerWoods90:  "Seems like quite a harsh comment, they like other teams had an era where they were competing at Division 1 and that doesn't tend to last forever for any club. Two small rural parishes with low numbers who both have been competing at senior level over the last number of years. Not a bad return in my opinion, I think they were in a Minor Division 1 final in 2018 of which many now form the Tang team."
In 2019, Milltown, Ballymore, Tang, and Maryland were combined into one team. It was an insane amalgamation, and it's baffling how the county board allowed it.

Fighting-Cocks69 (Westmeath) - Posts: 24 - 23/10/2024 12:22:39    2576535

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Replying To Temple56:  "My team for division 2 next year. Would this squad compete in div 2? Am I missing anyone you would have put into the squad?

1. Jason Daly
2. Daniel Scahil
3. Charlie Drumm
4. Conor Dillon
5. Shane Allen
6. Ronan Wallace
7. Joe Moran
8. Ray Connellen
9. Jonny Lynam
10. Sam McCartan
11. Ronan O Toole
12. Matthew Whittkar
13. Luke Loughlin
14. John Heslin
15. Robbie Forde

16. Trevor Martin
17. Eoin Mulvihill
18. Senan Baker
19. Nigel Harte
20. Andrew Kilmartin
21. Brian Cooney
22. Jack Geoghegan
23. Stephen Smith
24. Conor McCormack
25. Daragh Lorwy
26. Eoaghan McCabe
27. Danny McCartan
28. Dylan Murtagh"
Brian Guerin, Eoin Doran, Sean Leech, Jack Duncan a few i can think of

dec (None) - Posts: 287 - 23/10/2024 12:30:15    2576537

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Replying To dec:  "Brian Guerin, Eoin Doran, Sean Leech, Jack Duncan a few i can think of"
I heard over the weekend otoole is going down under. Big loss for Westmeath if true.

Westmeath213 (Westmeath) - Posts: 336 - 23/10/2024 13:13:46    2576546

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https://www.westmeathexaminer.ie/2024/10/22/were-gone-like-soccer-declares-downs-boss-after-shootout/
and the award for sore losers of the year goes to

lakecounty90 (Westmeath) - Posts: 115 - 23/10/2024 13:25:00    2576551

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Replying To Fighting-Cocks69:  "In 2019, Milltown, Ballymore, Tang, and Maryland were combined into one team. It was an insane amalgamation, and it's baffling how the county board allowed it."
Yes but I'm fairly sure they were defeated by The Downs on their own in 2018 in the Division 1 Final. Yeah that amalgamation was ridiculous in all fairness.

TigerWoods90 (Westmeath) - Posts: 155 - 23/10/2024 16:19:21    2576577

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Replying To lakecounty90:  "https://www.westmeathexaminer.ie/2024/10/22/were-gone-like-soccer-declares-downs-boss-after-shootout/
and the award for sore losers of the year goes to"
think it was a fair reaction after losing on pens after a replay. its gotta hurt.

Meridian (Westmeath) - Posts: 655 - 23/10/2024 18:41:28    2576592

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Replying To Westmeath213:  "I heard over the weekend otoole is going down under. Big loss for Westmeath if true."
A loss yes, but i'm not sure its that big a loss. Always thought that Westmeath never got the best out of him.

Meridian (Westmeath) - Posts: 655 - 23/10/2024 18:43:03    2576593

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Replying To Meridian:  "A loss yes, but i'm not sure its that big a loss. Always thought that Westmeath never got the best out of him."
There's literally no bigger loss off the current panel

Bluelake (Westmeath) - Posts: 163 - 23/10/2024 19:15:41    2576598

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Replying To Fighting-Cocks69:  "In 2019, Milltown, Ballymore, Tang, and Maryland were combined into one team. It was an insane amalgamation, and it's baffling how the county board allowed it."
The bitterness from some here is off the wall. You'd know very few have any input in underage coaching or administration and no doubt are from town clubs where lack of numbers is the furthest thing from a problem to them. What was insane about that amalgamation. Milltown and Ballymore are already joined and have been for years as Millmore Gaels and Maryland/Tang have been amalgamated underage for over 30 years. Just because they are the formation of two senior clubs doesn't mean they struggle any less for numbers at underage than if they were stand alone. Maryland/Tang and Millmore Gaels are neighbouring each other so what's the problem with them amalgamating to ensure football for young lads. That year they so happened to have a group of talented footballers and won a championship. It could very easily happen they get together and have a less talented group that don't win but at least lads are getting football. The bottom line is the county board put in the rule in the planning report at the start of the year about clubs with two teams have to play at the same time. They broke this rule with the under 16 championship debacle and lost out in their appeal so now they have to enforce it. Fairness is entitled to all teams and Maryland/Tang are no different. Young lads aren't been deprived football like has been suggested. If a team enters two teams it is on the premise they have more than enough numbers to field two teams and this should not be an issue when this arises. And there is no case Maryland/Tang are only doing this to get at the county board as has been immaturely stated here too. Some keyboard warriors here need to take a good look at themselves before posting scurrilous rubbish without knowing full facts.

mintyfresh (Westmeath) - Posts: 245 - 23/10/2024 19:18:03    2576599

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If you have heslin , o toole , Martin gone , that's a hammer blow . Hope I'm proven wrong but I really fear for westmeath this year , if 1 or 2 big names step away on top of maguire and James dolan then the whole nucleus of the team could be ripped out. O Toole was instrumental for Lomans, hes a vital cog for westmeath as a creator and finisher .The whole process of recruiting a new manager was shambolic , would likes of Solan that's at Longford plus Andy moran not have been attainable . If we had moved sooner got in someone high profile it could have resulted in a domino affect and lot of players change their minds for 2025 , instead we're messing around watching all our neighbours getting business sorted. Are there doubts around Wallace and Conellan aswel ? Large chunk of 1st 15 seems in doubt

philbrown (Westmeath) - Posts: 236 - 23/10/2024 19:24:27    2576601

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Replying To Meridian:  "A loss yes, but i'm not sure its that big a loss. Always thought that Westmeath never got the best out of him."
Arguably our most consistent forward at inter county level over the past 5 years. We'd never have won the Tailteann cup without him.

Claretandblue (Westmeath) - Posts: 1890 - 23/10/2024 21:29:33    2576614

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Replying To mintyfresh:  "The bitterness from some here is off the wall. You'd know very few have any input in underage coaching or administration and no doubt are from town clubs where lack of numbers is the furthest thing from a problem to them. What was insane about that amalgamation. Milltown and Ballymore are already joined and have been for years as Millmore Gaels and Maryland/Tang have been amalgamated underage for over 30 years. Just because they are the formation of two senior clubs doesn't mean they struggle any less for numbers at underage than if they were stand alone. Maryland/Tang and Millmore Gaels are neighbouring each other so what's the problem with them amalgamating to ensure football for young lads. That year they so happened to have a group of talented footballers and won a championship. It could very easily happen they get together and have a less talented group that don't win but at least lads are getting football. The bottom line is the county board put in the rule in the planning report at the start of the year about clubs with two teams have to play at the same time. They broke this rule with the under 16 championship debacle and lost out in their appeal so now they have to enforce it. Fairness is entitled to all teams and Maryland/Tang are no different. Young lads aren't been deprived football like has been suggested. If a team enters two teams it is on the premise they have more than enough numbers to field two teams and this should not be an issue when this arises. And there is no case Maryland/Tang are only doing this to get at the county board as has been immaturely stated here too. Some keyboard warriors here need to take a good look at themselves before posting scurrilous rubbish without knowing full facts."
No bitterness, it's the only underage team in lilliput that has those numbers, I can list off the numbers for the teams underneath while I'm at it for ya but I'm not going to. I'm well aware of the town teams having huge numbers to pick from. That problem arises with no parish rule or boundaries enforced. Parents keeping a link to their club rather than the one they're nearest to now. It'll go the way of the four town clubs lomans, shamrocks, downs and shandonagh hoovering up and fighting over young lads to play for them.
The size of the lilliput panel is an outlier to the rest of the teams. I know of parents cribbing about their kids missing out on coaching at the bigger clubs because the cream gets the attention. Drive the 10/15 mins out to us and you'll get coaching and game time instead of kids dropping out at 12/13 they might stick with it.
All this fiasco will do is create the headache it's caused already and the weekend finals are the culmination of it. We're here trying to unearth future senior club and county players. This will cause a few to say f this and walk away from football. Common sense rather than oneupmanship has to prevail, shortsighted decisions have massive implications only 3/4/5 years down the line.

2maroonjerseys (Galway) - Posts: 84 - 23/10/2024 22:20:51    2576622

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Replying To 2maroonjerseys:  "No bitterness, it's the only underage team in lilliput that has those numbers, I can list off the numbers for the teams underneath while I'm at it for ya but I'm not going to. I'm well aware of the town teams having huge numbers to pick from. That problem arises with no parish rule or boundaries enforced. Parents keeping a link to their club rather than the one they're nearest to now. It'll go the way of the four town clubs lomans, shamrocks, downs and shandonagh hoovering up and fighting over young lads to play for them.
The size of the lilliput panel is an outlier to the rest of the teams. I know of parents cribbing about their kids missing out on coaching at the bigger clubs because the cream gets the attention. Drive the 10/15 mins out to us and you'll get coaching and game time instead of kids dropping out at 12/13 they might stick with it.
All this fiasco will do is create the headache it's caused already and the weekend finals are the culmination of it. We're here trying to unearth future senior club and county players. This will cause a few to say f this and walk away from football. Common sense rather than oneupmanship has to prevail, shortsighted decisions have massive implications only 3/4/5 years down the line."
What oneupmanship? Ye would have been fully aware from the planning report of the rules when entering a second team in the competition. I commend Lilliput in being able to field two teams and having a team of the calibre to qualify for a Division 1 final. Obviously a lot of good work is going on there to be able to call on those numbers but when you start blaming other clubs who are doing the best for their players for you not being able to play players in both matches is a bit rich for a club who wouldn't have been as flush with those numbers until recently. It's a bit dramatic to say this will cause under 14s to walk away from football. If anything you would imagine every player within the club in that age group getting football between both teams would be a bigger influence on them not wanting to walk away. Trying to unearth future club and county stars as you say is making sure every kid plays as long as possible. The lad that is on the second team at under 14 could be one of the main players on a senior team but that won't happen if he is dropped for a lad that comes back to the second team after he is finished with the first team. That is the logic behind the rule in the first place and it is to protect the integrity of the competitions for the teams who are struggling in Division 6. By the way your earlier comment stating it was real classy by Maryland Tang and they would would get no luck by it sounds fairly bitter to me.

mintyfresh (Westmeath) - Posts: 245 - 24/10/2024 01:38:59    2576634

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Replying To lakecounty90:  "https://www.westmeathexaminer.ie/2024/10/22/were-gone-like-soccer-declares-downs-boss-after-shootout/
and the award for sore losers of the year goes to"
Obviously you did not read the article you reference regards penalties deciding the result. The Downs manager was fair in his comments about both teams and praised Loman's getting over the line. Sportsmanship comes in many guises but tagging a team as sore losers after an epic contest shows a lack of it on your part.

Convert2 (Westmeath) - Posts: 27 - 24/10/2024 07:51:27    2576639

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Both Milltown and Garrycastle have players in county hurling finals this weekend and I think It's fair to say that maybe last Sunday was a day for extra time at least… and dare I say penalties also.

Ben McGauran was a player that got me thinking at the weekend, great county minor, a prospect that got away at county level? He was going to win the game by himself just after half time. Conor Gibney was outstanding also. James Dolan could be the difference in the replay but I'd take him out of that forward line and play him properly either wing back or midfield and let him do what he's always done for Westmeath.

WmeathWarrior (Westmeath) - Posts: 62 - 24/10/2024 08:29:02    2576642

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Replying To Outtheroad:  "U14 Div1 Final
St. Lomans v Lilliput Gaels
26th Oct @ 12:45
Venue: The Downs

U14 Div6 SF
Maryland-Tang V Lilliput Gaels
26th Oct @ 12:45
Venue: Tang

Implication of the recent objection.
Hard to believe Lilliput Gaels are being asked to play two games at the same time on Saturday. First time that Lilliput Gaels have reached a Div1 Final at any age grade and half the panel can't be there.

Heard that a request was made to play the games at the same time and venue (Shandonagh) so parents and supporters would at least be in the same grounds.
Maryland-Tang refused to give up home advantage!"
Can you explain what you mean by "half the panel can't be there" for the Div 1 Final?

Meridian (Westmeath) - Posts: 655 - 24/10/2024 08:57:46    2576644

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Replying To TheGaaMan77:  "Have we many managerial vacancies thus far ?
Be interesting to see what clubs stick and who twist."
Rumour has it that the Multy manager Graham Corcoran is going to Tang. He was there with Keith Higgins in 2023.

JakeWest (Westmeath) - Posts: 8 - 24/10/2024 09:14:45    2576649

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Replying To Meridian:  "Can you explain what you mean by "half the panel can't be there" for the Div 1 Final?"
Lilliput Gaels started the year with a panel of just over 30. I believe the decision was made to enter a second team in Div 6 to allow their panel to play meaningful matches and to avoid having 15 or 16 subs for a single team. As we all know players drop out or change sports at 13-14 if they aren't playing games.

The whole panel are eligible to play for the Div 1 team, the 15 'named' players cannot and have not played on the Div 6 team. Apart from games, the mentors treat all players as one panel. Training at the same time etc.

Due to a club (probably Maryland/Tang) insisting that the planning report introduced a new stipulation that clubs with multiple teams must play at the same time at the start of the year they have always played their games at exactly the same time. What's different here is that the panel have now qualified for the Div 1 County Final and now half the squad are fixed to play at a different venue at the same time. Maryland/Tang will not agree to moving the fixture to allow the 15 players on the Div 6 team to attend the Div 1 final for which they are eligible.

This rule is extremely unfair on those kids who have trained and been part of the Div 1 panel all year. Is it not enough for a team to have to name 15 players as was always the case? Who requested this 'rule' be introduced in the planning report and if its good enough for Juvenile football, can we now look at introducing it for the adult clubs who have multiple teams going forward? Imagine the furore if Shamrocks, the downs, Lomans, Kinnegad et al should have their senior and junior games fixed for the same time in the planning report. (Not targeting any of the above clubs btw, they just happen to have senior and Junior teams)

As mentioned before Maryland/Tang should not be in division 6.
A quick glance at their results from the group would reveal the elephant the room:

Millmore 1-0 4-19 Maryland/Tang
Lilliput Gaels 0-2 3-9 Maryland/Tang
Kilbeggan Conceded against them.
Athlone did push them close and will again I hope.

Its not beyond the realms of possibility that Lilliput may decide to concede as Millmore have done in the previous round, and we would have the crazy situation of 16 subs at a Div 1 final and nobody at the Div 6 Semi final in Tang. Its very unfair on the Div 6 players and parents to have to make a choice like this and is totally against the County's Strategic plan which aims to increase playing numbers within the county.

I would like to think that Maryland/Tang have not used their influence on the Co Board to incorrectly place themselves in Div 6 and further use it to introduce the rule re multiple team into the planning report, but I'm sceptical.

One final point, I see its been mentioned multiple times that the rules are the rules and teams knew it from the outset. That's all fair enough, but what were the alternatives for clubs with panels of 30 +? Not enter a team and reduce game time for their panel? That's not an option in my opinion and the new rule here is ridiculous! The Minor board have done fantastic work, but if they want to increase games and participation at this critical age (u14) they must facilitate a more flexible system to allow clubs who from time to time retain enough numbers to enter a second team. Many clubs will not bother with a second team next year and that's a shame for the players in my opinion.

Highball_Lowball (Westmeath) - Posts: 10 - 24/10/2024 10:20:18    2576666

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Replying To Highball_Lowball:  "Lilliput Gaels started the year with a panel of just over 30. I believe the decision was made to enter a second team in Div 6 to allow their panel to play meaningful matches and to avoid having 15 or 16 subs for a single team. As we all know players drop out or change sports at 13-14 if they aren't playing games.

The whole panel are eligible to play for the Div 1 team, the 15 'named' players cannot and have not played on the Div 6 team. Apart from games, the mentors treat all players as one panel. Training at the same time etc.

Due to a club (probably Maryland/Tang) insisting that the planning report introduced a new stipulation that clubs with multiple teams must play at the same time at the start of the year they have always played their games at exactly the same time. What's different here is that the panel have now qualified for the Div 1 County Final and now half the squad are fixed to play at a different venue at the same time. Maryland/Tang will not agree to moving the fixture to allow the 15 players on the Div 6 team to attend the Div 1 final for which they are eligible.

This rule is extremely unfair on those kids who have trained and been part of the Div 1 panel all year. Is it not enough for a team to have to name 15 players as was always the case? Who requested this 'rule' be introduced in the planning report and if its good enough for Juvenile football, can we now look at introducing it for the adult clubs who have multiple teams going forward? Imagine the furore if Shamrocks, the downs, Lomans, Kinnegad et al should have their senior and junior games fixed for the same time in the planning report. (Not targeting any of the above clubs btw, they just happen to have senior and Junior teams)

As mentioned before Maryland/Tang should not be in division 6.
A quick glance at their results from the group would reveal the elephant the room:

Millmore 1-0 4-19 Maryland/Tang
Lilliput Gaels 0-2 3-9 Maryland/Tang
Kilbeggan Conceded against them.
Athlone did push them close and will again I hope.

Its not beyond the realms of possibility that Lilliput may decide to concede as Millmore have done in the previous round, and we would have the crazy situation of 16 subs at a Div 1 final and nobody at the Div 6 Semi final in Tang. Its very unfair on the Div 6 players and parents to have to make a choice like this and is totally against the County's Strategic plan which aims to increase playing numbers within the county.

I would like to think that Maryland/Tang have not used their influence on the Co Board to incorrectly place themselves in Div 6 and further use it to introduce the rule re multiple team into the planning report, but I'm sceptical.

One final point, I see its been mentioned multiple times that the rules are the rules and teams knew it from the outset. That's all fair enough, but what were the alternatives for clubs with panels of 30 +? Not enter a team and reduce game time for their panel? That's not an option in my opinion and the new rule here is ridiculous! The Minor board have done fantastic work, but if they want to increase games and participation at this critical age (u14) they must facilitate a more flexible system to allow clubs who from time to time retain enough numbers to enter a second team. Many clubs will not bother with a second team next year and that's a shame for the players in my opinion."
I stopped reading when you used the word "probably", in relation to what you ASSUME happened. Like a lot of posts on here, all speculation without knowing the facts.

TheLineKing (Westmeath) - Posts: 25 - 24/10/2024 10:57:15    2576674

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