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Westmeath Football thread

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I think my point still very valid after the weekends game, how we have been so bad at minor grade the last few years and the schools getting it right. I know the Marist have maybe 4-5 lads from Roscommon but still combine these schools teams with Rochfortbridge, Moate,Kilbeggab and then theres probably 1-2 lads going to school in Other schools like Ballymahon or Edenderry perhaps, How have we only won a handful of games at minor in the last 5 years is beyond belief.
Marist have Mchugh a great Talent as long as he stays fit, Whittaker which i seen last year although wasnt as close to goal foe the marist will be a county player, a few another 5-6 county Minors, where Mullingar were probably stacked all over maybe 1 forward shy of the full package. Midfield are giants and the way kickouts have gone suits them but they can also play football. Maloney, Masterson, sheerin, Weir,Mcwade, Higgins are all solid performers and then Scahill has the brilliance.
County Board need to be held accountable!!!

nadunta2025 (Westmeath) - Posts: 27 - 10/02/2026 11:35:39    2655771

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Replying To Fighting-Cocks69:  "I think that looks fairly accurate, but I think Kinnegad 2 may also be in Division 2."
Its Kinnegad 2 instead of Malachys

TheLineKing (Westmeath) - Posts: 31 - 10/02/2026 12:25:38    2655784

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Replying To nadunta2025:  "I think my point still very valid after the weekends game, how we have been so bad at minor grade the last few years and the schools getting it right. I know the Marist have maybe 4-5 lads from Roscommon but still combine these schools teams with Rochfortbridge, Moate,Kilbeggab and then theres probably 1-2 lads going to school in Other schools like Ballymahon or Edenderry perhaps, How have we only won a handful of games at minor in the last 5 years is beyond belief.
Marist have Mchugh a great Talent as long as he stays fit, Whittaker which i seen last year although wasnt as close to goal foe the marist will be a county player, a few another 5-6 county Minors, where Mullingar were probably stacked all over maybe 1 forward shy of the full package. Midfield are giants and the way kickouts have gone suits them but they can also play football. Maloney, Masterson, sheerin, Weir,Mcwade, Higgins are all solid performers and then Scahill has the brilliance.
County Board need to be held accountable!!!"
These players mostly made up the 2014 minor panel. Who didn't actually do badly. Yes, they lost all 3 group games (to Louth, Meath, and Kildare) , but they were small margins. 5 up against Louth with 7 minutes remaining, and got a red card, and lost momentum. Just like Ardee and Navan will point to small margins in their school defeats to Marist and Mary's.
They then went on to hammer the likes of Tipp and Laois in the reserve competition, before losing narrowly to Down in the final. Many of those players have improved a lot since then - and crucially Ormsby barely played due to injury.
Results don't always map to potential and progress in these competitions. But being competitive is certainly important - and the above team were. Westmeath u21 all-Ireland win in 1999 would have been a 1 point first round defeat had Kildare not missed a 21 yard free with the last kick of normal time.

Hopefully the u20s can go well this year - but the strongest chance will probably be 2027.

jamsie (Westmeath) - Posts: 508 - 10/02/2026 13:49:59    2655794

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Replying To nadunta2025:  "I think my point still very valid after the weekends game, how we have been so bad at minor grade the last few years and the schools getting it right. I know the Marist have maybe 4-5 lads from Roscommon but still combine these schools teams with Rochfortbridge, Moate,Kilbeggab and then theres probably 1-2 lads going to school in Other schools like Ballymahon or Edenderry perhaps, How have we only won a handful of games at minor in the last 5 years is beyond belief.
Marist have Mchugh a great Talent as long as he stays fit, Whittaker which i seen last year although wasnt as close to goal foe the marist will be a county player, a few another 5-6 county Minors, where Mullingar were probably stacked all over maybe 1 forward shy of the full package. Midfield are giants and the way kickouts have gone suits them but they can also play football. Maloney, Masterson, sheerin, Weir,Mcwade, Higgins are all solid performers and then Scahill has the brilliance.
County Board need to be held accountable!!!"
The two teams last weekend started 8 players that started for the County Minors last year,subs for the county were the same lads subs for the school all year , all in all theres loads of talent in the two teams last Saturday but your comparing an under 17 competition last year with an under 19th competition this year,not the same mix of players.

Thechick (Westmeath) - Posts: 287 - 10/02/2026 14:05:46    2655796

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Replying To CleanShoulder:  "Have you got a list of all divisions. Or first round fixtures"
They'll be posted 24 hours before each game, I believe.

Fighting-Cocks69 (Westmeath) - Posts: 135 - 10/02/2026 15:36:41    2655809

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Lost all there games and got to a Tier 3 Final, where as these two teams have just played in a leinster final along with others from 2025 minor team. Success breeds success.

nadunta2025 (Westmeath) - Posts: 27 - 10/02/2026 16:40:03    2655814

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Replying To nadunta2025:  "I think my point still very valid after the weekends game, how we have been so bad at minor grade the last few years and the schools getting it right. I know the Marist have maybe 4-5 lads from Roscommon but still combine these schools teams with Rochfortbridge, Moate,Kilbeggab and then theres probably 1-2 lads going to school in Other schools like Ballymahon or Edenderry perhaps, How have we only won a handful of games at minor in the last 5 years is beyond belief.
Marist have Mchugh a great Talent as long as he stays fit, Whittaker which i seen last year although wasnt as close to goal foe the marist will be a county player, a few another 5-6 county Minors, where Mullingar were probably stacked all over maybe 1 forward shy of the full package. Midfield are giants and the way kickouts have gone suits them but they can also play football. Maloney, Masterson, sheerin, Weir,Mcwade, Higgins are all solid performers and then Scahill has the brilliance.
County Board need to be held accountable!!!"
I do agree with you to an extent; the finances just don't seem to be there to put the proper structures in place at underage. Whether those finances aren't there or they are spent elsewhere is the other thing. S&C is probably one area we are lacking, I don't think our county U20s have any S&C setup which is a disadvantage straight away when facing Louth and Dublin. Again, whether this is the managements call or county board I don't know.

OverTheHill85 (Westmeath) - Posts: 230 - 10/02/2026 17:11:48    2655821

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Replying To Fighting-Cocks69:  "They'll be posted 24 hours before each game, I believe."
Probably

CleanShoulder (Westmeath) - Posts: 409 - 10/02/2026 21:18:35    2655845

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Huge game for Westmeath this saturday in Newry against Down.With upcoming games against Fermanagh and Limerick at home and Laois away-these teams not hectic at the minute so a result against Down would be massive for promotion hopes.Never easy away to Down and on our last 2 visits there we played ok but couldnt get over the line.Best of luck to management and squad and looking forward to the game.

Bruno@1 (Westmeath) - Posts: 301 - 11/02/2026 10:28:31    2655896

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We seem to get drawn away to down in the league.and while we can take nothing for granted a win would put us in a great spot. The team is in a good place and the return of eam mcartin has been huge . I fancy our chances on Saturday evening and it would be great to get out with the win . Good luck to all and safe travels to anyone heading up

mickcunningham (Westmeath) - Posts: 1920 - 11/02/2026 18:14:45    2655968

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Replying To mickcunningham:  "We seem to get drawn away to down in the league.and while we can take nothing for granted a win would put us in a great spot. The team is in a good place and the return of eam mcartin has been huge . I fancy our chances on Saturday evening and it would be great to get out with the win . Good luck to all and safe travels to anyone heading up"
We were home to Down in 2024 Div 3, and away last year in Div 2. How are home and away games decided?

Chops (Westmeath) - Posts: 863 - 11/02/2026 19:37:15    2655981

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Fantastic achievement for TUS winning the All Ireland Freshers A Championship over DCU. Several Westmeath lads to the fore, Shane Corcoran was excellent and Taylor Slevin picking up Man of the Match. Paul Keegan, Brian Ronan and Cian Whitney also all featured from the start.

OverTheHill85 (Westmeath) - Posts: 230 - 12/02/2026 22:27:35    2656140

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Absolute shambles.

After a vote this evening, where the county board delegate held the majority our championship format has been changed. I genuinely can't believe it.

Under the new structure, the 9th-ranked team overall will qualify for the quarter-finals by coming through a group while the 4th-ranked team in the championship will be knocked out. You could easily see a situation where Lomans finish 4th in Group A after facing top sides like The Downs, Shamrocks, Kinnegad and Garrycastle, while Kilcucan finish 3rd in Group B after playing teams like Moate, Tang, Athlone and Tubberclair.

How is that fair?

Not a single player I've spoken to wants this change. Can someone explain why this was pushed through and what the reasoning is? It's a real kick in the teeth for players and clubs.

If you believe I'm wrong please let me know and your reasons to why change was needed ????

I'm just fed up! County board finally had something right and then decided actually no we should change it as it's running too well.

Temple56 (Westmeath) - Posts: 615 - 12/02/2026 22:42:56    2656142

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Replying To Chops:  "We were home to Down in 2024 Div 3, and away last year in Div 2. How are home and away games decided?"
There's a hamster in a cage and the floor has squares with the various teams and either home or away written on them, whichever square the hamster lies down in determines the fixture. Been like that since the dawn of the national league, I wouldn't see any need to change it at this stage. Win some lose some

CleanShoulder (Westmeath) - Posts: 409 - 12/02/2026 23:47:10    2656150

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I actually can't believe the new Championship format that the county board have pushed through for this year. The one thing they had got right for the last few years and was the envy of other counties they have now gone and messed up! Who in their right mind would think it's a fair system that 3 teams qualify from each group for the knockouts when 1 group has all the stronger teams. This is now only going to weaken the knockout phase of the championships too. You could get a situation where team 2 in group B gets drawn against team 3 in group B in the quarter final with team 3 in group B then reaching the semi finals if they win.

Westmeath fan (Westmeath) - Posts: 66 - 13/02/2026 00:14:40    2656154

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Replying To nadunta2025:  "I think my point still very valid after the weekends game, how we have been so bad at minor grade the last few years and the schools getting it right. I know the Marist have maybe 4-5 lads from Roscommon but still combine these schools teams with Rochfortbridge, Moate,Kilbeggab and then theres probably 1-2 lads going to school in Other schools like Ballymahon or Edenderry perhaps, How have we only won a handful of games at minor in the last 5 years is beyond belief.
Marist have Mchugh a great Talent as long as he stays fit, Whittaker which i seen last year although wasnt as close to goal foe the marist will be a county player, a few another 5-6 county Minors, where Mullingar were probably stacked all over maybe 1 forward shy of the full package. Midfield are giants and the way kickouts have gone suits them but they can also play football. Maloney, Masterson, sheerin, Weir,Mcwade, Higgins are all solid performers and then Scahill has the brilliance.
County Board need to be held accountable!!!"
There are many people who would argue that a thriving, well coached and competitive schools scene is far more important than anything that is happening on the county development side which has been in a state of malfunction for years with inadequate infrastructure (County managers having to beg Clubs for use of pitches). It's an absolute disgrace that a Centre of Excellence has not been built by now, generations of players failed by the County Board.

iarmhiabu (Westmeath) - Posts: 299 - 13/02/2026 08:36:30    2656160

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Replying To anon:  "I see the county board have come back with another proposal since the previous ones gained no traction.

They now want to put 3 teams from each section through, but keep the A and B sections as they are. Top 2 in section A go through to semis and the other 4 teams in an open draw for the quarters

This is more nonsense. You have the 6 strongest teams on one side and the weaker side gets as many teams through to the knockouts.

You end up better off if you finish 3rd in section B than 4th in section A, where you would be playing much stronger teams.

It's also the same number of games as currently take place, thus not helping the dual player, which was apparently a key reason for wanting change in the first place.

They tried to change things, were clearly told that clubs are happy with the structure overall but have decided that they still want to change it for some reason."
The structure is rewarding mediocrity, having a so called stronger group and a weaker group. There's no real championship cut and trust to it for want of a better word. As you said if you're in group B it's an easier path to the knockout stages.
It should be the 12 teams open draw 2 groups of 6. League format.
Winners of A play runner up B. Winners of B play runner up A. There's your semi finals and finals.
To add bite and reduce as many dead rubbers have a promotion/relegation semi final and final. Both bottom teams in each group, Team 5 from A play team 6 from B and vise versa. Losers of semi finals play relegation final with the loser going down.
All teams get a minimum of 5 games and a max of seven barring replays. Standard goes up as it becomes more dog eat dog to qualify for semis or avoid relegation playoffs. For example you'd have situations/games where the downs would need to win on the last day to make the semifinal and their opponents eg shamrocks would need the win to avoid relegation playoffs and if shamrocks won stop the downs from reaching the semifinal stage. It would add a bit of spice to every game.

2maroonjerseys (Galway) - Posts: 127 - 13/02/2026 08:47:54    2656162

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Fair play to TUS and all the Westmeath players last night on winning an All Ireland Freshers title! Some real talent on that team and Shane Corcoran MOTM was very impressive!

Westmeath25 (Westmeath) - Posts: 5 - 13/02/2026 09:11:18    2656166

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Massive game for us on Saturday night, could define our year if we can come out with the win. With Kildare going well in Div 2 there may 2 teams in Maguire this year from Div 3. Its tough place to get a result but we are due one. Best of luck to everyone.
Changes to the football championship for this year, not so sure that will make any difference, the best teams in each championship will still come to the top.
Be in no doubt this is the last year for groups of 6, all counties will have shorter windows to run their club championships in 2027

Brendanj (Westmeath) - Posts: 70 - 13/02/2026 10:06:55    2656173

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Well done to TUS, brilliant achievement and great to see so many involved from Westmeath including players and management. After the schools final at the weekend and this freshers win there is some exciting young players to keep an eye on that will hopefully develop into county players for us in the future.

crispsandwich99 (Westmeath) - Posts: 2 - 13/02/2026 10:11:33    2656174

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