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Westmeath Football thread

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Replying To lakecounty76: "What a stupid and unnecessary comment. Brandon's been fantastic, a complete revelation for us this year and I'd be delighted for him to get an all star. I just felt on the balance of the year that Whittaker was our best and most consistent. To try and diminish his season by bringing up injury forced substitutions is classless and embarrassing. You can support all our players without trying to bring some down." Agreed, obviously someone with an agenda. I think it's fair to say he was our most consistent championship (and league) performer, followed closely by the likes of Drumm, McCartan, Wallace etc. DelaneyCup2026 (Westmeath) - Posts: 4 - 26/06/2026 14:32:43 2682073 Link
It will be difficult enough to get an all star as all Ireland winners and finalists often get 9/10/11. When you factor in the other 6 teams that reached semi finals and quarters, there aren't a whole lot of places left. Hopefully we get one as a provincial finalist but it might not happen. Iarmhisamhi (Westmeath) - Posts: 60 - 26/06/2026 22:16:11 2682153 Link
I'd imagine Westmeath will get one All Star, as they are provincial champions when nobody would have expected it at the start of the championship, but definitely not any more than that. Over the last 10 years there has been max 1 or 2 players that didn't reach a semi final that got one. And in a lot of those years the semi finalists accounted for all 15. I can't remember any team that didn't reach a semi final getting more than one in recent times. It will probably be Whittaker or Wallace. Kelly was excellent but there's a lot of top forwards that got through to the quarter finals, and with the new rules and high scores, they're likely to stand out more over the rest of the championship. Connellan and Drumm might get nominated but my money would be on one of Wallace and Whittaker winning one. anon (None) - Posts: 365 - 27/06/2026 11:00:01 2682179 Link
Replying To Claretandblue: "Brandon has exceeded by miles any expectations we had of him, delighted for him and his family who are fantastic Westmeath and Milltownpass Gaels but there were two other forwards in Clones who were on a different level to him and it's a huge doubt that both of those will get All Stars. Jack McCarron was poetry in motion off both feet, Stephen O' Hanlon was the man of the match, he tore shreds in our defence repeatedly. All Stars are very hard to win and if we get one it reflects well on the entire squad" Silly comment. really, exceeded your expectations and whoever else your talking about.he just didn't come good all of am sudden.if he had played against Wexford we would be playing division 2 next year. Class comment about Monaghan forwards. Talk about throwing your backs under the bus.plus none of them forwards that your saying are on a different level to Brandon. 1 is 7th on the scoring list from play the other not sure is top ten on the list, up until last week. A lot of jealousy in tour comments. Joeynyc (Westmeath) - Posts: 30 - 28/06/2026 14:41:51 2682407 Link
Replying To Temple56: ""Leinster may not be a strong province" Westmeath best Cavan Louth beat Armagh Meath beat Derry Dublin best Donegal. Fair play on your win today. Our injuries and inexperience around the middle caught up with us today. Better team won today. However take Beggan out of your team and yee are on par with likes of Kildare and Cavan who we played this year." Think I may have been right. Got some backlash for saying this last weekend. Beggan didn't play today and couldn't beat 14 man Louth team. Fair play to Louth, great to see a Leinster team which come from a "province that is not strong" reach a semi final! Temple56 (Westmeath) - Posts: 658 - 28/06/2026 15:31:20 2682418 Link
Can anyone find the Westmeath Junior 1 football championship draw? They've posted every other adult football draw, but I can't seem to find the Junior 1 one anywhere on the Westmeath website. Fighting-Cocks69 (Westmeath) - Posts: 187 - 28/06/2026 15:44:32 2682431 Link
Replying To Joeynyc: "Silly comment. really, exceeded your expectations and whoever else your talking about.he just didn't come good all of am sudden.if he had played against Wexford we would be playing division 2 next year. Class comment about Monaghan forwards. Talk about throwing your backs under the bus.plus none of them forwards that your saying are on a different level to Brandon. 1 is 7th on the scoring list from play the other not sure is top ten on the list, up until last week. A lot of jealousy in tour comments." In fairness I think Brandon has far exceeded expectations; nobody ever doubted he was a good forward but the fact he's one of the leading championship scorers is not something the majority of supporters would have backed. He didn't even feature a whole lot throughout the league. DelaneyCup2026 (Westmeath) - Posts: 4 - 28/06/2026 17:55:28 2682493 Link
Replying To Fighting-Cocks69: "Can anyone find the Westmeath Junior 1 football championship draw? They've posted every other adult football draw, but I can't seem to find the Junior 1 one anywhere on the Westmeath website." First Round Section A Josephs vs Pauls Ballynacargy vs Kilbeggan Bunbrosna vs Mullingar Section B Downs vs Coralstown Kinnegad Moate vs St Lomans Killucan vs Athlone. Had to be redrawn as mistake with initial draw Greengrass1 (Westmeath) - Posts: 76 - 29/06/2026 11:21:33 2682797 Link
Replying To Greengrass1: "First Round Section A Josephs vs Pauls Ballynacargy vs Kilbeggan Bunbrosna vs Mullingar Section B Downs vs Coralstown Kinnegad Moate vs St Lomans Killucan vs Athlone. Had to be redrawn as mistake with initial draw" Thank you. Section A will be tough, especially with Shamrocks holding their own in Division 2. I think Section B will be a bit weaker. I'm not sure Kinnegad will field many games, and after seeing Athlone get relegated from both league divisions, I'd imagine they'll be understrength too. Kilbeggan and St Joseph's were both going well during the league, so they'll be competitive. I'm not too sure about Ballynacargy, but I'd imagine they'll be very competitive in that group as well. Fighting-Cocks69 (Westmeath) - Posts: 187 - 29/06/2026 15:58:27 2682943 Link
Replying To Fighting-Cocks69: "Thank you. Section A will be tough, especially with Shamrocks holding their own in Division 2. I think Section B will be a bit weaker. I'm not sure Kinnegad will field many games, and after seeing Athlone get relegated from both league divisions, I'd imagine they'll be understrength too. Kilbeggan and St Joseph's were both going well during the league, so they'll be competitive. I'm not too sure about Ballynacargy, but I'd imagine they'll be very competitive in that group as well." Section A will be tough alright. Mullingar Shamrocks have been close the last couple of years, Josephs knocked them out in 24 and 25 and I think they will take some beating this year as they have an influx from recent minor teams. Kilbeggan had a good league as had Josephs so you'd imagine they'll be in the mix. Ballynacargy also were decent in the league, blew up against Moate and that probably cost them promotion. Bunbrosna, hard to know. Bad league but higher division to Bal and Josephs and they always battle hard. Pauls will get a bounce from winning J2 but their league form in Div 6 wasnt great. Too hard to call at this stage. After 3 or 4 rounds, there should be some sort of pattern as to who'll likely qualify. Greengrass1 (Westmeath) - Posts: 76 - 30/06/2026 12:02:02 2683152 Link
Replying To Greengrass1: "Section A will be tough alright. Mullingar Shamrocks have been close the last couple of years, Josephs knocked them out in 24 and 25 and I think they will take some beating this year as they have an influx from recent minor teams. Kilbeggan had a good league as had Josephs so you'd imagine they'll be in the mix. Ballynacargy also were decent in the league, blew up against Moate and that probably cost them promotion. Bunbrosna, hard to know. Bad league but higher division to Bal and Josephs and they always battle hard. Pauls will get a bounce from winning J2 but their league form in Div 6 wasnt great. Too hard to call at this stage. After 3 or 4 rounds, there should be some sort of pattern as to who'll likely qualify." I'd imagine 4 or 5 of those minors will feature with the seniors for Shamrocks going by things now. I'd say Kilbeggan will be the team to beat, but I'd love to see Loman's Downs or Shamrocks give it a proper go. I know St. Joseph's have had heartbreak year after year, but the likes of CFCW, Kilbeggan and Ballynacargy, with no disrespect to them, seem to be constantly going up and down between Junior and Intermediate. I think if Loman's or Shamrocks broke into Intermediate B, they'd have the numbers and underage backing to establish themselves there for a good few years. Fighting-Cocks69 (Westmeath) - Posts: 187 - 30/06/2026 14:56:17 2683200 Link
Predictions for Senior and intermediate? Group stages will be very interesting with the new flawed system early group games will become very interesting however I feel the knockouts will be poor. Take into account many inter county players will be unavailable due to injury in the early rounds. I can see a lot of dead rubbers in the last round or two with the new format. The knockout stages will have at least one team from group B reaching Semi Final. In Senior I cant see any group B side getting within 10 pts of a Lomans or The Downs in a county semi final. My senior power rankings based on last years championship, this years league and how current county players performed so far this year: 1. The Downs 2. Lomans 3. Shamrocks 4. Kinnegad 5. Garrycastle 6. Caulry 7. Athlone 8. Tubberclair 9. Moate 10. Tyrrellspass 11. Killucan 12. Tang. Temple56 (Westmeath) - Posts: 658 - 30/06/2026 15:01:10 2683202 Link
Replying To Joeynyc: "Silly comment. really, exceeded your expectations and whoever else your talking about.he just didn't come good all of am sudden.if he had played against Wexford we would be playing division 2 next year. Class comment about Monaghan forwards. Talk about throwing your backs under the bus.plus none of them forwards that your saying are on a different level to Brandon. 1 is 7th on the scoring list from play the other not sure is top ten on the list, up until last week. A lot of jealousy in tour comments." You said "he just didn't come good all of am sudden." He Kinda did. He went from struggling to get his place and only scoring 3 points in the league to being a scoring machine for Westmeath in the championship. If he plays like that next year we have no problem getting out of Div 3 league. Allianz league round 1 v Sligo. Started, didn't score and withdrawn after 18mins Allianz league round 2 v Clare Didn't feature Allianz league round 3 v Down Didn't feature Allianz league round 4 v Fermanagh 1pt introduced as sub 51 mins Allianz league round 5 v Laois introduced 55 minutes didn't score Allianz league round 6 v Limerick introduced 46 minute scored 2 points Allianz league round 7 v Wexford introduced 64 minute didn't score. Leinster championship v Longford started scored 2-1 Leinster championship v Meath started scored 0-2 Leinster championship v Kildare started scored 1-4 Leinster championship v Dublin started scored 0-4 All Ireland round 1 v Cavan started scored 0-6 All Ireland round 2 v Galway started scored 0-2 All Ireland round 3 V Monaghan started scored 1-3. Chops (Westmeath) - Posts: 931 - 30/06/2026 17:05:11 2683242 Link
Replying To Temple56: "Predictions for Senior and intermediate? Group stages will be very interesting with the new flawed system early group games will become very interesting however I feel the knockouts will be poor. Take into account many inter county players will be unavailable due to injury in the early rounds. I can see a lot of dead rubbers in the last round or two with the new format. The knockout stages will have at least one team from group B reaching Semi Final. In Senior I cant see any group B side getting within 10 pts of a Lomans or The Downs in a county semi final. My senior power rankings based on last years championship, this years league and how current county players performed so far this year: 1. The Downs 2. Lomans 3. Shamrocks 4. Kinnegad 5. Garrycastle 6. Caulry 7. Athlone 8. Tubberclair 9. Moate 10. Tyrrellspass 11. Killucan 12. Tang." I think you have it a bit off. I'd have Athlone in real relegation territory. If you saw their last league game against Shamrocks, or even going by what I heard from their challenge against Shandonagh during the week where Shandonagh beat them well, they don't look in a great place. Fair enough, Allen and Ray are due back, but if things keep going the way they are, will Ray even want to risk making his injury worse? I think Tubberclair and Tyrrellspass will come out of that group comfortably, with Moate and Killucan battling it out for the third spot. The Downs have a few long-term injuries and, seemingly, Kevin O'Sullivan is set to miss a round or two as well, so it'll be interesting to see how they get on. It's very hard to predict anything now until Round 1, when we'll actually see who's fit and available. 1. The Downs 2. Shamrocks 3. Kinnegad 4. Garrycastle 5. Loman's 6. Caulry 7. Tubber 8. Tspass 9. Moate 10. Killucan 11. Athlone/Tang 12. Tang/Athlone Fighting-Cocks69 (Westmeath) - Posts: 187 - 30/06/2026 18:15:57 2683259 Link
Shandonagh Milltownpass Milltown Castledaly St. Malachy's Multyfarnham St. Mary's Rochfortbridge Rosemount Ballymore Maryland Ballinagore Castletown-Finea-Coole-Whitehall (CFCW) Fighting-Cocks69 (Westmeath) - Posts: 187 - 30/06/2026 18:25:25 2683262 Link
Replying To Fighting-Cocks69: "Shandonagh Milltownpass Milltown Castledaly St. Malachy's Multyfarnham St. Mary's Rochfortbridge Rosemount Ballymore Maryland Ballinagore Castletown-Finea-Coole-Whitehall (CFCW)" I feel like there's a clear top two in each intermediate level and it'll be a battle between 2-3 teams for that last spot. Interestingly I'd have Multyfarnham and Malachys above Castledaly. Those two may not have set the league alight but both will be strengthened come championship. Dennis_Maroon95kg (Westmeath) - Posts: 1 - 30/06/2026 22:16:32 2683314 Link
Replying To Fighting-Cocks69: "I'd imagine 4 or 5 of those minors will feature with the seniors for Shamrocks going by things now. I'd say Kilbeggan will be the team to beat, but I'd love to see Loman's Downs or Shamrocks give it a proper go. I know St. Joseph's have had heartbreak year after year, but the likes of CFCW, Kilbeggan and Ballynacargy, with no disrespect to them, seem to be constantly going up and down between Junior and Intermediate. I think if Loman's or Shamrocks broke into Intermediate B, they'd have the numbers and underage backing to establish themselves there for a good few years." In some ways, Josephs had had heartbreak with two successive county final losses but their trajectory has been solidly upwards in the past six or seven years. Its only 10 years ago that they were on the brink of extinction so they've done very well in the meantime. The 3 sides you mention which have yo-yoed between Junior & Intermediate namely CFCW,Kilbeggan and Ballyncargy will probably continue in that vein though CFCW had a 20 year period where they were solidly Intermediate and went Senior for a year in 2013. Kilbeggan are an enigma in that they should be mid range Intermediate at worst but keep bouncing up and down though I do think they are in a good position this year to go back up. They look strong. Ballynacargy on their day can beat anyone but it depends on the mood that strikes them. Inconsistent but again could do well if they can get results flowing their way. In that Section A, probable 4 qualifiers are likely to be Mullingar,Kilbeggan,Josephs and Ballyncargy. Greengrass1 (Westmeath) - Posts: 76 - 01/07/2026 11:01:13 2683385 Link
Replying To Fighting-Cocks69: "I think you have it a bit off. I'd have Athlone in real relegation territory. If you saw their last league game against Shamrocks, or even going by what I heard from their challenge against Shandonagh during the week where Shandonagh beat them well, they don't look in a great place. Fair enough, Allen and Ray are due back, but if things keep going the way they are, will Ray even want to risk making his injury worse? I think Tubberclair and Tyrrellspass will come out of that group comfortably, with Moate and Killucan battling it out for the third spot. The Downs have a few long-term injuries and, seemingly, Kevin O'Sullivan is set to miss a round or two as well, so it'll be interesting to see how they get on. It's very hard to predict anything now until Round 1, when we'll actually see who's fit and available. 1. The Downs 2. Shamrocks 3. Kinnegad 4. Garrycastle 5. Loman's 6. Caulry 7. Tubber 8. Tspass 9. Moate 10. Killucan 11. Athlone/Tang 12. Tang/Athlone" Loman's 5th? That's a brave call. I can't see them failing to qualify. And with The Downs short their two best players, I'd have Loman's as slight favourites to win it. The Downs will still be very strong, as they have a deep panel. 3rd place in group A will be a serious fight. Would imagine that whoever loses the Kinnegad-Garrycastle and Shamrocks-Caulry games in round 1 will be close to out already. jamsie (Westmeath) - Posts: 517 - 01/07/2026 11:32:55 2683402 Link
I'll go with below for Senior 1. Garrycastle 2. Loman's 3. The Downs 4. Shamrocks 5. Kinnegad 6. Caulry 1. Tyrellspass 2. Killucan 3. Tubberclair 4. Moate 5. Athlone 6. Tang Intermediate 1. Shandonagh 2. Milltownpass 3. Milltown 4. St. Malachy's 5. Multyfarnham 6. Castledaly 1. Rosemount 2. St. Mary's 3. Maryland 4. Ballinagore 5. Ballymore 6. CFCW martyW (Westmeath) - Posts: 350 - 01/07/2026 12:31:58 2683430 Link
I would imagine C/Kinnegad, with just one fit county player who didn't see that much action over the last 2 rounds of the Sam Maguire, should have the edge on the group as they have all basically been training together while the county has been ongoing. Garrycastle may also benefit early on in the group stages by not having county players and also have abounce from doing well the last two seasons. CK have reached the county final over the last two years and should continue in the same vein this year, especially if Liam Daly, Jason Macken and S. Fleming return fully fit. It will be like adding 3 new players to the team that reached the final last year. Though this team can still blow hot and cold and could have exited the last two championships at the group stages. They played 3 goalkeepers last year, so if this area is sorted, they should qualify but its hard to know if they will turn up. The Downs have lost 2 massive players for the year to injury, which puts them back in the pack for me. I can't see them winning the championship without the engine room and the marquee forward. St Lomans will be up for it after last year's tame exit, but ultimately are not the team they were and probably might start without the Mc Cartans. Ultimately, if Sam McC isn't on full throttle, they may be ordinary enough, but might have enough forwards to shade the group. They will depend on Heslin and Dempsey to keep afloat. Shamrocks will be competitive but havent the consistency to get through to the top 3. Caulry has some good players but lack 4/5 players of senior standard, and their county lads will be tired early on. For these reasons, I am going St Lomans CK Garrycastle The Downs Shamrocks Caulry Lomans/Kinnegad Final is my prediction but its not a confident one. Iarmhisamhi (Westmeath) - Posts: 60 - 01/07/2026 13:24:40 2683446 Link