Fr Dalton's aim to go one better than last year

Having reformed four years ago after a spell in the wilderness, Fr Dalton's are aiming to reach the top tier of Westmeath hurling as they prepare to face St Brigid's in the Westmeath intermediate championship final on Sunday (Cusack Park, 4pm). The Ballymore club was defeated in last year's final by Delvin, and they are hoping to go one better in this year's decider. Two years ago, St Brigid's got the better of Fr Dalton's in the semi-finals, although the Ballymore side defeated the Dalystown outfit in the group stages of this year's championship (1-10 to 1-7) Fr Dalton's chairman Donie Glynn - who had served in the position for 15 years before the club disbanded in 1999 - hopes the club's hard work during recent years will bear fruit on Sunday. After Fr Dalton's disbanded, they linked up with Athlone based Southern Gaels at underage level. Indeed, Southern Gaels/Fr Dalton's won a Westmeath minor premier title five years ago. Up until this year, Fr Dalton's and Southern Gaels still played together at underage level, but they are operating as sole entities now. "We took the decision to go in with Southern Gaels after we disbanded and the link-up was successful in terms of bringing through young players," said Glynn, whose son Donal lined out at corner-back in this year's semi-final win over Clonkill (2-11 to 2-9). Looking forward to Sunday's final, Donie said: "We feel last year's final was a game we left behind, we didn't really perform on the day, maybe the hype got to us. There is less hype about the final this year and we hope the experience of last year will stand to us." Fr Dalton's are trained by former Westmeath hurler Pat Connaughton, who also played hurling for Castletown-Geoghegan, and who tasted intermediate football championship success with Ballymore. Fr Dalton's had four representatives on the Westmeath U21 team which reached this year's All-Ireland 'B' final (in which they were defeated by Kerry) - John Gilligan, Kieran Martin, Brian Finnerty and Enda Kincaid. The manager of that U21 team, Brian McCabe, is the Fr Dalton's goalkeeper and he is also a selector with the team. Donie describes McCabe as "a fantastic hurler at a time when Westmeath were strong in hurling" and his experience could be crucial in Sunday's final. The other selectors are Denis O'Rourke, 'Spike' McCormack and Kevin McLoughlin. On the injury front, midfielder Brian Finnerty is ruled out after breaking his hand in the semi-final win over Clonkill's second team. There is also concern over the fitness of defender Pat Hickey, a native of Co Kilkenny. In addition to those already mentioned, Fr Dalton's will be looking for big performances on Sunday from the English brothers (Robert and Trevor) and prolific free taker Colum Mackey.