Athlone IT set to begin assault on coveted Sigerson Cup

Athlone IT begin their Sigerson Cup campaign tomorrow (Tuesday) with a home fixture against IT Carlow (college grounds, 2pm). The Athlone institute has extra incentive to progress in this year's competition, with the prestigious 'Finals Weekend' taking place there on February 22 and 23. The winner of tomorrow's game will meet either Cork IT or GMIT in the quarter-finals. Westmeath county forward Ger Egan, from the Tyrrellspass club, spoke to the Westmeath Independent at last Thursday's official Sigerson Cup launch in the institute. Egan said: "IT Carlow are tricky opponents but it's a huge help to be at home. We have a good team and a lot will tell from the opening ten minutes on Tuesday. We were disappointed with the O'Byrne Cup (when Athlone IT lost to Westmeath, Offaly and Laois), but the Sigerson Cup is very different to playing against inter-county teams and hopefully we'll do well in this year's competition." He added: "Obviously, the Finals Weekend is here in Athlone and that's a massive thing for our players. We want to be part of that and don't want to be sitting on the sideline, looking at other teams coming here to compete for the title. IT Carlow are going to be tough though, they knocked us out of the Sigerson Cup two years ago, but I think we've improved a good bit since." The Athlone IT team is under the management of current Tubberclair boss Martin McCabe and as well as Egan, boast fellow Westmeath players Gary Connaughton, James Dolan, Kieran Martin and Alan Stone. The promising Alan Coffey, of Tubberclair, is also likely to feature among the forwards.