Westmeath to meet laois in league opener as rossies face cavan

 

Westmeath are set to face midland rivals Laois in the first round of the 2015 Allianz Football League - while fellow Division 2 side Roscommon will renew rivalry with Cavan in their opening fixture.

The clash against Laois will see Westmeath - who have yet to appoint a successor to Paul Bealin - come up against former Lake County boss Tomas O Flatharta. The Kerryman, who is now in charge of Laois, was part of the backroom team when Westmeath won the Leinster senior football title in 2004. O Flatharta was the team manager when Westmeath reached the All-Ireland quarter-finals in 2006 and he guided Westmeath to the Division 2 league title 2008.

Roscommon – who will have John Evans at the helm again next year - met Cavan in competitive action a total of three times last year. The Rossies defeated Cavan in the Division 3 FL final (after both counties had secured promotion) and eliminated the Breffni men from the All-Ireland SFC.

It was Cavan who ended Westmeath’s interest in the 2014 Championship – a defeat which meant the Lake County lost all their competitive football fixtures in 2014.

Westmeath will host Roscommon in the final round which should be an intriguing local derby, particularly if there are relegation and/or promotion issues at stake.

Apart from the counties already mentioned, the other teams in Division 2 are Galway, Meath, Kildare and Down, meaning there will be no shortage of local derbies in this division next spring.

Westmeath are listed to have four of their seven games at home, while Roscommon are set to have four of their fixtures away from home.

The provisional fixtures were submitted to each county by the GAA on Wednesday for approval by county boards. Fixtures will take place over Saturdays and Sundays, and counties have the option to seek changes in their provisional dates.

Looking at Division 1, the stand-out fixture in the opening round is the meeting of Kerry and Mayo, who were involved in two epic All-Ireland semi-finals last month, with the Kingdom eventually prevailing after extra-time in the replay. Donegal – who face Kerry in Sunday’s All-Ireland SFC final – will face Derry in their opening league game next year.

The full list of provisional fixtures are below.

 

Division 1

Round 1 (31 January/1 February): Cork v Dublin, Donegal v Derry, Kerry v Mayo Tyrone v Monaghan

Round 2 (7/8 February): Derry v Kerry, Dublin v Donegal, Mayo v Tyrone; Monaghan v Cork

Round 3 (28 February/1 March): Donegal v Cork , Kerry v Dublin, Mayo v Monaghan, Tyrone v Derry

Round 4 (7/8 March): Cork v Kerry, Derry v Mayo, Donegal v Monaghan, Dublin v Tyrone

Round 5 (14/15 March): Kerry v Donegal, Mayo v Dublin, Monaghan v Derry, Tyrone v Cork

Round 6 (28/29 March): Cork v Mayo, Donegal v Tyrone, Dublin v Derry, Kerry v Monaghan

Round 7 (5 April): Derry v Cork, Mayo v Donegal, Monaghan v Dublin, Tyrone v Kerry

 

Division 2

Round 1 (1 February): Galway v Meath, Kildare v Down, Roscommon v Cavan, Westmeath v Laois

Round 2 (7/8 February): Down v Roscommon, Laois v Cavan, Meath v Kildare, Westmeath v Galway

Round 3 (28 February/1 March): Cavan v Down, Galway v Laois, Kildare v Westmeath, Roscommon v Meath

Round 4 (7/8 March): Cavan v Kildare, Down v Galway, Laois v Roscommon, Meath v Westmeath

Round 5 (14/15 March): Galway v Cavan, Kildare v Roscommon, Meath v Laois, Westmeath v Down

Round 6 (28/29 March): Cavan v Westmeath, Down v Meath, Laois v Kildare, Roscommon v Galway

Round 7 (5 April): Down v Laois, Galway v Kildare, Meath v Cavan, Westmeath v Roscommon

 

Division 3

Round 1 (31 January/1 February):  Armagh v Tipperary, Clare v Wexford, Fermanagh v Louth, Limerick v Sligo

Round 2 (7/8 February): Louth v Clare, Sligo v Fermanagh, Tipperary v Limerick, Wexford v Armagh

Round 3 (1 March): Clare v Sligo, Fermanagh v Tipperary, Limerick v Armagh, Louth v Wexford

Round 4 (7/8 March): Armagh v Fermanagh, Sligo v Louth, Tipperary v Clare, Wexford v Limerick

Round 5 (15 March): Clare v Armagh, Fermanagh v Limerick, Louth v Tipperary, Sligo v Wexford

Round 6 (28/29 March): Armagh v Louth, Limerick v Clare, Tipperary v Sligo, Wexford v Fermanagh

Round 7 (5 April): Clare v Fermanagh, Louth v Limerick, Sligo v Armagh, Tipperary v Wexford

 

Division 4

Round 1 (31 January/1 February): Antrim v Carlow , Leitrim v Longford, London v Offaly , Waterford v Wicklow

Round 2 (8 February): Carlow v London, Longford v Antrim, Offaly v Waterford, Wicklow v Leitrim

Round 3 (28 February/1 March): Leitrim v Antrim, London v Longford, Waterford v Carlow, Wicklow v Offaly

Round 4 (8 March): Antrim v London, Carlow v Wicklow, Longford v Waterford, Offaly v Leitrim

Round 5 (15 March): Leitrim v London, Offaly v Carlow, Waterford v Antrim, Wicklow v Longford

Round 6 (29 March): Antrim v Wicklow, Carlow v Leitrim, London v Waterford,  Longford v Offaly

Round 7 (5 April): Carlow v Longford, Leitrim v Waterford, Offaly v Antrim, Wicklow v London