Is there still time to build castles in the leinster air

GERRY BUCKLEY looks forward to Garrycastle's Leinster club SFC clash against Longford champions Emmet Og Killoe on Sunday in Cusack Park (2pm).

 

As we all trudged out of Kingspan Breffni Park on March 31, 2012, the general feeling among Westmeath folk was that Garrycastle’s magnificent 'near and yet so far’ attempt to bring the Andy Merrigan Cup to the Lake County for the first time was the last we would see from an ageing side in green and red for many a long day.

However, the Lazarus-like victory by Dessie Dolan Snr’s troops in this year’s Flanagan Cup campaign has given the east Athlone outfit another crack at (at least) regaining the provincial crown they did so memorably against Dublin’s St Brigid’s in December 2011. Roscommon’s identically-named side were then defeated in the All-Ireland semi-final, prior to the mighty Crossmaglen Rangers spoiling the ultimate party in the replay in Cavan, a fortnight after an exciting drawn encounter on St Patrick’s Day.

Ironically, the Armagh kingpins departed the scene on Sunday last in the Ulster championship, while their defeated final opponents from the eve of April Fools’ Day in 2012 (who would probably be seen as having an older profile) remain in contention in Leinster.

Whether that statement still holds true at 4 pm next Sunday in Cusack Park remains to be seen, but Garrycastle’s mixture of youth and experience will probably be expected to get over Emmet Og Killoe, especially with home advantage.

Are Garrycastle as good as they were in their prime? Logically, the answer is 'no’, with the incomparable Des Dolan now 35 and a plethora of his colleagues – both starters and subs – also firmly in the veteran category. Throw in Doron Harte’s injury and Paddy Mulvihill’s defection to the second of the St Brigid’s named above, and 'no’ remains the logical answer.

However, factor in the emergence of promising players like Jack Donoghue, Justin Barrett and the Monaghan brothers, and the future looks bright. The problem, of course, is that 'the incomparable Des Dolan’ is simply irreplaceable. Replaced he will be, in time, but á la the already-infamous search to fill Brian O’Driscoll’s number 13 green and blue jerseys, filling Des’s number 15 and 11 maroon and green/red jerseys will be an impossible task.

However, for now it is the classic case of 'a game at a time’, and Garrycastle will find the Longford champions a tough nut to crack in Mullingar next Sunday. Up until now, Westmeath and Longford representatives have met on ten occasions in the Leinster senior football club championship. Westmeath hold the upper hand to date with eight victories to Longford’s two.

The results of previous clashes were as follows:
19/11/1972, Longford, The Downs 2-7 Clonguish 1-8
14/11/1976, Mullingar, Moate 1-12 Rathcline 1-6
29/10/1978, Ballymahon, Ardagh 2-4 Moate 0-7
28/10/1984, Athlone, Cashel 1-7 Athlone 1-6
30/10/1988, Athlone, Athlone 0-11 Emmet ”g 0-7
14/10/1990, Mullingar, Mullingar Shamrocks 2-11 Longford Slashers 2-9
5/11/2006, Mullingar, Tyrrellspass 1-10 Abbeylara 1-6
8/11/2009, Longford, Garrycastle 1-14 Clonguish 0-15
24/10/2010, Mullingar, Garrycastle 0-13 Longford Slashers 1-9
13/11/2011, Mullingar, Garrycastle 4-11 Longford Slashers 1-6

Sunday’s visitors, Emmet Og have only faced Westmeath opposition once before. Their losing team from 1988 against Athlone contained a certain Declan Rowley, recently retired as manager of St Loman’s, Mullingar, with whom he will forever be warmly associated having guided them to a historic Flanagan Cup success after 50 long and painful years of waiting, only 13 months ago

The losing team and scorers that day in Pairc Chiaráin just over 24 years ago follow:

K. Bracken, B. Bracken, J. Toher, M. Bracken, J. O’Neill, F. Kennedy, D. Bracken, D. Rowley (0-2), T. McCormack, K. Donner (0-1), J. McCormack (0-3), M. Keogh, J. Hughes (0-1), M. Mimnagh, J. McCormack.

Remarkably, Garrycastle’s marvellous hat-trick of Westmeath titles from 2009 to 2011 all preceded victories over Longford opponents in the first round of the Leinster championship - teams and scorers follow:

2009 - C. Mullin, P. Rattigan, J. Gaffey, E. Mulvihill (0-1), M. McCallon, K. Henson, D. Harte, S. O’Donoghue (0-1), D. O’Shaughnessy, J. Dolan, D. Dolan (1-5), P. Mulvihill, P. Dillon, G. Dolan (0-3), J. Duignan (0-3). Subs: S. O’Reilly (0-1) (for Dillon), R. Fox (for J.Dolan), J. McGuire (for P.Mulvihill), T. McHugh (for Henson), J. Dolan (for Fox), D. Hermbusche (for McCallon), A. Daly (for McGuire).

2010 - C. Mullin, J. Dolan, J. Gaffey, A. Fox, M. McCallon (0-1), K. Henson, D. Harte, S. O’Donoghue (0-1), A. Browne, D. O’Shaughnessy, D. Dolan (0-8), R. McGowan (0-1), A. Daly, P. Dillon (0-1), P. Mulvihill. Subs: J. McAteer (for Daly), S. Mulvihill (0-1) (for O’Donoghue), E.Mulvihill (for Fox), J. Duignan (for Dillon), D. Hermbusche (for McGowan).

2011 - C. Mullin, M. McCallon, J. Gaffey, A. Fox, K. Henson (0-1), D. Harte (0-1), E. Mulvihill, S. O’Donoghue, D. O’Shaughnessy (0-2), J. Duignan (1-1), G. Dolan, R. McGowan, P. Mulvihill, J. Dolan (2-1), D. Dolan (0-3). Subs: C. Cosgrove (0-1) (for P.Mulvihill), T. McHugh (0-1) (for Fox), A. Daly (1-0) (for G.Dolan), J. O’Shaughnessy (for E.Mulvihill), J. McAteer (for McGowan).

All Westmeath Gaels will wish Garrycastle well as they go in search of a provincial semi-final slot against Portlaoise or St Vincent’s – two of the biggest names in club football throughout the land. For now, however, the focus is purely on next Sunday at 2pm.