Westmeath denied on busy weekend of local sport
ON a busy weekend in local sport, the Westmeath senior footballers produced a very good performance in their second Allianz Football League Division 2 outing of the season, but were pipped to the points by Galway in a pulsating match at Cusack Park, Mullingar on Sunday.
In a hugely entertaining contest, Westmeath eventually lost by a point, 2-13 to 2-12. All four goals were scored in a riveting first half, with Lake County captain Ger Egan and Maryland’s Kieran Martin hitting the net for the home side.
The teams were level at the interval, 2-6 apiece, but Galway edged it in the end, with a late John Heslin free striking the woodwork to deny Westmeath a share of the spoils.
The previous evening, Roscommon maintained their unbeaten start in Division 2 with an impressive 1-15 to 1-11 win in Down. Diarmuid Murtagh scored the goal for John Evans’ side, who drew their opening match against Cavan.
In the other Division 2 games last weekend, Meath defeated Kildare, 0-13 to 0-11, while Cavan got the better of Laois, 0-17 to 2-6. The next games in Division 2 take place on the weekend of February 28-March 1 - with Westmeath away to Kildare on March 1.
Meanwhile, Westmeath ladies suffered a heavy defeat in their latest outing in the Tesco Homegrown NFL Division 2, losing 6-12 to 1-10 against Armagh.
Of course, local eyes were also fixed on Rome last Saturday, as Athlone’s Robbie Henshaw made his Six Nations Championships debut for Ireland in their handsome win against Italy.
Henshaw, from Coosan, is likely to retain his place for this weekend’s outing against France in Dublin.
Two Buccaneers players, Cian Romaine and Rory Moloney, were also on the scoresheet for Ireland, as the U20 side began their Six Nations Championships with a heavy defeat of Italy. The U20s face France in Dubarry Park, Athlone this Friday (7.05pm).
In local soccer, Athlone Town continued their preparations for the start of the Airtricity League First Division with a very respectable scoreless draw away to Shamrock Rovers, thus building on a resounding defeat of Cork City the previous weekend in their pre-season opener.
Athlone’s pre-season continues with an away fixture on Tuesday night against neighbours Longford Town (City Calling Stadium, 8pm). Athlone received a further boost after last weekend’s draw against Rovers with news that midfielder Eric Foley has re-signed for the upcoming season.
Despite holding local junior kingpins Willow Park to just a one-goal win in their Paddy Cotter Cup First Round first leg a couple of weeks ago, Melville Utd couldn’t match their opponents in Sunday’s second leg at Sarsfield Park, which Willow won, 1-8.
In the Paddy Cotter Cup quarter-finals, St Peter’s travelled to Monksland Utd and came away with a 1-5 win in their first leg encounter.
There were also good divisional cup wins over the weekend for Moate Celtic and Clonbonny, but Clonown Rovers exited the Division 3 Cup after losing at home to Emo Celtic.
For more details, see this week's Westmeath Independent newspaper, out on Wednesday.