Westmeath to host Connacht champions

WESTMEATH begin what looks on paper to be a very difficult Allianz National Football League Division 1 campaign against Galway at Cusack Park, Mullingar, on Sunday (throw-in: 2.30pm). Lake County manager Tomás Ó Flatharta selected an initial panel of over 30 players for early January training and the O"Byrne Cup, but that panel has now been reduced to 27 players for Sunday"s match against the Connacht champions. Among those not included for Sunday"s game are injury victims David Duffy, Martin Flanagan, new team captain John Keane and Fergal Wilson. The Westmeath camp this week confirmed Martin Flanagan had minor ankle surgery last week and is already off his crutches and expected to return to training in two weeks. However, it"s also been confirmed that Tubberclair"s Fergal Wilson does require surgery to a troublesome groin injury and this is expected to place in the near future. Also among the batch of players not included for the game against Galway are Eoin Farrell, Mary Dalton, Stephen Gallagher, David Kilmartin, Alan Mangan and Garrycastle"s Rory McGowan. These players may not be recalled to the panel for any of the league games. Meanwhile, Bunbrosna"s Peter Tormey - a member of the management of the Moate CS school team - has opted off the panel. Westmeath fielded an experimental side when they lost their opening O"Byrne Cup fixture to Meath, before beating Wexford after extra-time in the O"Byrne Shield. Their run in the shield was then halted by Laois. Westmeath are rated as serious outsiders in a very tough-looking NFL Division 1 and can be backed at 14-1 to win a division - which also includes All-Ireland champions Tyrone, Division NFL 1 champions Derry, 2008 All-Ireland finalists Kerry, Leinster champions Dublin, Donegal and Mayo. Tyrone are presently rated as favourites to win the division by bookmakers, while Westmeath"s opponents in Sunday"s opening league fixture, Galway, are rated at 7-1 to top the division. Westmeath will need to seriously improve from their early season outings to get a positive result against a Galway side who won the FBD Connacht League last weekend. Galway eventually saw off Roscommon after extra-time in the FBD Connacht League decider at Tuam. A decent-size crowd saw Galway take control in the first half against Roscommon, as goals from the in-form Michael Meehan and Jonathan Ryan had Liam Sammon"s men in a 2-4 to 0-7 interval lead. Roscommon showed a notable improvement in the second half and a goal from Senan Kilbride (St Brigid"s) narrowed the gap to the minimum and extra-time was eventually required to separate the sides. Those additional 20 minutes belonged to the Tribesmen who turned their midfield domination into a flurry of scores as they outscored the Rossies by six points to two. NEW JERSEY Although Westmeath will sport a new jersey this season, it will have to await his debut appearance for a while longer. With Westmeath playing Galway (the other inter-county team who wear maroon and white) on Sunday, the Lake County will don their change strip of green jerseys with white trim.