Resurgent Garrycastle set to contest minor final

FOLLOWING several years of frustration at underage level, Athlone club Garrycastle are back in a major underage final this weekend when participating in this year's Westmeath Minor Football Club Championship Division 2 final against St Malachy's at Rosemount on Saturday (throw-in: 2pm). Traditionally, Garrycastle have always been really strong at underage level, but apart from the obvious success of their hugely successful senior team, the club has experienced slight difficulties in picking up silverware at underage level in recent years. A serious bout of re-thinking at the start of the year seems to have addressed the situation though, and Saturday's final is of major significance to the Athlone-based club. One of four coaches appointed to look after the team at the outset of the year is senior team player James Duignan. Duignan is joined by Padraig Cosgrove, Padraig Rattigan and Thomas Keena in looking after the minors and he explains how this situation came about. "The whole club decided to take a careful and in-depth look at the way the underage structure - and particularly the minors - was running, and it was decided, mainly by John Fagan and Bernard Brannigan, to get some of the club's senior players more involved in coaching the younger players," Duignan said. "Things have thankfully gone very well for us since and I think it's Garrycastle's first major underage final for five or six years. It's very exciting for the players and I'm delighted for them. There's a great buzz at training and it's brilliant for these young players to be involved in a big occasion. I have confidence in the players and believe they can win on Saturday if they do the right things on the day," he added. Despite only performing in average fashion in the league earlier in the year and also losing to Tyrellspass in the opening round of the championship, Garrycastle have since picked up their form and defeated Ballynacargy, Moate All-Whites and Tyrellspass along the way to Saturday's meeting with St Malachy's. The panel possessed nine Under-16 players but the key players are all around the 18-year-old mark, with goalkeeper Ian Gardiner and defenders Liam Flynn and Gary Mullery of huge significance to the team. David McHugh will be the player Garrycastle look to for inspiration in midfield, while Athlone Town soccer trio Sean Brennan, Tom O'Halloran and Stephen Relihan are a handful in the forward line. Shane Mulvihill, who has impacted upon the club's senior team this year, is Garrycastle's only serious injury concern. Mulvihill picked up a hamstring problem in the club's recent senior football championship final victory over St Loman's and will definitely not start this weekend, however, James Duignan said he is hopeful of giving Mulvihill some playing time against St Malachy's.