Dermot McCabe has named his team for Westmeath's Tailteann Cup preliminary quarter-final fixture against Laois on Saturday evening. Photo: Sportsfile.

McCabe names Westmeath team as Laois await in Tailteann Cup

Ronan Fagan

Published: Fri 6 Jun 2025, 12:59 PM

Last updated: Fri 6 Jun 2025, 2:24 PM

Westmeath senior football manager Dermot McCabe has named his starting team for the Lake County's Tailteann Cup preliminary quarter-final against Laois in TEG Cusack Park Mullingar on Saturday evening (throw-in, 5pm).

The team shows one change from that which lost to Limerick in Westmeath's final group phase outing, with Danny Scahill replacing David Giles in defence.

Ray Connellan has been declared fit to start and takes his place at midfield alongside Eoghan McCabe, while Nigel Harte has recovered from the injury he picked up against Laois and starts at wing forward.

The minimum loss to Limerick has necessitated an extra fixture in Westmeath's quest to win the Tailteann Cup and repeat the historic feat of 2022 when the county won the inaugural hosting of the second tier senior football championship competition.

The one-point defeat by Limerick has thrown up a very tricky preliminary quarter-final tie, one in which the Lake County will simply need to find a consistent performance over 70 minutes if they are to prevail. Laois come into the game with a little more momentum having defeated Offaly, 3-18 to 3-16, in last weekend’s final group game.

Conor McCormack has retained the goalkeeper’s jersey, but Westmeath struggled badly on kick-outs last weekend and that is an area they must improve on if they are to get back into the reckoning.

Should victory be achieved in Mullingar tomorrow evening, Westmeath will advance to a quarter-final fixture next weekend, with potential opponents and venue to be determined following the completion of the preliminary quarter-final ties.

Westmeath team to play Laois: Conor McCormack; Daniel Scahill, Sam Smyth, Jamie Gonoud; Joseph Moran, Ronan Wallace, Sam McCartan; Ray Connellan, Eoghan McCabe; Matthew Whittaker, Kevin O’Sullivan, Nigel Harte; Luke Loughlin, Stephen Smith, Brandon Kelly.

Subs: Joe Hyland, Kieran Martin, Tadhg Baker, Robbie Forde, Danny McCartan, Lorcan Dolan, Shane Allen, Shane Ormsby, Jack Geoghegan, Brian Guerin, Brían Cooney.