Westmeath make one change for trip to Newry
Mark McHugh has named his Westmeath team to play Down in Division 3 of the Allianz Football League at Páirc Esler tomorrow evening. The starting XV shows one change from last Sunday week's win over Clare in Ennis - with Athlone's Shane Allen coming into the team in place of Brian Guerin.
Allen has been chosen to partner Athlone clubmate Ray Connellan at midfield, while Jonathan Lynam has been placed at wing-back. As always, however, there is a strong possibility of positional changes by the time of the throw-in.
Fresh from helping TUS Midlands win the Division 1 Freshers Football Championship last night (Thursday), Shane Corcoran is among the Westmeath substitutes. The St Malachy's player scored the winning point in Westmeath's opening round win over Sligo. Brían Cooney, scorer of a goal for Westmeath against Clare, is also on the bench.
Saturday's game in Newry (6pm) is a clash between two of the teams on maximum points from two games, with Wexford the other Division 3 side on four points.
Westmeath have had some close battles with Down in recent years, with the Lake County''s only recent win over the Mourne men coming in the 2024 Division 3 final at Croke Park.
When the sides met in Newry last year, Westmeath were extremely unlucky to lose a pulsating encounter on a scoreline of 1-26 to 0-28 - see teams and scorers below. It was a defeat which confirmed relegation to Division 3 for Westmeath and Down also went through the trapdoor by the end of the campaign.
Westmeath team list (vs Down): Jack Connaughton; Danny Scahill, Charlie Drumm, Boidu Sayeh; Ronan Wallace (captain), Tadhg Baker, Jonathan Lynam; Shane Allen, Ray Connellan; Kevin O'Sullivan, Sam McCartan, Matthew Whittaker; Danny McCartan, Luke Loughlin, Senan Baker. Subs: Jason Daly, Brian Guerin, Brandon Lelly, Robbie Forde, Brían Cooney, Sam Smyth, TJ Cox, Tom Molloy, Shane Corcoran, Harry Niall, Jack Duncan.
2025 meeting: Down 1-26 Westmeath 0-28
Scorers - Down: P Havern 0-13 (3tp, 1 2tpf, 3f); J McGeough 1-1; S Millar 0-3; A Crimmins, M Rooney, O Murdock 0-2 each; R McEvoy, J Guinness, D Guinness 0-1 each. Westmeath: L Loughlin 0-9 (1tp, 1tpf, 4f); R Forde (1f) and B Cooney (2tp) 0-6 each; M Whittaker, D McCartan and R Wallace 0-2 each; S McCartan 0-1.
Down - Ronan Burns; Peter Fegan, Pierce Laverty, Ceilum Doherty; Ruairí McCormack, Daniel Guinness, Patrick McCarthy; Miceal Rooney, Ryan McEvoy; Aaron McClements, Odhran Murdock, James Guinness; Donal Scullion, Pat Havern, John McGeough. Subs used: Adam Crimmins for Scullion (h-t), Danny Magill for McCormack (44 mins), Eugene Branagan for J Guinness (44), Shay Millar for McGeough (51), Caolan Mooney for McClements (60).
Westmeath - Conor McCormack; Jamie Gonoud, Jack Geoghegan, Conor Dillon; Matthew Whittaker, Sam McCartan, Ronan Wallace; Ray Connellan, Fionn O'Hara; Robbie Forde, Danny McCartan, Brían Cooney; Brandon Kelly, Luke Loughlin, Stephen Smith. Subs used: Joe Moran for O’Hara (inj., 28 mins); Enda Gaffney for Smith (h-t); David Giles for Geoghegan (inj., 37); Kieran Martin for Kelly (51); Nigel Harte for Gaffney (68).