Castledaly and Athlone bow out while Maryland march on

Castledaly's reign as senior county champions is over and, for the first time since the 1930s, a decade will pass without Athlone winning a Westmeath senior football title. Those were just two of the outcomes from last weekend's final round of group games in the Westmeath SFC. Meanwhile, surprise packets Maryland have qualified for the quarter-finals, with a draw against Mullingar Shamrocks (see report on page 34) proving enough to see them into the knockout stages. It's a commendable achievement for last year's intermediate champions and Finbar Egan's side will face Tyrrellspass in the quarter-finals. Castledaly's 0-10 to 1-10 defeat to Garrycastle (report on page 35), combined with Maryland's draw with Shamrocks, saw the 2008 senior champions knocked out of this year's championship before the knockout stages. In the wake of their exit, a surprise defeat to Killucan in their opening game is probably the result that Castledaly will rue most of all. Last year, Castledaly won their first ever senior title and it was always going to be difficult to defend the crown. Castledaly have consistently been among the championship contenders this decade and, in fact, this is the first year since 2003 that they have failed to reach the knockout stages. Athlone's defeat to St Loman's, Mullingar, in a winner-takes-all battle in Division 1B (report on page 31), saw the Shannonsiders again fail to make the knockout stages. Having won their opening two games and with ambitions to mount a serious challenge this year, it's a bitterly disappointing exit for Brendan Clarke's charges. Athlone lead the Westmeath football roll of honour with 20 titles, but they haven't won the Flanagan Cup since 1998. St Loman's victory over Athlone sets up an intriguing derby against Mullingar Shamrocks in the quarter-finals, while Garrycastle's aforementioned win over Castledaly - in what was a repeat of last year's county final - means they progress straight to the semi-finals as group winners. In the other games last weekend, Coralstown/Kinnegad's progress under former Meath player and manager Colm Coyle continued when they qualified for the semi-finals with a 3-9 to 0-10 win over St Malachy's. However, they were flattered by an eight-point winning margin against a gallant Malachy's team, who were in relaxed mood with their senior status secured by virtue of the The Downs' defeat to Tyrrellspass in the curtain-raiser. That Tyrrellspass win over The Downs saw Martin Flanagan return to championship action and he scored one of his side's goals from the penalty spot, in a 2-11 to 2-8 victory. Brian Slevin scored the other goal for Laz Molloy's side, while the Glennon brothers (Denis and David) scored eight points between them. Meanwhile, Killucan and Bunbrosna finished level (1-13 apiece) in the remaining Division 1A match. That result which consigned Bun' to the relegation play-off, where they will meet The Downs. Even though The Downs finished level on points with St Malachy's and have a superior scoring difference, Malachy's won the clash between the teams and are therefore safe.