County board accused of 'disrespect' over fixture clash with ladies final

The co-manager of the Westmeath ladies senior football team which is playing Cavan in the All Ireland Intermediate final on Sunday (Croke Park, 2pm), has criticised the men's county board for scheduling fixtures for the same day. Alan Mangan, who co-manages the team with Peter Leahy, has a double cause for his annoyance. In addition to potentially taking support away from the biggest game in Westmeath ladies football in Westmeath in 24 years, he will have to make a dash from Croke Park straight after the final whistle as he will be togging out for his club Castletown-Geoghegan in the semi-final of the senior hurling championship. The game, which is against defending county champions Raharney, has a throw in time of 5.30pm at Cusack Park. "I'm very annoyed. It's ridiculous. I played for Westmeath for ten years and to be shown that lack of respect, not just for me but for the girls. They are playing in an All-Ireland final and we can't call games off. There is not one game taking place in Cavan on that day," said Mangan, who played a starring role in Westmeath's 2004 Leinster final win over Laois. Mr Mangan's sentiments were echoed by a fellow member of the back room team, Michael Reynolds. In a written statement published on the website ladiesgaelic.ie, Mr Reynolds said that the "disrespect" shown by the Men's County Board to the sport of ladies football is the "one negative fact" in the run up to Sunday's final. "Not only is this taking away support from Croke Park but it has also left several people in awkward situations with families torn between events. Truly disgraceful considering some of these games could have been played any time in the past eight weeks. Twenty four years was the last time a Westmeath ladies team contested an All-Ireland final in Croke Park but this seems to have gone unnoticed in some circles." The chairperson of the Westmeath ladies county board, Geraldine Giles, also noted that men's county boards actions have denied local Gaels a "golden opportunity to promote the GAA family in Westmeath." "It is disappointing especially with the clubs playing on Sunday. Our captain (Elaine Finn) plays her camogie with the club that is playing Alan's club. It's splitting families, brothers and sisters, boyfriends and girlfriends. It's been thrown back at me that our game in at 2pm but an All Ireland final is about more than playing. It's about the whole occasion that brings these girls to Croke Park." (See pages 38 and 39 of this week's Westmeath Independent for an extensive preview of the All-Ireland ladies intermediate final).