Athlone v Garrycastle in Westmeath SFC opener
Westmeath senior football champions Garrycastle will meet local rivals Athlone in the opening round of this year’s championship.
The draws for this year’s Westmeath club championships were made at TEG Cusack Park earlier this evening (Sunday).
Athlone and Garrycastle are joined in Group 1 by Caulry, which means this group will feature three local derbies.
With Athlone now under the management of former Mayo star Liam McHale, there will be considerable interest in how they fare in that opening assignment against Garrycastle. Athlone haven’t got the better of Garrycastle in a senior championship game in several years.
The opening round in Group 2 will also feature a battle of neighbours, with Castledaly drawn against Rosemount. The two clubs play together as Cill Óige at underage level, which will add another element of intrigue to the encounter.
The other team in Group 2 is The Downs, who have been leading the way at underage level in recent years.
Last year’s defeated finalists St Loman’s Mullingar will meet Tyrrellspass in the opening round of Group 3. St Loman’s defeated Tyrrellspass in the county finals of 2013, 2016 and 2017, and the Mullingar side will again be among the favourites for this year’s title.
Group 4’s opening round fixture will be between Mullingar Shamrocks and Coralstown/Kinnegad.
In this year’s Westmeath Intermediate FC, opening round games include Moate All Whites v Ballymore and Tang v Kilbeggan Shamrocks. Tang will also meet very close neighbours Maryland in their group, but both sides will be expected to progress at Kilbeggan's expense.
In both the SFC and IFC, the top two teams in each of the four groups will advance to the quarter-finals.
In each of the groups, the second game will be between the winner of the opening fixture and the team who had the bye in the first round.
2020 Shay Murtagh Precast Westmeath SFC
Group 1
Garrycastle
Athlone
Caulry
Round 1: Garrycastle v Athlone
Group 2
The Downs
Rosemount
Castledaly
Round 1: Rosemount v Castledaly
Group 3
St Loman's Mullingar
Tyrrellspass
Shandonagh
Round 1: Tyrrellspass v St Loman's
Group 4
Mullingar Shamrocks
Coralstown-Kinnegad
Killucan
Round 1: Mullingar Shamrocks v Coralstown-Kinnegad
2020 Writech Westmeath IFC
Group 1
Milltownpass
Multyfarnham
St Malachy's
Round 1: Milltownpass v Multyfarnham
Group 2
St Mary's Rochfortbridge
Milltown
Ballynacargy
Round 1: St Mary's Rochfortbridge v Milltown
Group 3
Tang
Maryland
Kilbeggan Shamrocks
Round 1: Tang v Kilbeggan Shamrocks
Group 4
Moate All Whites
Bunbrosna
Ballymore
Round 1: Moate All Whites v Ballymore