With three wins garnered from their opening five Allianz football Division 3 league games, Westmeath are poised to achieve successive promotions as they journey to Drogheda on Saturday afternoon for their penultimate fixture against Louth who have similar aspirations as they sit one point in arrears of the Lake County in a tightly congested table.
A convincing eight point victory over Sligo in Collooney sees Westmeath one point adrift of table toppers Down, to whom Jack Cooney’s charges suffered their sole defeat of the campaign to date.
Achieving success this weekend will guarantee Westmeath table supremacy ahead of the last round of league fixtures with neighbours Longford the visitors to TEG Cusack Park on Sunday week for a local derby clash. To think how great it would be if the maroon clad footballers could secure promotion and a place in the league showpiece fixture in front of a home crowd - not alone would it be a pivotal moment in their season to date but also an immense confidence boost prior to the opening Leinster senior football clash with Laois in May.
Westmeath Senior Football Championship
The dates have been formally announced for the Westmeath senior football championship with the opening set of round robin fixtures to take place on the weekend of July 12. Both local teams, Athlone and Garrycastle, will aspire to commence their championship campaigns on a successful note.
Under the management of club stalwart, Dobsey Prendergast, Athlone face Tyrrellspass in their first fixture, while rivals Garrycastle have a tough opening fixture with county champions, Mullingar Shamrocks, providing the opposition.
The near neighbours will clash in the penultimate round of games to be played the weekend commencing August 9 and at that stage of the competition both teams will be hopeful of knockout stage progression.
Athlone, the county’s most successful club, last annexed the Flanagan Cup in 1998, while it is five years, 2014, since Gary Dolan and John Keane’s charges claimed the prized silverware.