A pivotal weekend of Westmeath senior football championship action awaits with the ultimate round of group phase fixtures to confirm which six clubs will maintain a presence in this year's quest for the prized Flanagan Cup.
Four of the five South Westmeath clubs all have an opportunity to progress to the quarter final stage of the senior football championship and the relevant management and playing squads will be solely focussed on the imminent challenges which will unfold when the final series of group fixtures commence on Friday night.
Both Athlone and Garrycastle throw in at 4pm on Saturday evening. Athlone play reigning champions, St Lomans in Hogan Park, Moate, while Coralstown-Kinnegad provide the opposition for Garrycastle in TEG Cusack Park, Mullingar.
Should Garrycastle fail to beat a semi-final bound Coralstown-Kinnegad team, then Athlone will secure a place in the quarter final of the competition at the expense of their local rivals with a win over St Lomans.
St Lomans defeated Garrycastle in the previous phase of group fixtures and with the return of talisman John Heslin to the team, the Mullingar club will provide a stern test for Liam McHale's charges, but such are the encounters you need to win to have aspirations of championship progression.
Garrycastle, fresh from two consecutive one point defeats, will be hopeful of sealing a knockout phase berth.
Opposition, Coralstown-Kinnegad have enjoyed a strong championship campaign to date, but Gary Dolan will be hoping that his team's character comes to the fore to ensure championship quarter final progression, Garrycastle being a regular feature in the knockout phase of the senior football championship in recent times.
In Group 2 of the senior football championship, form clubs, Caulry and Moate All Whites meet in TEG Cusack Park, Mullingar, on Sunday at 4pm, in what is certain to prove an evenly contested encounter. The local rivals have hit form in recent fixtures, Moate accounting for Rosemount and the Mount Temple/Baylin club defeating Mullingar Shamrocks in the most recent round of games.
However, defeat for either side brings the strong possibility of an end to their championship journey - should Mullingar Shamrocks account for Shandonagh then it would be Mullingar who secure a quarter final berth at the expense of Caulry or Moate.
Of the five South Westmeath clubs contesting the championship, Rosemount are the sole club with no prospect of knockout phase involvement, the black and amber aiming to defeat Killucan and maintain senior status for 2022 - a loss and the prospect of a relegation looms. This game throws in in The Downs on Sunday at 4pm.
Permutations aplenty remain as the final group fixtures of what has been a highly competitive Westmeath senior football championship throw in this weekend.
