Westmeath make a welcome return to competitive inter-county action on Sunday, January 4 when hosting Meath in the Bord Na Mona O’Byrne Cup.
Tom Cribben’s team, who face three matches inside a week, are placed in a tricky pool alongside the Royals, DCU, and Longford. On Wednesday January 7, 2015 Kinnegad is the venue for Westmeath’s clash with DCU, while the following Sunday January 11 a midlands derby is scheduled for Ballymahon against Longford.
Six months have elapsed since Westmeath’s last fixture which ended a particularly tough campaign featuring 12 straight defeats in the O’Byrne Cup, Allianz Football League, and Championship. Despite that wretched run Cribben, who has previously managed Laois and Offaly, remains adamant that there is ‘potential’ in Westmeath so ensuring the panel are prepared for Division Two of the Allianz Football League is the current aim. Early home fixtures with Laois and Galway provide Westmeath with an opportunity to make a positive start in the league so it will be interesting to see how the Midlanders fare in the O’Byrne Cup.
