Saturday, February 15, 2025

Jason Keelan: The Maroon hearts of hurling set to be unveiled

It’s not hard to see why there is such ferocity when it comes to the business end of the Westmeath hurling championships. In the past seven senior finals, two were decided by five points or more (2022, 2016) while the others had a puck of a ball or less in it at the end of proceedings.

Twelve teams compete at the top-tier for honours but there are a select few who can realistically expect to be in the hunt. Likewise, there are battles to be fought to survive the drop to ‘B’ or worse.
They say history never repeats but that doesn’t apply to Westmeath hurling. Should a combination of Castletown-Geoghegan, Raharney, or Clonkill make the decider, that will be nine finals in succession involving just those three.
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The last not to was when one of those – Raharney – took down the recent Division 1 winners, Castlepollard. So safe to say it doesn’t make for good reading for those trying to play a game of catch-up. But the players are there in the clubs. Take the historic comeback by the county side against Darragh Egan’s Wexford not so long ago.
Of the 26 on the panel, over half came from clubs not from the main trio. But while there may seem to be potential to have an upset or two, expect those (if any) to come before the final day.
A Year On
Having fought their way to Group A, Cullion find themselves back in ‘B’ after four defeats following a dramatic opening honours-even against the Gaels in 2022. To replace them we find Fr Dalton’s.
The Ballymore outfit are quite the enigma, having lifted the Mickey Power Cup and cementing their place in ‘A’ for the first time having reformed in 2007.
Could McCabe, Finerty, and co stir the pot? Given they are favourites to drop (alongside Lough Lene Gaels), survival would, unquestionably, be remarkable.
It’s quite the round 1 baptism for the southern-side as they meet 2022 champions, Alan Mangan’s Castletown-Geoghegan. A demolishing would do Ned O’Connor’s side no use but Budda’s troops will want to put down a small marker just to let teams know they don’t plan on relinquishing silverware anytime soon.
There are scores to settle, once again, as Raharney (2022 ‘A’ top scorers) will want revenge for the poor showing in that semi-final loss. Equally, Clonkill will feel they let themselves down where a goal from the evergreen Brendan Murtagh in the dying embers put some respectability on the matter. And will Pollard have much of a say?
Noel Boyce’s recently-crowned league champions will take some heart from their first divisional title in more than three-decades and will want to bring that vibrant form to championship.
A to B
The ‘B’ grouping is fairly wild. Ringtown, fresh off promotion, match up against Cullion, disembarking from the relegation boat, on day one. Delvin, beaten finalists for a second time, will need fortitude to regroup and put up the fight again. While Brownstown, The Wood and Plunkett’s will all look to rattle cages but with a variety of ageing players and inexperience, who knows where things end?

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