Westmeath G A A Notes By Pat Reilly Westmeath PRO:
MINOR HURLERS WIN ALL IRELAND B TITLE.
Westmeath minor hurlers defeated Kildare and followed in the footsteps of our U-16's to complete a double of All Ireland wins for the county in two weeks; this is a wonderful achievement for the county as we haven't claimed either titles since 91 & 93 respectively, The game, which was played in Navan in front of a small crowd of supporters from both counties had everything and a personal tally of 2-07 for corner forward Niall O' Brien was crucial to the Westmeath victory. Kildare started the brighter and opened the scoring with a free from center forward Conor Kenny but Westmeath responded with two frees from O' Brien and with ten minutes gone the sides were tied a two points apiece. It was then the game came to life when Niall O' Brien rounded the corner back after a lovely through ball from Kirby to slot the games first goal and put Westmeath in the driving seat. In true Kildare style they lifted their game and responded with five unanswered points to leave them two up in the twenty first minute, before O' Brien struck again for his second goal to give westmeat a 2-04 to 0-08 lead at the break.
The second half started poorly for Kildare as in the opening minute they gave away a penalty which Niall O' Brien fired over, but Kildare responded yet again and were level in the 10th minute, Westmeath swithed Aonghus Clarke to centre forward and he came more into the game notching up two valuable points as the Westmeath half back line started to dominate with Anthony Price and Kelvin Reilly to the fore. Kildare fought right up to the end and a goal in the dyeing minutes from full forward Kevin Connor after Niall Kelly had brought off another fine save gave them some hope, but Westmeath hung on to claim a three point victory on a final scoreline of 2-12 to 1-12. Congratulations must go to this fine group of lads for the effort, dedication and skill shown on the day, also to the management team of Pat O' Brien (Manager) Selectors Pat Clancy, Christo Murtagh, and Co-ordinator Martina Seery for their time and dedication to Westmeath hurling, well done to all. 
SLEVINS COACHES INTERMEDIATE HURLING CHAMPIONSHIP:
On Saturday & Sunday of last week the first semi-finals between Delvin & Turin and Fr. Daltons
And Crookedwood took place with Delvin eventually getting over a very determined Turin side who may feel the left this one behind due to missed chances especially from frees, while in the second semi-final Crookedwood played Fr Daltons, with the wood having finished above Fr. Daltons in the league table one would have expected  them to progress but not so as they turned in a poor performance and eventually lost out by seven points, leaving Fr. Daltons in the final in their first year in intermediate since they re-grouped. 
SHAY MURTAGH SENIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP:
The Semi-finals of this years competition will take place next weekend with Garrycastle taking on Killucan and near neighbours Mullingar Shamrocks facing up to the Downs. The first semi-final between Mullingar Shamrocks and The Downs will be a tough closely fought match with nothing between either sides. On Paper Mullingar Shamrocks seem to be the form team and will probably fancy themselves to make the final with players like Donal O' Donoghue, Simon Quinn & Aonghus Smyth, however the never say die spirit shown this year by The Downs in their qtr final game along with big performances from Brendan Murtagh, John Smyth and Barry Conroy may just cause an upset. On a side note it would be good to be a fly on the wall in the Smyth household this week as John lines out for The Downs, while Lorcan and Aonghus line out for Shamrocks with dad Ray manager of Mullingar Shamrocks, !such is sport!.
The Second semi-final should be a closely contested affair as Killucan topped the group and Garrycastle easily disposed of Athlone in the qtr final. Killucan will look to the likes of Francis Boyle, Paul Greville and Cormac Boyle, to get them to their first final while on the other hand Garrycastle with players the calibre of the Dolan Bros, Alan Daly, and Paul Dillon in their side and their ability to play an open fast moving style of football could trouble for Killucan. 
 
JASCA SPORTS INTERMEDIATE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP:
The first semi-finals of the intermediate championship take place next weekend with Bunbrosna playing Caulry, Bunbrosna who topped their group will feel confident they can progress but Caulry have the benefit of a tough qtr final win under their belt and will not give this one away without a fight. In the second semi-final Castletown Finea/Coole/Whitehall face up Ballynacargy for the second year running and to just like Bunbrosna they topped their division as well and will not like to loose out to Ballynacargy who overcame them last years at this stage expect after a tough battle. 
KC SPORTS JUNIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP:
The first qtr-final of this competition took place last weekend with Ballycomoyle loosing out narrowly to Tyrrellspass, the second qtr final takes place next weekend with St. Pauls playing St. Lomans who topped their section, however St. Pauls will be out to atone for last years disappointing final appearance and will not give up without a fight. 
IS YOUR CLUB REPRESENTED:
Westmeath Hurling Supporters Club Sponsored Walk:
The Westmeath Hurling Supporters Club have organised a Sponsored Walk to raise funds for Underage development squads, from the Shannon to the Lakelands on 23rd & 24th October, the following is the layout of the Weekend:
October 23rd
• 9.00am Bus leaving Mullingar park hotel
• 10.00am arrive at Clondra (Shannon)
• Walk to Abbyshrule (Lunch En route)
• 5.30-6.00pm Arrrvie in Abbyshrule
• Bus to Ballymahon
• 7.00pm Evening Meal
• B&B in Ballymahon Hotel
October 24th
• 10.00am Bus to Abbeyshrule
• Walk to Mullingar (Packed Lunch)
• 5.00pm Arrive in Mullingar
• Reception and refreshments.
If there is anybody out there that would like to join in on the walk and help raise much needed funds they can contact Billy Boyle on 087 2519251, Billy Foley on 0862553260 or Aidan Davitt, 087 8235945 
 
MINOR BOARD:
U-14 DEVELOPMENT SQUAD:
Our U-14 hurling development squad took two teams to the Tony Forrestal tournament in Laois last Saturday. This is an All-Ireland competition for county u-14 teams. 
Clonad hosted the group stages & WH1 got off to a good start with a comfortable 2-17 to 0-1 win against Armagh. Dan Greville, Alan Kincaid, Ciaran Fagan Conor Shaw & Ronan Wallace were all prominent here. 
The next game was comfortable again beating Roscommon 4-8 to 0-1. Players to shine included Conor O Brien, Luke Byrne, Dara Clinton, Sean Quinn & Ian Kilcoyne. 
Meanwhile WH2 topped their group with great wins over Kerry & a physically strong Meath team. 
This meant that both teams topped their groups & were drawn against each other in the Quarter final in O Moore Park. 
WH1 started strong in this game & led by 2-10 tp 1-2 at half time. Darren Giles, Warren Casserly, Johnny Bermingham, Shane Clavin & Micheal Daly were to the fore. 
Jack Galvin came on in the second half & scored 2-2 to help WH1 to a 4-13 to 1-4 win.  
Robbie Gillen, Liam Cassidy, Andrew Corbett, Sean Flanagan, Bobby Gonoun, Ronan Kelly, Paddy Lynam & Brian O Reilly all stood out. 
The semi-final was against Antrim in O Moore Park. Playing with a strong wind, Antrim led by 1-6 to 1-1 at half time. WH1 had it all to do at this stage as this match was only 15 minutes per half. 
Our lads dug in & responded brilliantly with points from Dara Clinton & Conor O Brien plus a Micheal Daly goal bringing the match back to a draw. 
However, an Antrim goal followed by 2 late frees gave them a victory by 2-8 to 2-3 & Antrim subsequently defeated Laois in the final. 
These young men did their county proud & will have many a good day in the future. 
South Westmeath Autumn Fe10 Football Development Blitz:
The Autumn under ten Blitzes will be run in three venues under lights, Tubberclair GAA, Athlone GAA and Garrycastle on Monday evenings at 7pm. All Teams will be asked to be at their venue 30 mins before games.
There will be three matches for the participating teams. Each match will be Twenty minutes long with a half time break after ten minutes for two minutes.
Dates: Monday 4th, 11th, 18th OCT
• Fixtures
• Monday 4th
Venue 1: Garrycastle   Venue 2: Athlone  Venue 3: Tubberclair
Garrycastle    Athlone   Tubberclair
Maryland/Tang   Moate All Whites  St Malachys/Ballinagore
Milmore Gaels   Kilbeggan/St Joseph   Ballynacaragy
Rosemount    Caulry 
• Monday 11th
Venue 1: Garrycastle   Venue 2: Athlone  Venue 3: Tubberclair
Garrycastle    Athlone   Tubberclair
Caulry     Ballynacaragy   Milmore Gaels
St Malachys/Ballinagore  Kilbeggan /St Joseph's Maryland/Tang
Moate All Whites       Rosemount
• Monday 18th
Venue 1: Garrycastle  Venue 2: Athlone  Venue 3: Tubberclair
Garrycastle   Athlone   Tubberclair
Moate All Whites  St Malachys/Ballinagore Rosemount
Ballynacaragy   Milmore Gaels  Caulry
                        Maryland/Tang  Kilbeggan /St Joseph's 
 
WESTMEATH GAA DEVELOPMENT LOTTO: (Results 31st August)
NO JACKPOT WINENER: WINNING NO'S: 4, 5, 7, 18.
NEXT WEEKS JACKPOT €3,420
14 MATCH 3 WINNER @ €23 EACH:
 
Betty McGrath C/O Delvin GAA
Breege Egginton C/O Delvin GAA
Peter Burke C/O Mullingar Shamrocks GAA
Keane Taggart C/O Mullingar Shamrocks GAA
Mary Dowling C/O Mullingar Shamrocks GAA
Ken Dolan C/O Westmeath Ladies GAA
Aoife Cornally C/O Ballinagore GAA
Alan Martin C/O Ballinagore GAA
Tom Hickey C/O St. Lomans Mullingar GAA
Sean Devine C/O St. Lomans Mullingar GAA
Willo McNight C/O St. Oliver Plunketts GAA
Suzanne Hill C/O St. Oliver Plunketts GAA
Marian Madden C/O St. Oliver Plunketts GAA
Ruth Gavigan C/O Loughnavalley GAA
NEXT DRAW DATE: TUESDAY 7th September 2010. 
WESTMEATH GAA RESULTS WEEKENDING 05-09-10:
Senior B FC:   St Malachys  1-14, Tubberclair  3-8; 
Jasca Sports IFC Qtr Finals:   Ballynacargy  2-9, Rosemount  2-8; 
Jasca Sports IFC Relegation Play Off:   Ballinagore  0-15, Kilbeggan Shamrocks  0-13; 
K.C. Sports JFC Qtr Finals:   Tyrrellspass  2-7, Ballycomoyle  1-7; 
Junior B FC Sect C:   Garrycastle  2-6, St Marys Rochfortbridge  0-10; 
Greville Arms SHC Qtr Final:   St Oliver Plunketts  1-20, Ringtown  0-5; 
Slevins Coaches IHC Semi Finals:   Delvin  2-17, Turin  1-15; Fr. Daltons 0-13, Crookedwood 0-06   
 
• I can be contacted by phone on 044 9666476, 087 2777987 or by email on pro.westmeath@gaa.ie