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Excellent win today. Made even better with Senan doing so well. Lots of good football played and very positive with Clare next week in TEG Well done Dessie and the team Mountlin (Westmeath) - Posts: 52 - 28/01/2024 17:31:27 2522743 Link
i was pleasently surprised at the footballers today . first of all may i say what a great westmeath support we had in the splendid venue of o connor park . we always looked in control . offaly are very young and have a lot of developing to do . we on the other hand played the game largely on our terms . ray connellan got through a vast amount of work and is vital to us going forward . luke loughlin and ronan o toole ran the show in the forward line and senan baker was most impressive . so well done to all and i will not be doubting this team again mickcunningham (Westmeath) - Posts: 1802 - 28/01/2024 17:34:57 2522746 Link
Good win, two sides at totally different stages of development, experience and physicality ensured we always looked in control, physically the difference between the two sides in the middle third was massive, we dominated that sector throughout, Baker, Loughlin and O' Toole lively up front, Conor Dillon's best display, Offaly supporters worried afterwards about relegation, their away to Antrim next week with the losers facing a relegation battle after only two games, Declan Kelly's job will take 3 years to show progress, we have a Clare side in transition. Expect a fine crowd in Cusack Claretandblue (Westmeath) - Posts: 1491 - 28/01/2024 17:54:37 2522762 Link
Delighted with the win fair play to all concerned. Crucial to have Ray back in midfield and great result without Maguire and Heslin. Senan chipping in with 1-2, fair play to the young lad. Clare were being dismissed by many before the league started but had a narrow win over Sligo. Tricky tie so cannot be complacent and need to make it 2 from 2. BigSur (Westmeath) - Posts: 1130 - 28/01/2024 18:50:15 2522786 Link
A good win today. Hopefully this puts to bed all the hype Offaly get off some Westmeath people prior to any time we are playing them. It was like last year, after they had a good first half, we ended up beating them easy and the year before we made light work of them in the Tailteann game in Croke Park. The four point scoreline today was flattering to Offaly. Offaly have young players but a lot of them are into their second and third years on a senior inter county panel and it seems to be an ongoing excuse Offaly people use that they are behind developmentally but when does that excuse end. The long and short is we have have been a better team than them for the last 20 years and Offaly despite their history of winning an all Ireland 20 years before that are a Division 3 and more so a Division 4 standard team for that period and probably know deep down that we are favourites any time we play them but find it hard to accept and come up with these excuses now when we beat them. We had young lads playing ourselves today in McCartan, Drumm, Baker, Mulvihill & Whittaker but we won't harp on about it. mintyfresh (Westmeath) - Posts: 211 - 28/01/2024 18:58:32 2522793 Link
The County Board have emailed all Secretaries requesting that Chairperson, Secretary and two delegates attend a meeing on Thursday with a big annoucnemtn on a Centre of Excellence. Anyone know any more on this. gti (Westmeath) - Posts: 240 - 28/01/2024 21:39:50 2522857 Link
Replying To mintyfresh: "A good win today. Hopefully this puts to bed all the hype Offaly get off some Westmeath people prior to any time we are playing them. It was like last year, after they had a good first half, we ended up beating them easy and the year before we made light work of them in the Tailteann game in Croke Park. The four point scoreline today was flattering to Offaly. Offaly have young players but a lot of them are into their second and third years on a senior inter county panel and it seems to be an ongoing excuse Offaly people use that they are behind developmentally but when does that excuse end. The long and short is we have have been a better team than them for the last 20 years and Offaly despite their history of winning an all Ireland 20 years before that are a Division 3 and more so a Division 4 standard team for that period and probably know deep down that we are favourites any time we play them but find it hard to accept and come up with these excuses now when we beat them. We had young lads playing ourselves today in McCartan, Drumm, Baker, Mulvihill & Whittaker but we won't harp on about it." Was there hype around Offaly before todays game? The bookies had us as favourites. They have a new manager making his own stamp on the team, 6/7 of his u20 All Ireland team started, only two established at senior level . Only half of the team started against Meath in the Leinster championship last year. Theyre blooding new players into the senior set up, something were not doing enough of. Our 2021 U20s were also a talented bunch. How many got a really good chance? I'm not sure if Drumm and Baker would have been given the chance to lead their lines today if Maguire and Heslin were available. Delighted they grabbed the opportunities with bothhands. I know that player retention (Offaly problem) is central to progression but there has to be new blood every year. Matthew Whitaker coming on today was another positive. Hopefully more debuts to come in the league. Onto Clare who always give us a bellyfull . A_Chairde (Westmeath) - Posts: 175 - 28/01/2024 22:22:35 2522867 Link
Replying To A_Chairde: "Was there hype around Offaly before todays game? The bookies had us as favourites. They have a new manager making his own stamp on the team, 6/7 of his u20 All Ireland team started, only two established at senior level . Only half of the team started against Meath in the Leinster championship last year. Theyre blooding new players into the senior set up, something were not doing enough of. Our 2021 U20s were also a talented bunch. How many got a really good chance? I'm not sure if Drumm and Baker would have been given the chance to lead their lines today if Maguire and Heslin were available. Delighted they grabbed the opportunities with bothhands. I know that player retention (Offaly problem) is central to progression but there has to be new blood every year. Matthew Whitaker coming on today was another positive. Hopefully more debuts to come in the league. Onto Clare who always give us a bellyfull ." Two points on the board - positive. Players to come back - positive. New players introduced - positive. Plenty of improvement to work on - positive. ExiledCuCu (Cavan) - Posts: 226 - 28/01/2024 22:49:44 2522877 Link
A great start to the league campaign with an away win and big support for the lads in Tullamore so roll on Clare next sunday in Mullingar where hopefully another win will keep us on the road to promotion.A huge effort today by all the team especially Ray Connellan who was very influential throughout Bruno@1 (Westmeath) - Posts: 166 - 28/01/2024 23:50:48 2522881 Link
Replying To mintyfresh: "A good win today. Hopefully this puts to bed all the hype Offaly get off some Westmeath people prior to any time we are playing them. It was like last year, after they had a good first half, we ended up beating them easy and the year before we made light work of them in the Tailteann game in Croke Park. The four point scoreline today was flattering to Offaly. Offaly have young players but a lot of them are into their second and third years on a senior inter county panel and it seems to be an ongoing excuse Offaly people use that they are behind developmentally but when does that excuse end. The long and short is we have have been a better team than them for the last 20 years and Offaly despite their history of winning an all Ireland 20 years before that are a Division 3 and more so a Division 4 standard team for that period and probably know deep down that we are favourites any time we play them but find it hard to accept and come up with these excuses now when we beat them. We had young lads playing ourselves today in McCartan, Drumm, Baker, Mulvihill & Whittaker but we won't harp on about it." Your deluded if you thought Offaly were bullish about yesterday Westmeath should have been beating us by more the bookies had ye 1 point favorites which was a gift from the gods sadly I couldnt bring myself to back it cause I wouldnt bet against Offaly. jiminycricket (Offaly) - Posts: 16 - 29/01/2024 09:32:08 2522909 Link
Replying To Claretandblue: "Good win, two sides at totally different stages of development, experience and physicality ensured we always looked in control, physically the difference between the two sides in the middle third was massive, we dominated that sector throughout, Baker, Loughlin and O' Toole lively up front, Conor Dillon's best display, Offaly supporters worried afterwards about relegation, their away to Antrim next week with the losers facing a relegation battle after only two games, Declan Kelly's job will take 3 years to show progress, we have a Clare side in transition. Expect a fine crowd in Cusack" Fair play to Dessie for not listening to people whinging on about U23 players a few weeks ago and went with the players with the physicality for the job. Great win. Meridian (Westmeath) - Posts: 601 - 29/01/2024 09:37:03 2522910 Link
Great result yesterday! I was not too confident entering O Connor Park yesterday but the lads put in good performance and proved me wrong. Conor Dillon was brilliant his speed to break lines was a joy to watch. O Toole and Loughlin lead the line. Baker took his frees and goal well he played well but still loads to improve on. Drumm didn't look out of place at all. Mulvihill and Forde were great when they came off the bench. Connellen in midfield ran the show. A lot of people giving out about James Dolan still being in the starting 15 but I think he showed yesterday how important he is to the system we play. Offaly really poor and I expected much more from them but we can only beat what is in front of us. We have a great chance to get out of Div 3 now. Massive game next weekend against Clare. Temple56 (Westmeath) - Posts: 386 - 29/01/2024 11:39:53 2522950 Link
Replying To Temple56: "Great result yesterday! I was not too confident entering O Connor Park yesterday but the lads put in good performance and proved me wrong. Conor Dillon was brilliant his speed to break lines was a joy to watch. O Toole and Loughlin lead the line. Baker took his frees and goal well he played well but still loads to improve on. Drumm didn't look out of place at all. Mulvihill and Forde were great when they came off the bench. Connellen in midfield ran the show. A lot of people giving out about James Dolan still being in the starting 15 but I think he showed yesterday how important he is to the system we play. Offaly really poor and I expected much more from them but we can only beat what is in front of us. We have a great chance to get out of Div 3 now. Massive game next weekend against Clare." i would like to see charlie drumm at midfield he had a great game yesterday mickcunningham (Westmeath) - Posts: 1802 - 29/01/2024 15:16:41 2523031 Link
Replying To Temple56: "Great result yesterday! I was not too confident entering O Connor Park yesterday but the lads put in good performance and proved me wrong. Conor Dillon was brilliant his speed to break lines was a joy to watch. O Toole and Loughlin lead the line. Baker took his frees and goal well he played well but still loads to improve on. Drumm didn't look out of place at all. Mulvihill and Forde were great when they came off the bench. Connellen in midfield ran the show. A lot of people giving out about James Dolan still being in the starting 15 but I think he showed yesterday how important he is to the system we play. Offaly really poor and I expected much more from them but we can only beat what is in front of us. We have a great chance to get out of Div 3 now. Massive game next weekend against Clare." I agree massive Game v Clare now. I disagree massive chance of promotion now It's far too early to be talking of promotion after beating a team who are no great shakes by 4 points.If we have 6 points on the board after Clare and Wicklow we can start being hopeful. jobber (Westmeath) - Posts: 1457 - 29/01/2024 17:52:11 2523109 Link
Division 3 looks winnable based on yesterday's display plus other results, Clare are in complete transition after a lengthy period of relative success, new manager and missing 12-13 of last year's championship squad, Down the obvious main promotion favourites but Limerick, Sligo, Antrim and Wicklow are all sides used to playing in Division 4 more often than not, we may even need to win the Division to guarantee Sam Maguire participation but promotion alone would be massive boost. Claretandblue (Westmeath) - Posts: 1491 - 29/01/2024 19:53:21 2523151 Link
Clare making €700,000 profit on their 'win a house' fundraiser puts Westmeath's Quid Games into perspective! Wmeath2 (Westmeath) - Posts: 176 - 29/01/2024 22:44:47 2523192 Link
When do the club leagues start CleanShoulder (Westmeath) - Posts: 270 - 29/01/2024 22:48:20 2523194 Link
Replying To CleanShoulder: "When do the club leagues start" Football leagues starts first on weekend of Feb 24th. BigSur (Westmeath) - Posts: 1130 - 30/01/2024 08:05:49 2523221 Link
Replying To Claretandblue: "Division 3 looks winnable based on yesterday's display plus other results, Clare are in complete transition after a lengthy period of relative success, new manager and missing 12-13 of last year's championship squad, Down the obvious main promotion favourites but Limerick, Sligo, Antrim and Wicklow are all sides used to playing in Division 4 more often than not, we may even need to win the Division to guarantee Sam Maguire participation but promotion alone would be massive boost." you base this on beating the poorest offaly team i have seen in years . all games are winnable if we have the same attitude as last sunday . we must impose ourselves on the game . yes i think that the focus is right but take each game on its merits mickcunningham (Westmeath) - Posts: 1802 - 30/01/2024 13:11:40 2523296 Link
No Mick, it's based on our result plus the other teams in the division, as stated Clare in total transition, Limerick and Sligo just promoted from division 4 and Antrim the weakest side in Ulster while Wicklow are an average side, let's face it, if any of those sides beat us in a championship match it's likely the manager would resign or be replaced, it's also the last chance for many of our players to experience Division 2 football by gaining promotion this year, highly unlikely John Heslin, Kieran Martin, Jason Daly, Kevin Maguire and Jimmy Dolan will be involved in 2026 if we don't get promoted this year, Dessie's role as manager unlikely to be renewed unless we're promoted, all those incentives means I'm extremely confident of finishing in the top two alongside Down. Claretandblue (Westmeath) - Posts: 1491 - 30/01/2024 16:52:04 2523347 Link