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Lomans edged it and finished the game out like county champions which I had a feeling they would do. Fola with an incredible goal, you'd have to be there to witness it to understand it. It was incredible. That gave Lomans the cushion. Disappointed with Kinnegad in the second half, lacked ideas, fitness looked an WmeathWarrior (Westmeath) - Posts: 27 - 30/06/2024 21:28:45 2556072 Link 0 |
Agree with you re Peter Foy but to describe Heslin as being out of sorts is completely wrong, he was the dominant midfielder on show, ran the game, caught kickouts, tackled, scored difficult frees and his kick passing distribution in the second half was sublime. His legs might be not as good as they were as an inside forward but his skill and game management were immense, Loman's have pacy forwards who will avail of his vision and accuracy and on tonight's display Loman's are odds on to retain the championship. Fola is an enigma, he wasn't named on Loman's Division 1 or 3 teams for the league but easily one of the best 10 players in the county, hardly a better goal scored in Cusack in last twenty years, seventy yard solo past opponents and a pike driver from 20 metres to the top corner. Claretandblue (Westmeath) - Posts: 1789 - 30/06/2024 23:23:11 2556106 Link 0 |
Watched Folas wonder goal back on Colm Parkinsons twitter. Reminds me of Flans goal v Laois all those years ago. Phenomenal achievement by Lomans to win Division 1 & 3 titles with two totally different teams and while missing 6 or 7. Kinnegad are an improving team but not sure if any of the rest are making any in roads on Lomans. They seem stronger than ever. The Downs will be back in a quarter final Im sure. Delighted for Garrycastle after a tough couple of years for the club. Jack Donohue dedicating the win to the late Enda Mulvihill was a nice moment yesterday . A_Chairde (Westmeath) - Posts: 217 - 01/07/2024 10:14:07 2556146 Link 1 |
Div.1 final was a cagey affair yesterday but the experience of St.Lomans shaded it in the end.Lack of real finishing power will hamper Kinnegad again -defencesively sound but weak up top.Thought John Heslin was very influencial out around the middle yesterday and Folas goal was a fitting way to win any final.Lomans will be top team again this year in championship. Bruno@1 (Westmeath) - Posts: 200 - 01/07/2024 11:30:37 2556172 Link 0 |
Youre telling me a 37 year old was man of the match. The 5/6 for Lomans wont be around long more as Im going up to Paddy Power on Patrick st now at lunchtime to smash them, should be 1/10
lakecounty90 (Westmeath) - Posts: 102 - 01/07/2024 11:57:48 2556190 Link 0 |
I hold my hands up and admit I got division 2 prediction wrong, fully expected Caulry to win and lay down a marker. Garrycastle looked the fitter team and will take lot of beating in intermediate. lakecounty90 (Westmeath) - Posts: 102 - 01/07/2024 12:05:29 2556192 Link 0 |
TJ Reid is often man of the match for Kilkenny and he's 37, Cluxton 41, Foy is in great shape, if he wasn't man of the match then John Heslin at 33 was.
Claretandblue (Westmeath) - Posts: 1789 - 01/07/2024 13:00:54 2556225 Link 0 |
Garrycastle were impressive and took goals well but Caulry looked poor. Possibly trained hard last week as promotion secured Claretandblue (Westmeath) - Posts: 1789 - 01/07/2024 13:02:25 2556226 Link 0 |
32, and only just. We'll be watching him dominate games with Lomans for a long time yet.
jamsie (Westmeath) - Posts: 451 - 01/07/2024 13:31:34 2556237 Link 0 |
Or maybe Caulry not as good as people think!!
Temple56 (Westmeath) - Posts: 457 - 01/07/2024 13:45:42 2556243 Link 0 |
Ridiculous how can 37 not be man match so are you saying no man match can be given to older player because of age. That is ridiculous
Gaaforlife2023 (Longford) - Posts: 391 - 01/07/2024 19:18:36 2556364 Link 0 |
StLomans really impressed me …. I am hoping kinnegad go one step further but the old dog for the hard road as it goes … StLomans are riddled with quality and they won't be going anywhere for a very long time …. That goal by the boy fola was unbelievable and if my memory serves me correct didn't he score a goal for the county v down in cusack park similar ….kinnegad lacking a killer forward but are a great team and maybe if the handbrake is loosened they will thrive …. A great championship in store but hard to luck past st lomans TheGaaMan77 (Westmeath) - Posts: 29 - 01/07/2024 23:00:12 2556408 Link 0 |
Mainly close to the junior section. St Joseph's definitely the stand out team from league form in junior. CFCW are a funny team, could easily compete well at intermediate when they have their ducks in a row. They are a bit of a yo yo team and I'd fancy them to go straight back up. They know how to grind out junior championships. Balycomoyle are also a funny team, they can have a large turnover of players from year to year depending on hurling commitments for the year. A long year last year for both Ballycomoyle & Lough lene gaels coupled with how the Gaels lost the senior final might spell trouble for Ballycomoyle this year with all focus being on the small ball. Bunbrosna another team that are battle hardened but surely their legs are starting to get slower. At Paul's showed some decent form in the league at times and it's hard to know with moate. Lomans and shamrocks look strongest the other side with both junior teams now operating in D2 in the league. Largely the Lomans junior team beating Killucans senior side. Surely Ballinagore must win Junior 2 now westmeathgaa11 (Westmeath) - Posts: 268 - 02/07/2024 09:43:26 2556438 Link 0 |
Everyone's fawning over St Loman's yet their much vaunted attack only managed to score 1 point in the opening 25 minutes. I doubt Paddy Dowdall would be happy with how Kinnegad shut them down in the first half. Loman's were always going to get a strong purple patch that effectively won the game; mind you outside of the first 10 minutes of the second half I thought they looked lacklustre. The quality they have in the middle and final third sets them apart from the rest of the teams in Westmeath. Still, their fullback line is substandard and opposing teams should be doing more to exploit them here. Dowdall knows this is their weakest point otherwise he wouldn't be getting David Whelan to sweep/double up or playing 13 (sometimes 15) behind the ball. Watch Sam Mc Cartan against Athlone in a few weeks time and he will again probably spend more time on the ball between his own 13m/45m line shoring up space etc. If you put a quality inside forward like Darragh Kirwan in on top of Darragh O Keeffe then St Loman's are unsettled. Kirwan destroyed them in the Leinster semi final last year. Opposing teams need to be working more on playing with their heads up, breaking with pace and creating opportunities for 1 v. 1s. St Loman's are no world beaters!! iarmhiabu (Westmeath) - Posts: 9 - 02/07/2024 10:03:02 2556442 Link 0 |
I seen enough on Sunday to say that Lomans will walk the Senior championship. They are good but as you said no world beaters but unfortunately the chasing pack are very poor. In Group A we have Athlone, Tang, T Pass and Caulry 4 poor teams in my opinion. Kinnegad have a game plan that will frustrated teams but they do not have the forward line to win a championship. Shamrocks and The Downs the only teams that Lomans will fear but I hear The Downs won't be at full strength until the latter stages of the championship so they will find it hard to get out of group B. Shamrocks are a coming team and have a good mix of youth and experience it will be interesting to see how they get on. I fancy them to top group B but might be too soon for them to compete with Lomans Temple56 (Westmeath) - Posts: 457 - 02/07/2024 11:51:19 2556465 Link 0 |
Outside of Kinnegad, it's the Downs who would be Lomans only real test in terms of winning the championship. If Lomans played Shamrocks, it would take on a life of it's own as derby games do but no guarantee they'll even get out of the second group. Very few Shamrocks players would get into the Lomans team outside Dennis Corroon, maybe Paddy Fagan or Efe on a good day, Ormsby a good prospect too. It's more likely for Shamrocks to not reach the knockouts than beat Lomans.
Bluelake (Westmeath) - Posts: 89 - 02/07/2024 12:36:16 2556482 Link 0 |
Shamrocks are at least 3 years off competing with Lomans. And that's only if their 16-18 yr old group of players turn out as good as they seem like they could. No guarantees. They are way off being contenders right now. Kinnegad will win the championship in the next few years if they stick together, but I think Lomans will do it again this year. It's impressive how they have managed to replace more than half of their 2017 Leinster final team and still remain the team to beat throughout. The Downs really should be at the business end. You'd imagine they'll have the hunger back.
jamsie (Westmeath) - Posts: 451 - 02/07/2024 12:58:47 2556495 Link 1 |
Seems simple from a keyboard and yet teams haven't managed to do it too often in the last ten years. Darragh Kirwan is a top provincial forward, unfortunately for you his calibre attacker in Westmeath all play with Loman's. Not sure about him destroying Loman's either in a match that went to extra time. To suggest that Loman's play defensively is nonsense, they've been a great side to watch under a variety of managers, sometimes teams react to opponents like Kerry vs Derry last Sunday, everyone knows how Kinnegad will set up and that's not a criticism of their approach, Pascal and Jack feel that's their best approach and it has brought them to finals.
Claretandblue (Westmeath) - Posts: 1789 - 02/07/2024 14:22:51 2556533 Link 0 |
I watch a lot of football in Westmeath and I'm sure you do yourself going by your number of posts. St Loman's do have David Whelan sitting behind the half back line in front of the fullback so it's not a nonsensical suggestion. At present, St Loman's are as defence minded as Kinnegad in terms of playing a sweeper or getting numbers behind the ball. They mightn't do it to a greater degree but they do!! Paddy Dowdall being a former member of the St Loman's fullback line is well aware they're vulnerable at the back without protection. He himself played in the 22 final when Niall Mitchell gave them all sorts of bother. Darragh O Keeffe wasn't good enough to start the 22 final while Mitchell brought a young Jack Geoghegan on a tour of the town. Dowdall was then appointed manager, the first job was to get the defence organised and no better man do that. He has been around long enough. To hurt St Loman's you have to get at Whelan and O Keeffe. Yes, it's not so simple as you're already trying to mind their abundant attacking threat!!
iarmhiabu (Westmeath) - Posts: 9 - 02/07/2024 18:11:03 2556583 Link 0 |
You're the only poster in the county I'd safely say who thinks that Loman's are as defensive as Kinnegad, there were hundreds in the park on Sunday who'd beg to differ, Last year's county final was defined by Kinnegad having fifteen behind the ball for the majority of the game and then hand passing the ball across the field. Paddy D is entitled to tighten his defence but there's no evidence based on scoreline s that Loman's can be remotely categorised in the same defensive bracket as Kinnegad Claretandblue (Westmeath) - Posts: 1789 - 02/07/2024 22:07:49 2556619 Link 0 |