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A brilliant occasion in Cusack Park, entertaining game, Colaiste Mhuire better team, huge physicality in middle section, Marist just couldn't win possession, James McHugh man of the match with 2-8 off limited possession, Weir, Byrne, Ormsby, Moloney and O' Brien had big influence for winners. Claretandblue (Westmeath) - Posts: 2571 - 07/02/2026 16:48:11 2655377 Link
Some serious talent coming through in Westmeath. I thought McHugh was unbelievable. Ormsby had a massive game also. Schahill by his standards probably had a quiet first half but came more into it in the second half. I can see Colaiste Mhuire getting to the all Ireland final at a minimum. Should be interesting seeing McHugh & Scahill playing together at U20 level this season for Westmeath. Mark McHugh was also there today which was good to see! Matthew (None) - Posts: 1112 - 07/02/2026 20:01:59 2655403 Link
Replying To Upforthegame23: "Rumours that the westmeath executive and ccc have decided that u18s in last year of minor are not allowed play adult football again in westmeath. You can now vote, drive get married in westmeath but are not allowed play adult football, but u are allowed play u20s with adults. Its mind boiling really. I heard denis and Buddha explaining playing adult football at 16 years of age and how it helped them develop to the 2004 success. Obviously westmeath are doing it right and other 40 counties are wrong" It really does depend on what your county boards priority is. If you let u18s play adult gaa it kills the u18 championship. Its as simple as that. Your minor championship becomes condensed. The best minors are on their clubs first team and that teams fixtures takes precedent for both the club and the county board. This means that the rest of your u18s get 3 games max in possibly the most vital year or years of their development. So your choice is to either keep minor at u17 or dont allow u18s play Adult gaa. Most other counties did get it wrong. It killed u18 hurling and football in Limerick for example. Another factor is who runs the competition U17 is run by the minor board and its their marquee championship. U18 is run by the senior board and its a nuisance to them Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 25 - 07/02/2026 20:36:24 2655417 Link
Replying To Fighting-Cocks69: "Hard to argue with it really - only a small few clubs unhappy with the current championship format. Overall it's working well and there's very little complaining. You'd think the county board would have bigger things to be worrying about instead of trying to fix something that doesn't really need fixing. Especially when you look at the success at schools, college and county senior level over the last few weeks - that says plenty. Better off getting back to the stuff everyone actually wants sorted, like facilities and underage development. Great game today in Cusack Park as well. CBS definitely the better side - the margin would've been very big only for McHugh. Once Will got that second goal off a poor kick-out decision, that was game, set and match. CBS are very strong - bench every bit as good as the starting team, bringing on lads like Meehan, Hayes and more. Serious setup and brilliant school support again." I thought that the Marist coped very well in the first half with Ormsby and the kickout. They lost their way on their own kickout in third quarter. I dont know what happened but the keeper just seemed to lose his concentration and kicked the ball to an unmarked Mary's player four or five times in a row. This brought the Mary's half back line roaring into the game and I think they scored 6 points between them in second half. Even with all that to contend with Marist were a point up going into the 4th quarter. Then they inexplicably imploded at the back and gifted Mary's their first goal through an unforced error at the back. The did it again for the second goal when they again had possession and handpassed the ball( admittedly under pressure) to a Mary's forward right in front of their own goal. Mary's were the better team but Marist found a way for long periods to stay in the game only to hand it to Mary's in the end. Its a bit simplistic to give all the credit to McHugh for that. He got the scores, is a great player and had a great game but the work rate, resilience and team play of Marist was excellent. Mary's are a very good team and Marist went toe to toe with them inspite of some serious physical disadvantages. They can hold their heads high. Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 25 - 07/02/2026 20:50:29 2655419 Link
Very good analysis, can't underestimate the legitimate physicality the CBS brought to proceedings and how that tired the Marist lads in the final quarter. Marist had worked very hard to stay in contention but took its toll. CBS also had stronger bench with Flynn, Hayes and Meehan. Claretandblue (Westmeath) - Posts: 2571 - 07/02/2026 21:47:51 2655424 Link
Replying To Tadhg2020: "It really does depend on what your county boards priority is. If you let u18s play adult gaa it kills the u18 championship. Its as simple as that. Your minor championship becomes condensed. The best minors are on their clubs first team and that teams fixtures takes precedent for both the club and the county board. This means that the rest of your u18s get 3 games max in possibly the most vital year or years of their development. So your choice is to either keep minor at u17 or dont allow u18s play Adult gaa. Most other counties did get it wrong. It killed u18 hurling and football in Limerick for example. Another factor is who runs the competition U17 is run by the minor board and its their marquee championship. U18 is run by the senior board and its a nuisance to them" Agreed; it should have remained an U17 competition where there's no Leaving Cert distraction either. The minor competition has been poor the last number of years, a monopoly between Tubberclair and Shamrocks with the chasing pack almost all Div 2 standard teams. That may change now that most of them have moved on. OverTheHill85 (Westmeath) - Posts: 227 - 07/02/2026 22:18:51 2655431 Link
Replying To Claretandblue: "A brilliant occasion in Cusack Park, entertaining game, Colaiste Mhuire better team, huge physicality in middle section, Marist just couldn't win possession, James McHugh man of the match with 2-8 off limited possession, Weir, Byrne, Ormsby, Moloney and O' Brien had big influence for winners." Buckley could definitely be the starting goalkeeper in the next 2/3 years for Westmeath, another asset to that team Fighting-Cocks69 (Westmeath) - Posts: 131 - 07/02/2026 23:04:47 2655442 Link
Replying To Tadhg2020: "I thought that the Marist coped very well in the first half with Ormsby and the kickout. They lost their way on their own kickout in third quarter. I dont know what happened but the keeper just seemed to lose his concentration and kicked the ball to an unmarked Mary's player four or five times in a row. This brought the Mary's half back line roaring into the game and I think they scored 6 points between them in second half. Even with all that to contend with Marist were a point up going into the 4th quarter. Then they inexplicably imploded at the back and gifted Mary's their first goal through an unforced error at the back. The did it again for the second goal when they again had possession and handpassed the ball( admittedly under pressure) to a Mary's forward right in front of their own goal. Mary's were the better team but Marist found a way for long periods to stay in the game only to hand it to Mary's in the end. Its a bit simplistic to give all the credit to McHugh for that. He got the scores, is a great player and had a great game but the work rate, resilience and team play of Marist was excellent. Mary's are a very good team and Marist went toe to toe with them inspite of some serious physical disadvantages. They can hold their heads high." aye i agree it's a bit simplistic to give all the credit to McHugh. But when you look at the spread of CBS scorers compared to Marist, there was only one real contender there. Fighting-Cocks69 (Westmeath) - Posts: 131 - 07/02/2026 23:07:04 2655443 Link
Tubberclair weren't even in minor division one championship last year and The Downs were very competitive in the final. Claretandblue (Westmeath) - Posts: 2571 - 07/02/2026 23:29:30 2655448 Link
Schools final was really enjoyable. Report I read online summed it up well - the 4th quarter saw the breaking of the dam. Marist did amazingly well to be leading after 40 mins. They were so efficient , with so little of the ball. McHugh's goal and his two pointer from play were both exceptional scores. He is so physically strong and has a huge boot. CBS were very wasteful and will need to be more clinical the next day. The Ulster champions will surely have a plan for Ormsby - can't have one player catching 15 kickouts. They'll also need more scores throughout their forward line. Hopefully it will be played at an appropriate venue , unlike last year. jamsie (Westmeath) - Posts: 507 - 08/02/2026 08:21:21 2655459 Link
Replying To Fighting-Cocks69: "aye i agree it's a bit simplistic to give all the credit to McHugh. But when you look at the spread of CBS scorers compared to Marist, there was only one real contender there." Yep, if you weren't at the game you would easily come to that conclusion alright. Even being there you have to acknowledge and admire James talent. Hes a big game player. He has tremendous confidence and concentration levels. He always delivers in the big games especially off limited opportunity. Ironically I've seen him shoot 50% when he's had a lot of the ball. Scahill is probably credited with getting Mullingar to the final but anyone who's seen them live knows there is far more to them than Will. Young Whittaker had a great season for Marist. Unfortunately he was nowhere to be seen in the second half . The same applies to young Geraghty. That can happen in finals Unfortunately. Three top talents there too. Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 25 - 08/02/2026 12:11:06 2655475 Link
Replying To jamsie: "Schools final was really enjoyable. Report I read online summed it up well - the 4th quarter saw the breaking of the dam. Marist did amazingly well to be leading after 40 mins. They were so efficient , with so little of the ball. McHugh's goal and his two pointer from play were both exceptional scores. He is so physically strong and has a huge boot. CBS were very wasteful and will need to be more clinical the next day. The Ulster champions will surely have a plan for Ormsby - can't have one player catching 15 kickouts. They'll also need more scores throughout their forward line. Hopefully it will be played at an appropriate venue , unlike last year." 15 catches? Is that accurate or are you crediting him with some of the other midfielders work. They are two giants of men to be fair. Granted the Marist keeper seemed to be kicking the ball to them for the whole 3rd quarter but the ones that he was accurate on were good contests in the air. Marist broke the ball, which is all you can do when you are giving up 5 or 6 inches in height to the opposition. Unfortunately the breaks were predominantly won by mullingar in the second half. Im not sure why. Marist had done quite well on them in first half but some key break winners for them were nowhere to be seen Unfortunately. Thats football. I love the new rules. As a hurling man who has to watch a lot of football these days I found it very hard to watch anyone bar the top teams against each other under the old ones. Im not a fan of the goal keeper and kick out rules though. For me the keeper is one of 15 players on the pitch and should be governed by the same rules. Its that simple for me. Why have a different set of rules for one player? That doesnt make sense to me. Its hard enough to get a lad to go in goals but this makes the position very unattractive. Add in the new kickout rule and goal keeping is now a punishment. I think everyone has forgotten what a kick out is. Its a method of restarting a game. Thats all. Its supposed to be. I dont have a problem with it having to travel a specific distance but that should be the same as a free or and other restart. I also dont see why the keeper cant receive it back. If you must limit the keepers movement then he should be restricted to his own half or inside his 45m line. Its suiting the dominant team and that's not what a restart is supposed to be about Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 25 - 08/02/2026 12:52:47 2655483 Link
Replying To Tadhg2020: "15 catches? Is that accurate or are you crediting him with some of the other midfielders work. They are two giants of men to be fair. Granted the Marist keeper seemed to be kicking the ball to them for the whole 3rd quarter but the ones that he was accurate on were good contests in the air. Marist broke the ball, which is all you can do when you are giving up 5 or 6 inches in height to the opposition. Unfortunately the breaks were predominantly won by mullingar in the second half. Im not sure why. Marist had done quite well on them in first half but some key break winners for them were nowhere to be seen Unfortunately. Thats football. I love the new rules. As a hurling man who has to watch a lot of football these days I found it very hard to watch anyone bar the top teams against each other under the old ones. Im not a fan of the goal keeper and kick out rules though. For me the keeper is one of 15 players on the pitch and should be governed by the same rules. Its that simple for me. Why have a different set of rules for one player? That doesnt make sense to me. Its hard enough to get a lad to go in goals but this makes the position very unattractive. Add in the new kickout rule and goal keeping is now a punishment. I think everyone has forgotten what a kick out is. Its a method of restarting a game. Thats all. Its supposed to be. I dont have a problem with it having to travel a specific distance but that should be the same as a free or and other restart. I also dont see why the keeper cant receive it back. If you must limit the keepers movement then he should be restricted to his own half or inside his 45m line. Its suiting the dominant team and that's not what a restart is supposed to be about" Not receiving ball to keeper stops keep going abck and keep ball to extent . I disavree qith ypur summary on that its good rule and many top keepers still top undrr this Gaaforlife2023 (Longford) - Posts: 1175 - 08/02/2026 15:03:08 2655509 Link
Replying To Gaaforlife2023: "Not receiving ball to keeper stops keep going abck and keep ball to extent . I disavree qith ypur summary on that its good rule and many top keepers still top undrr this" Top keepers will be top keepers regardless of the rules. Its the lad that you are trying to convince to go between the sticks down in the local pitch that im talking about. Its almost impossible to convince any young lad that goals is a fun position to play in under these rules. Unfortunately the gaelic football fraternity declared war on the keeper. On the going back to the keeper, Gaelic Football is a possession based game so whats wrong with that. It means the defending team have to move forward and ress the keeper thus creating space somewhere else. The keeper having possession wasn't the problem. It was the packed blanket defence. Tadhg2020 (Limerick) - Posts: 25 - 08/02/2026 16:01:47 2655519 Link
Replying To Claretandblue: "Tubberclair weren't even in minor division one championship last year and The Downs were very competitive in the final." The last four winners have been the two clubs if I'm correct and I would think they'll both share the U20 championship for the coming 3 years and last. I stated they dominated the last number of years, Tubberclair have had their spell and probably won't win a minor for 10-15 years again but that crop should keep them competitive at adult level, they had 2-3 involved yesterday also who aren't yet eligible. OverTheHill85 (Westmeath) - Posts: 227 - 08/02/2026 20:40:41 2655556 Link
Replying To Tadhg2020: "Top keepers will be top keepers regardless of the rules. Its the lad that you are trying to convince to go between the sticks down in the local pitch that im talking about. Its almost impossible to convince any young lad that goals is a fun position to play in under these rules. Unfortunately the gaelic football fraternity declared war on the keeper. On the going back to the keeper, Gaelic Football is a possession based game so whats wrong with that. It means the defending team have to move forward and ress the keeper thus creating space somewhere else. The keeper having possession wasn't the problem. It was the packed blanket defence." Disagree it has sped the game wouldnt mind if teams didnt all jsut use it as cop out instesd tryingn work forqard better withhout having go back. I see your point but posession game nothing but the way it was too slow and majority didnt like it Gaaforlife2023 (Longford) - Posts: 1175 - 08/02/2026 22:24:20 2655566 Link