2009 was another busy year for Westmeath's football and hurling development squads. Here, we review the progress of each squad between the under 13 and 16 grades.

The next generation of Westmeath footballers and hurlers acquitted themselves well in the many underage blitzes and tournaments which took place last year.
In football, Westmeath fielded under 14, 15 and 16 teams, while in hurling, the Lake County competed at under 13, 14, 15 and 16 level. All teams enjoyed a degree of success, with the under 16 footballers contesting the Fr Manning Cup final and their hurling counterparts reaching the Shield final of the prestigious Arrabawn tournament in Tipperary.
"We've put a renewed emphasis on underage coaching and development. Westmeath hasn't won a Leinster minor championship in either football or hurling since 2000 and that is too long of a gap. There has been a total change of attitude from everyone involved," Westmeath minor board chairman John Weir explains.
The demise of the once hugely popular Oldcastle-based Gerry Reilly tournament meant the Fr Manning Cup was the under 16 footballers' main focus for 2009. Under the management of Killucan's Graham O'Connor and his selectors Pat Fox (Moate All-Whites) and John Joe Carberry (Rosemount), Westmeath qualified for the final of the competition on the back of victories over Offaly (2-5 to 2-2) and Sligo (1-8 to 0-5). Sadly, they failed to land the title after succumbing to Roscommon by 1-3 to 1-8 at Longford's Michael Fay Park on August 20.
The Lake County could have few complaints about the result as a physically stronger Roscommon side dominated for long spells. After Kilbeggan's Paul Fennell had given Westmeath an early lead, Roscommon replied with two pointed frees from Donal Smith and a goal by the same player in the 20th minute after midfielder John McManus' initial shot had been saved by Darren Brady in the Westmeath goal.
Graham O'Connor's side hauled themselves back into contention with points from Dermot Judge and David McCormack before Smith slotted over his third free. In first half injury-time, the Rossies were awarded a penalty. Smith's shot was saved by Brady, but the corner forward blasted over from the rebound with a goal at his mercy to leave the Connacht outfit leading by 1-4 to 0-3 at the break.
Westmeath never looked like clawing back the deficit in the second half and could only manage a solitary score from a David Fennell penalty in injury-time after the same player had been fouled.
Roscommon were awarded a second penalty early in the second half, but Donal Smith's effort flew over the bar. However, it mattered little as Roscommon were the better team throughout and were full value for their five-point victory.
In a separate under 16 competition which took place in the run-up to the Fr Manning Cup final, Westmeath beat Meath but lost to Dublin.
The under 15 footballers, who were divided into South and North Westmeath, also gave good accounts of themselves in the blitzes they took part in. The management of these two squads comprised Nigel Adamson (Moate All-Whites), Garry Sammon (Garrycastle), Gary Quinn (Athlone), Keith Quinn (coordinator), Niall O'Brien (Kilbeggan Shamrocks), Liam O'Reilly (Ballynacargy), Declan Hogan (St. Mary's) and Gary Flanagan (Caulry).
At under 14 level, Westmeath also fielded two teams from opposite ends of the county with Iarmhi (South Westmeath) defeating 'full' teams from Longford and Carlow to win a Leinster blitz in Athlone. Dermot Fox (Athlone), Gerry Watts (Athlone), Kieran Galvin (Castledaly) and James Galvin (Castledaly) were in charge of the South Westmeath team, while North Westmeath were managed by Robbie O'Connor (Shandonagh), Roy Smyth (Shandonagh) and Thomas McDonnell (Coralstown/Kinnegad).
A new development last year saw the establishment of under 13 regional football squads - players from which will make up this year's under 14 squads.
Arguably the highlight of the underage year was the under 16 hurlers' achievement in finishing runners-up to Clare in the Arrabawn Shield final. Managed by Ray Gavin (St. Brigid's), who was assisted by Christo Murtagh (Lough Lene Gaels), Paul Moore (Brownstown) and coordinator Martina Seery (St. Brigid's), Westmeath travelled to Nenagh in late August to take part in the competition for the first time. And any suggestion that they would be making up the numbers were dismissed when they ran Kilkenny to two points, 0-13 to 2-9, in their opening game.
Next up for Westmeath was a clash against Dublin, who had defeated Kilkenny by two goals. This was another big test for the Lake County side, but they responded magnificently to win by 2-12 to 2-9. However, a late point by Dublin meant Westmeath finished second in the group and headed for the Shield competition.
Waterford provided the opposition here and, after a shaky start, Ray Gavin's charges recovered well to win by 4-10 to 2-8. That victory put Westmeath into the Shield final where they faced Clare. After another tremendous battle, the Banner County emerged victors by 2-11 to 2-9, but Westmeath could still reflect on a fine campaign which certainly bodes well for the future.
Ironically, Westmeath's involvement in the Arrabawn tournament meant that they were unable to play in the All-Ireland 'B' hurling championship which was hosted by the county again last year. Laois emerged as winners of the Adrian Murray Cup after defeating Kerry in the final by 2-17 to 1-9.
The under 15 hurlers took part in the Taghmon/Camross tournament in Wexford. After losing their opening game to Kilkenny North by 2-3 to 2-10, they defeated Laois by 1-9 to 1-4 before losing the Plate semi-final to Carlow. This squad was managed by Pat O'Toole (Clonkill), Frank Reid (Brownstown), Ciaran Williams (Lough Lene Gaels) and Jody Murray (Castlepollard), while Susan Murray (Crookedwood) acted as coordinator.
At under 14 level, Westmeath reached the semi-finals of Division 2 of the Tony Forristal tournament which has been relocated from Waterford to Laois, losing to Antrim by two points. They also spent a week at the DJ Carey School of Hurling in Kilkenny in July. This squad's progress was overseen by James McGrath (Turin), Declan Mullen (Raharney), Tony O'Keeffe (Southern Gaels/Fr Dalton's), John Coyne (Raharney) and Frank Mullen (St. Oliver Plunkett's) with Aidan Cannon (St. Oliver Plunkett's) as coordinator.
The under 13 hurlers also performed well throughout the year with excellent turnouts for training and matches under their management team of Feichin Brennan (Crookedwood), Garret O'Brien (St. Oliver Plunkett's), Stephen Morley (Raharney) and Enda Dowd (Southern Gaels/Fr Dalton's).

The under 16 football team which lost the Fr Manning Cup final to Roscommon was: Darren Brady; Cathal Reilly, Paul Maxwell, Joe Guiden; Adam Moore, Sean Deegan, James Ganley; Dean McNicholas, Dermot Judge; David McCormack, Aonghus Clarke, David Lynch; Paul Fennell, Robbie Henshaw, David Fennell. Subs used: Sean Daly, Aidan Connaughton, Neil Kirby and David Lynch.

The under 16 hurling panel that reached the Arrabawn tournament Shield final was: James Moore, Mark Glennon, Thomas Doyle, Dean McDermott, David Fennell, Cathal Scally, Joey Boyle, David Lynch, Paul Poynton, Paul Fennell, Aonghus Clarke, David McCormack, Niall Leonard, David Higgins, Neil Kirby, Cormac Foley, Darren Brady, Cian O'Connor, Ross Daly, Jack O'Kelly-Lynch, Ciaran Daly, Sean Carey, Simon McCarthy, Darragh O'Keeffe, Neil Chevalier, John Mangan, Sean Deegan and Dermot Judge.

The under 15 hurling panel which competed in the Taghmon-Camross tournament in Wexford was: Conor Lynch, Ciaran Morrison, Gary Greville, John Egan, Brendan Doyle, Tommy Gallagher, Michael Murray, Robbie Greville, Ian Hyland, Thomas Egan, Owen Quinn, Emmet Corrigan, Stephen Keegan, Alan Clarke, Jamie Fitzsimons, Niall O'Brien, Colin Fitzsimons, Adam O'Keeffe, Stuart Doyle, Scott Hynes, Daniel Sheridan, Finbar Thompson, Ciaran Quinn, Ian McCormack, Joey Dugdale, Jack Clancy. Tweet

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