Search Results for 'Gary Dolan'

For the Kerrys, Dublins, and Tyrones of this world success is measured in all-Ireland titles. Provincial honours are little more than a stepping stone to greater things. It is hard to explain to somebody from the counties mentioned above exactly how much winning a first ever senior provincial title meant to the players and people of the Lake County.

For the Kerrys, Dublins, and Tyrones of this world success is measured in all-Ireland titles. Provincial honours are little more than a stepping stone to greater things. It is hard to explain to somebody from the counties mentioned above exactly how much winning a first ever senior provincial title meant to the players and people of the Lake County.

Meath 0-18

What an intriguing county final pairing this year’s Westmeath senior championship has thrown up. And what a final lies in store. In the green and red corner we have a Garrycastle outfit hungry to make amends for last year’s county final defeat to Castledaly. In the blue corner are the underdogs, St Loman’s, making their first county final appearance in 41 years. Indeed it was 1963 when the Saints won their third and last county senior title. Aside from the medals on offer, neither set of players will be lacking in motivation to play the game of their lives when the ball is throw in at 3.30pm.

Two Westmeath clubs go in search of a coveted place in a Leinster final this weekend. It has been a long and successful season already for the footballers of Garrycastle and Tubberclair but, without a doubt, all of their achievements up until now will pale into insignificance should either team win this weekend.

It’s a big weekend for the footballers of Garrycastle as they travel to Pearse Park, Longford on Sunday to contest the quarter-final of the Leinster club championship. Longford champions Clonguish, backboned by the Barden brothers, provide the opposition.

It is better to have tried and failed than not to have tried at all. While the footballers of Garrycastle and Tubberclair will be disappointed this week to have fallen short at the final hurdle in Leinster, they can take solace in the fact that they did what very few club players ever get the chance to do - represent their club in a provincial final. In doing so they put Westmeath football back in the spotlight after an eminently forgettable year on the county scene.

We may still have a few weeks to wait before we reach the full height of the festive season but the football community of south Westmeath and indeed beyond will be hoping that both Garrycastle and Tubberclair can deliver an early Christmas present to the county. A Leinster title for either side would be a momentous achievement and, should they complete an unprecedented Leinster senior and intermediate club double, celebrations in south Westmeath would last well into the new year.