Search Results for 'John Connellan'

Previewing any game involving NUIG is difficult because you don’t how many of their marquee players will or won’t be available. However, and this is a prediction of which I am confident, if they have all their top players this Sunday, they will be too strong for Cortoon Shamrocks.

Eighty students at NUIG will receive funding to pursue their sporting interest this year.

A - Has to be for All-star awards as Westmeath had an unprecedented three nominations, and collected two awards on the night. Gary Connaughton was a popular winner of the number one spot while John Keane picked up his second award at corner back. Michael Ennis was somewhat unlucky not to collect one at wing back following some outstanding performances throughout the year on the wing. It could be some time again before we collect two all-stars in the same year.

There’s probably enough of talk of doom and gloom around without me adding to it here. But sure at this stage we wouldn’t know how to cope if we heard a bit of good news anyway, would we? With that in mind I thought I’d share with you something that has been troubling me over the festive period.

Westmeath county footballer Kieran Gavin was one of two recipients of a Cadbury Football Scholarship in Dublin College University last week. 

Westmeath face a difficult challenge this weekend as they travel north to take on reigning league champions Derry in Ballinascreen at 2.30pm on Sunday. Having lost the opening round against Galway, an away win would be a welcome tonic to O’Flatharta’s men. Derry had two points to spare over Mayo in their first round clash and will not want to go down in their first home game of the season.

Derry 1-18

Having impressively accounted for near neighbours Offaly in the opening round of the Cadbury’s Leinster u21 football championship, Westmeath are in action again this Saturday in the quarter final. Kilkenny provide the opposition in a game fixed for Nolan Park at 2.30pm. Even allowing for the fact that Westmeath will be forced to line out without a host of regulars due to college commitments, it’s inconceivable to think they could slip up against lowly Kilkenny.

Nobody said it was going to be easy, and so far at least, division one certainly hasn’t been easy for the footballers of Westmeath. With three rounds played they are still seeking their first points of the campaign and are left propping up the table.

Last weekend will live long in the memory of all Irish sports fans. First our grand-slam rugby heroes and then Bernard Dunne wrote their names into the history books. In doing so they gave the whole nation a timely lift. Unfortunately things didn’t run as smoothly for the football fraternity in both Westmeath and Roscommon, with both counties crashing out of their respective u21 championships, and both senior sides also being turned over.