Search Results for 'Tom Carr'

Westmeath’s minor footballers were no match for an impressive Meath outfit in the Leinster semi-final last Saturday. Hopes that Tom Carr’s side might become the first Westmeath team to contest the provincial decider since 2000 were well and truly quashed by half time as a dominant Royal outfit led 2-8 to 1-4 at that stage.

Tom Carr’s minor footballers enjoy home advantage when they take on Meath in the Leinster semi-final on Saturday evening. Having lost to Louth in the opening round, wins over Carlow and Wicklow have seen them progress to the last four.

Westmeath’s minor hurlers and footballers were both in action in the past week in the backdoor section of the Leinster championship. Carlow provided the opposition in both codes and after two tight encounters it was a case of one apiece as Carlow took the hurling spoils and The Lakelanders scraped through in the football.

It’s last chance saloon time for the minor hurlers and footballers of Westmeath with both sides in action following their opening round defeats to Laois and Louth respectively. Both sets of players will be out to redeem themselves this time out.

The long wait continues. Yet again hopes of success at minor level received a major setback as Tom Carr’s minor side slumped to a humiliating 10- point defeat to Louth in their opening Leinster championship game.

Tom Carr’s Westmeath minor footballers begin their Leinster championship with a tricky away fixture to Louth tomorrow (Saturday, Haggardstown, 3pm).

I get an odd gig doing commentary for RTE Radio One and last week I was given my choice of four games. I opted for the Down v Sligo match in Cavan as it was the nearest to home. I left in good time and had the luxury of arriving at Breffni Park with time to spare. I enjoyed the company of Joe O’Connor from Ballintubber (Cillian’s uncle) for the best part of an hour before the game. Joe is a garda based in Ballinagh and understands the nuances of Cavan football inside out. We chatted about the Cavan football scene, as like us here in Mayo, Cavan are on the look out for a new manager after the departure of Tom Carr. Tom Reilly from Belmullet is the County chairman up there and has the onerous task of selecting a new man to take charge. The word is that there aren’t too many jumping out of the woodwork looking for it.

Large crowds are expected to converge on Ballinrobe this weekend (February 6 to 8) for FebFest – a festival of music and sport. FebFest is built around two major annual events in the Ballinrobe area – the local Musical Society’s eagerly-awaited production of Chess, and the Tim Kelly Engineering Floodlit Cup clash of Mayo and Cavan senior footballers, throwing in at 6.15pm.

I was in Aughamore with Crossmolina for a challenge match against the local club last Friday night. It was an opportunity for both sides to have a workout as they try to shake off their winter coats before the commencement of the league in a few weeks time. Aughamore have really impressive facilities and their flood lit pitch, in particular, is a credit to everyone involved up there. We were delighted with the opportunity to stretch the legs, after a number of weeks of circuit training, against a young talented team that have caught the eye in recent times. The underage structure in Aughamore is very obviously paying dividends at senior level and having seen them up close I now appreciate that they will have no problem whatsoever in mixing it with some of the big boys in the senior championship later this summer. Incidentally they were deserving winners on the night.

I received a text immediately after the final whistle that simply asked ‘What happened Mayo?’ It was from a friend of mine who was convinced that Mayo would beat Meath last Sunday. It was not the first time I was asked that same question down through the years, but this time I wondered at its appropriateness. We may just have to accept the hurtful reality that we just were not good enough on the day. We could apportion blame on a sub-standard performance from the referee and his officials, but that would not in any way explain why we did not finish off an average Meath team, particularly when leading by four points midway through the second half. The reality is we just did not play well enough to win the match.