Punters' Pointers: no surprises expected in first round of Westmeath SFC

Punters' Pointers
with Kevin Egan

Last year the betting for the Westmeath SFC was pretty clear cut – St Lomans, Mullingar Shamrocks and Garrycastle were out in front of the chasing pack, and only Tyrrellspass were priced up at anything less than 16/1 to upset the market leaders.

Despite the fact that nothing has really happened to suggest that things will be any different in 2014, Paddy Power are taking no chances on the outsiders, offering nine of the twelve teams at 16/1 or less in their outright betting market, while pushing the boat out a little bit more on the top three.

This column has a suspicion that the first round of games this weekend might indicate that they would be as well to go back to their 2013 way of thinking – it’s very possible that all three leading contenders will win in some style.

In theory Garrycastle have a really tough local derby fixture on the agenda this Friday night against Athlone and the odds of 10/3 about the outsiders will get plenty of attention, all the more in the light of the big win that Athlone enjoyed in the league meeting between the two clubs in April.

However while Garrycastle are possibly set to slip back into the pack a little bit as many of their key players move into the Autumn of their careers, they still have a real edge in terms of championship know-how on the club scene, where pace is often not as much of a factor as it is at intercounty level. We may be proven wrong, but Garrycastle should find a way to prevail. 1/4 seems to be about right.

St Lomans are 1/10 to beat Killucan and frankly they might as well be 1/100. There are no certainties in sport, but a win for the county champions in this tie is as close to one as you’re likely to find.

Mullingar Shamrocks possibly don’t have the same ability to rack up a big total as their town rivals, but they do have the best defensive unit in the county and they should have far too much for the Downs in the other half of the Sunday evening double header at Cusack Park.

There are four senior clubs playing in division two of the league, so the second tier is not the barren wasteland that some people perceive it to be, however it’s notable that the Downs averaged nineteen points per match against weaker opposition in the league this year but could only score 1-8 and 0-10 against Castledaly and Coralstown-Kinnegad. Shamrocks should suffocate them entirely.

If there is to be an upset, Coralstown-Kinnegad might provide it against Tyrrellspass, though by pricing them at 15/8, the bookies appear to be wise to this one. Tom Coffey has struggled to get his best fifteen onto the field for Tyrrellspass this year and they are miles off the form we saw last summer. Towards the end of May they put in a decent showing against Garrycastle and then recorded a good win over Maryland, hinting at a return to form, but then they went out and were utterly feeble against Tubberclair a little over a week ago. The price is too short to justify a punt on the outsiders, but we won’t be backing the favourites either. 

Bunbrosna rarely make life easy for themselves in the senior championship but they still look well priced at 8/13 to beat St Malachys, who will start the year as clear favourites in many people’s eyes to go right back down to intermediate. Of all the teams in division two, Malachys probably needed to play good opposition most, since they are coming out of playing Intermediate last year. While these odds might make sense later in the summer when they’re up to the pace of senior championship, for now Bun should have an edge.

Finally Maryland play Castledaly in what should be a keenly contested derby and this could be the best game in which to have a punt on the draw, priced by Powers at 7/1. Castledaly are the favourites at 8/13 but the absence of Paddy Holloway, who was perhaps the most impressive player in Westmeath’s brief under-21 championship campaign earlier this year, is a blow to Seamus Clogher’s side and that might bring the two sides closer.

Top Tips
St Lomans, Mullingar Shamrocks and Bunbrosna all to win 6/5 approx
Maryland and Castledaly to draw 7/1