Relegation looms for footballers and hurlers

National Football League: Westmeath footballers took on Donegal in the National League last Sunday in Cusack Park hoping to take their first points and take them off the bottom of the table.This was a poor display from Westmeath, and similar to last week most of our scores came in the first half as we only managed to score twice in the second half. The first half really belonged to Donegal and the half time score was not a true reflection of the play, even after Westmeath got the rub of the green (free out to Donegal) before scoring a goal from the boot of Niall Kilcoyne.The second half was more closely contested but missed chances from play, frees, and taking the wrong options at times meant that Westmeath were always chasing the game, eventually loosing out on a scoreline of 0-15 to 1-7 and with that gone is our Division 1 status as we now will be relegated for 2010.National Hurling LeagueWestmeath hurlers played old rivals Carlow last weekend in the league in Cusack Park. This was another poor display by our hurlers, and very disappointing after the recent good displays against Antrim and Wexford.From the outset Carlow set down a marker getting the first score of the match - a goal, and in truth were the fitter, sharper side and deserved their three point win, Westmeath fought hard throughout but a couple of defensive errors and the fact that the forwards went for goals instead of taking their points especially in the last fifteen minutes when Westmeath were in command let Carlow off the hook and they won out on a final score of 2-15 to 1-15.This defeat puts serious pressure on the hurlers as only a win in their last two matches will prevent relegation.The hurlers travel to Kerry next weekend where both sides will be looking for more league points in order to avoid relegation. Westmeath, having lost out to Carlow last weekend, will need to lift their game substantially, and while Westmeath traditionally have been very successful in their away fixtures to Kerry but at this important stage tradition will count for nothing. Kerry on the other hand will be smarting after loosing out narrowly in a high scoring game to Antrim and will be really up for the match , while there is never much between the sides one can look forward to a close, hard battle and with a much improved performance Westmeath can keep the tradition going.Hurling Board Presentation Dinner DanceThe Westmeath Hurling Board were forced to re-schedule their presentation dinner dance due to reasons outside their control. The dinner dance is now fixed for April 11 in the Mullingar Park Hotel and the last few tickets are on sale and can be purchased from and of the committee or by contacting any of your local Hurling Clubs.Notes for ClubsI want to thank all clubs for the big improvement in texting or phoning in the results on time this makes my job somewhat easier and allows me to get them to the papers on time, however I am still requesting that all clubs keep up the effort to text/phone in the results of their matches to either myself or James Savage (Fixture Secretary) on time.GAA Membership Data Base TrainingThe training nights for the membership system are Monday, April 6 and Tuesday, April 7 and the is venue Athlone IT and the start time is 8pm sharp.Listed below are the nights your club is scheduled to attend, so please check the list and turn up on the night that has been assigned. As mentioned previously, its best if two people can attend and both are fairly computer literate.For any club that hasn"t returned the spreadsheet to Croke Park, please do so by next Wednesday evening.  Monday April 6: St. Paul"s, Brownstown, Delvin, Raharney, Killucan, The Downs, Coralstown /Kinnegad, Turin, Cullion, Ringtown, Castlepollard, Lough Lene Gaels, Ballycomoyle, St. Fintans Multy, Street, Bunbrosna, Ballynacarrgy, St. Oliver Plunketts, St. Loman"s, Mullingar Shamrocks, Shandonagh, Castletown Finea/ Coole/Whitehall, Clonkill, Miltownpass, St. Mary"s, Rochfortbridge.Tuesday, April 7: St. Brigid"s, Tyrrellspass, Kilbeggan Shamrocks, Ballinagore, Moate, Milltown, St, Joseph"s, Castledaly, Rosemount, Loughnavalley, Ballymore, St, Malachy"s, Castletown-Geoghegan, Southern Gaels, Garrycastle, Athlone, Tubberclair, Maryland, Tang.When Coming To Training:It might be handy to bring a printout of the spreadsheet (esp names, addresses, dob) so that you can check that the data has been uploaded correctly.In addition, bring a couple of completed membership forms for members that weren"t included in the spreadsheet, so that you"ll have a chance to practice adding members via the on-line approach.We look forward to seeing you at the training sessions. If for some reason, one of the nominated people cant attend, please try to find a replacement.  The system isn"t that hard to use - attending the training session is the best way to get quickly up to speed on its features.On the http://people.gaa.ie/ you can have a sneak preview of some of the systems features as it includes a few short videos that outline what its all about. Please note that you won"t be able to log on and use the system if you visit the site but the videos may still be watched.ResultsNational Football League: Donegal 0-15, Westmeath 1-7.National Hurling League: Carlow 2-15, Westmeath 1-15.ACHL Division 1A: Castletown-Geoghegan 1-7, Castlepollard 0-7; Ringtown 1-9, Brownstown 3-11.ACHL Division 1B: Clonkill 0-14, Lough Lene Gaels 1-10; St Oliver Plunketts 1-11, Raharney 3-11.ACHL Division 2: St. Oliver Plunketts 1-7, Clonkill 2-12; Cullion 3-12, Southern Gaels 2-6; Fr. Daltons 2-4, St Brigids 0-12.ACHL Division 4: Turin 1-9, Crookedwood 7-12.ACFL Division 1: St. Loman"s, Mullingar 2-6, Mullingar Shamrocks 1-9.ACFL Division 2: Maryland 0-12, Tubberclair 0-6.ACFL Division 3: St. Joseph"s 2-5, St. Paul"s 2-13.ACFL Division 4: Garrycastle 0-9, Castledaly 0-9; Ballycomoyle 0-6, The Downs 3-16.Intermediate Cup Football Semi-Final 2008: Shandonagh 0-12, Ballynacarrgy 1-6.WebsitesSenior: http://www.westmeathgaa.ie/Minor: http://coistenanog.westmeath.gaa.ieContactI can be contacted by phone on 044 9666476, 087 2777987 or by email on paddreilly@eircom.net