Mixed fortunes for the Lake County as Scór finally returns

This weekend finally seen the return of 2020 Scór Sinsir competition with the Leinster Final taking place in Wolfe Tones GAA, Gibbstown, Co. Meath on Saturday October 24.

While the day was certainly unusual credit must go to the organising committee under the direction of Westmeath’s Catherine Daly, who worked tirelessly to ensure that the programme ran off very smoothly for both competitors and spectators. Westmeath had been very successful in the Leinster semi-final back in March 2020 and hopes were high that we would get a number of Leinster titles.

The 18-month break has changed many lives and this meant that some of the competitors were not able to take to the stage in Gibbstown. This was particularly evident in the dancing competitions, where numbers were well down. The Westmeath figure dancing champions were a victim of this passage of time, with Mullingar Shamrocks unable to take part in the Leinster final.

Ballycomoyle’s Blathnaid Daly was also not competing in the recitation. Both of these two acts represented their club and county with great pride during this Scór cycle and we would like to thank them for all their work and effort.

Despite some great Westmeath performances, when the results were read out only Bunbosna in the set dancing were crowned Leinster champions for Westmeath, and they now progress to the All-Ireland final. All at Westmeath Scór would like to thank each of our competitors for taking to the stage after such a long absence, and we hope we will see them on stage in the near future.

Question Time

The first competition to be held on Saturday morning was the question time. Westmeath were represented by the St Joseph’s club in this competition. This was the first time that the St Joseph’s team were competing without there valued club-man and team-mate Johnny Hannify, who sadly past away in April this year.

The Westmeath champions battled hard in a very tight competition to progress as one of four teams to the second part of the quiz competition. With only three countries advancing to the All-Ireland and one question between each of the teams, the tension was very high as the individual questions were being asked.

While the St Joseph’s men put up a good fight a sudden death question at the end proved the difference between them and near neighbours Meath for the final place in the All-Ireland. Offaly ended up as champions on the day with Kildare coming in second. It was not to be for the Westmeath champions, but no doubt they were proud of the effort being without one of their key pillars for the first time.

Set Dancing

Westmeath has always been a set dancing stronghold, with the Bunbrosna club currently holding the county title and hoping to progress to another All-Ireland final. This hugely successful group displayed no sign of Covid cobwebs when they took to the stage and they gave an extremely professional and polished performance that went down very well with the audience.

There was little surprise when the results were toted up and the Westmeath champions were now announced as Leinster champions. We have no doubt that Bun’ will be hard at work over the coming weeks to try to add another All-Ireland medal to their decorated cabinet.

Solo Singing

The first Westmeath competitor to take to the stage in Gibbstown for the second half of the Leinster final was Ballinagore’s Share Heraty, who was taking part in the solo singing competition.

Shane had given some wonderful performances to advance to this stage and did not disappoint on the night with his rendition of ‘The Dublin Jackeen’. In an all-male competition on the night, we had no doubt that Shane was in high contention to take the prize.

Unfortunately the judges selected the Carlow champion to advance to the All-Ireland final. Shane should be very proud of his performance and we have no doubt that he will be back to challenge for that medal next year.

Ballad Group

The next competition on the clár was the Ballad Group. This is always an excellent competition at Leinster level and this year certainly didn’t disappoint. The Westmeath champions this year came from the Ballycomoyle club, and while they had a few changes in their line-up, it certainly didn’t impact the quality of their performance.

Ballycomoyle were second to take to the stage and sang their hearts out, with the Westmeath crowd full of confidence that they could take the prize. The current Leinster and All-Ireland champions of Ferbane from Offaly were the final group to take to the stage and also gave a polished performance.

It was clear that this was going to be tight call for the panel of judges. When the results were called out it was the Ferbane girls that had got the nod, much to the disappointment of the Ballycomoule and Westmeath supporters.

We would like to thank this young and talented Ballycomoyle group for some wonderful performances and have no doubt that an All-Ireland performance is in their sights in the near future.

Novelty Act

The final Westmeath act to take to the stage was the Novelty Act group from Ballycomoyle. After an 18-month absence from performing, there was no sign of nerves or unknown lines from this group.

Ballycomoyle told the history of Westmeath in a very comical style and even included the local legends of Joe Dolan and Niall Horan. While hopes were high that this performance was enough to take the Leinster title, when the judges’ scores were added up the 2020 title went to near neighbours Meath.

Well done to the group from Ballycomoyle for a great performance on the night. This group have been knocking on the door for a number of years and we have no doubt that they will be back next year ready to give it another go.

All-Ireland final

This year’s All-Ireland final will take place on Saturday November 20 at the Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence in Ballyhaunis, Co. Mayo. The event will be an all ticketed affair and those looking to attend are asked to contact their local Scór representative or Westmeath Scór Secretary (Mary Doolin) for further details or to order a ticket.

Scór 2022

The All-Ireland Scór Committee have decided that a Junior Scór competition will kick-start the 2022 Scór season, with the hope that this will commence in the new year subject to restrictions and government guidance.

Westmeath clubs may want to start planning for this re-commencement with the intention of providing further details in the coming weeks. An AGM for the Westmeath Scór Committee is also hoped to be held after the finalisation of the current Scór Sinsir competition and again further details should be available in the coming weeks.

Sympathy

As these are the first Westmeath Scór notes in a number of months, the Westmeath Scór committee would like to extend its deepest sympathy to the families, relatives and friends of the many Scór supporters who we have lost over the past 18 months.

The list of names is unfortunately extensive, and Westmeath Scór will be very different given the absence of some of these great life characters.