Any porter in a storm: Mick Fagan from Collinstown celebrated finishing the Turgesius Island 10-Mile run in storm-hit Collinstown last February with a pint of non-alcoholic Guinness!

SPORTS REVIEW FEBRUARY

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Any porter in a storm: Mick Fagan from Collinstown celebrated finishing the Turgesius Island 10-Mile run in storm-hit Collinstown last February with a pint of non-alcoholic Guinness! Thomas Gibbons

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Ronan Wallace in possession for Westmeath during their Allianz NFL Division 3 clash with Laois in February. Denis Byrne

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Westmeath’s Chloe Kelly in action against Mayo’s Rachel Baynes when the sides met in Division 1 of the Ladies’ NFL at the Connacht GAA Air Dome in Bekan last February. Michael Donnelly

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Mullingar Harriers’ Matthew Glennon representing Ireland in the Men’s 10k Walk Final during day three of the European Athletics U20 Championships at the Kadriorg Stadium in Tallinn, Estonia last February. Photo: Marko Mumm/Sportsfile Marko Mumm / SPORTSFILE

Published: Mon 9 Jan 2023, 4:16 PM

February saw Westmeath’s flagship teams get off to a fine start in their respective leagues. The hurlers’ Division 2A NHL campaign began with a home win over Kerry, with Jack Gillen again impressing with a haul of 2-6. The following week, they suffered a setback with an away defeat against Carlow, but bounced back in some style with a 4-23 to 1-15 hammering of Meath in Trim with Niall Mitchell, Killian Doyle and Eoin Keyes among the goals.

The footballers’ decent start to their Division 3 NFL quest continued, with Luke Loughlin and Kieran Martin netting in a 2-11 to 0-11 opening day victory away to Laois, but they had a long wait for their third league outing after some adverse weather conditions led to fixtures being postponed.

Raharney’s camogie success continued as they sought to defend their All-Ireland club title and thus secure passage to intermediate grade. Step one was retaining their Leinster junior ‘A’ crown, and they did so for the third time in a row, with Hannah Core and Amelia Shaw impressing against Tullamore. However, the intrepid Blues were stopped at the All-Ireland semi-final stage when Clanmaurice exacted revenge for their defeat in the 2020 decider.

Elsewhere in camogie, Albert Kelly’s Westmeath began their league campaign with defeat against Waterford, but held Tipperary in an away fixture later in the month. In ladies’ football, Westmeath began their Division 1 league bid under Michael Finneran by shipping seven goals in a heavy defeat against Mayo. However, they were much more competitive later in the month against Donegal, losing by five points (2-11 to 2-6) after a tough battle in Lakepoint Park.

Other GAA stories included Coláiste Mhuire, Mullingar’s exit from the Bro Bosco Cup (Leinster Colleges ‘A’) at the hands of St Mel’s, Longford; St Loman’s, Mullingar and The Downs began their Division 1 league campaigns with victories; and Westmeath delegates voted to reject Croke Park plans to run an U19 competition at inter-county level. Meanwhile, former Westmeath senior hurling manager Joe Quaid, in an interview with TG4, made some controversial remarks about his ousting from the job.

Masters success abounded for Mullingar Harriers on the athletics front. Aidan O’Donoghue claimed a silver medal in combined events at the Leinster Masters Indoors, while veteran Sean McMullin was on fire at the European Masters in Braga, Portugal, winning gold medals in the 3,000m race walk and the 5,000m road walk. Elsewhere, Andrew Glennon made the qualifying standard for the 10k race walk at the European U18 T&F in Jerusalem, while Matthew Glennon was selected to represent Ireland in the U20 Men’s 10k race walk at the World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships in Oman. In the US meanwhile, Claire Fagan continued to impress at meetings in Washington state, setting new personal bests and winning a bronze medal in a 3,000m race.

In rugby, Mullingar’s firsts got back on track with a 40-15 Leinster League Division 1B win over Clondalkin, but followed this up with narrow defeats to Longford and Wicklow, as relegation looked a distinct possibility. On the horse racing front, Michael O’Leary of Gigginstown House Stud said that Tiger Roll would not be returning to Aintree for an attempt to win a record-equalling third Grand National.

In soccer, Aidan Keena got off the mark for Sligo Rovers with a goal against his old club St Patrick’s Athletic in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division. Closer to home, Mullingar Athletic defeated Abbeyleix to advance to the next phase of the Paddy Cotter Cup; Athletic and Mullingar Town had contrasting fortunes in their CCFL Senior Division fixtures; and a goal from Athletic’s Alan Turzyck sent Athletic’s U16s into the last 16 of the Skechers U16 SFAI Cup. Also in February, Real Football Academy, Mullingar U12 goalkeeper Shane Bonar was chosen to attend an FAI Centre of Excellence trial.

Elsewhere in February, Olympic Boxing Club, Mullingar’s Patsy Joyce and Jason Nevin won national U18 titles; the fledgling Multy Lakers Junior Basketball Club were presented with new jerseys; golf struggled to get off the ground in February due to the inclement weather conditions; and in snooker, Seán Slevin won the Midland Intermediate Snooker Championship at St Mary’s Snooker Club, Mullingar, beating Paul O’Shaughnessy in the final.