Massive football occasion ahead in TEG Cusack Park
A capacity crowd will attend Saturday’s All-Ireland Senior Football Championship clash between Westmeath and Cavan at TEG Cusack Park (5pm).
An estimated 11,500 supporters are set to watch the new Leinster champions take on the Breffni County in an occasion that will bring a fantastic atmosphere to Mullingar. It’s a huge boost for the local economy and gives supporters a historic chance to cheer on the provincial champions in their home venue two weeks after a memorable day in Croke Park when they overcame Dublin to claim a first Leinster SFC title in 22 years.
Not all Westmeath supporters will get the opportunity to see the match, however, tickets selling out in record time when they became available on Tuesday.
Having gone on sale at midday, by 12:30 they were completely sold out, according to Head of Operations at Westmeath GAA, Patrick Doherty.
“In some ways we’re delighted, but in other ways it’s causing headaches because of the demand. We’d never have envisaged selling out a game here, we haven’t done it in years upon years. It’s an indication of where we’re at and how good winning the Leinster Championship has been. It’s absolutely super,” he remarked.
Mr Doherty also commented on the speed at which the tickets were snapped up.
“They were released on Ticketmaster at 12 noon. I don’t think they sold out in under five minutes but I suppose it depended on the ability of the Ticketmaster system to take customers. I personally got a text from someone at 20 past 12 saying they couldn’t get tickets, but about 30 seconds later he said he was after getting them. They probably didn’t actually sell out in five minutes but they certainly sold out in half an hour,” he said.
On Sunday, Westmeath met supporters at TEG Cusack Park for a specially arranged open training session, an idea mooted by manager Mark McHugh after the team won the Delaney Cup for only the second time in the county’s history. Around 1,000 people showed up for what was a wonderful occasion.
It’s expected that Westmeath will have a full squad available for Saturday’s big Sam Maguire Cup clash and the main concern for manager Mark McHugh will be the fitness of wing back Matthew Whittaker, who came off after 59 minutes of the Leinster final having taken treatment on an ankle injury to play against the Dubs. Corner-back Danny Scahill is expected to return after he suffered an injury early in that game, going off for club mate Adam Treanor after just 18 minutes.
John Heslin came off the bench against Dublin, as did Senan Baker and McHugh will now have to decide who to start in attack on Saturday. Jack Duncan, who started against Dublin, was replaced, but came back on to make an impression and he will enter calculations again.
Whether McHugh chooses to hold Heslin until later in the game remains to be seen and the tumultuous reception the St Loman’s, Mullingar star received in Croke Park might well be a factor in that regard. He could play a very positive role coming off the bench once again. Baker, meanwhile, may just have done enough to earn a starting spot having scored 0-4 when introduced in the Leinster final, including that memorable equalising point to send the game to extra-time.
Westmeath and Cavan have met just twice in senior championship football, the most recent being in 2022 when the Lake County had four points to spare in the Tailteann Cup final at Croke Park. Jason Daly, Ray Connellan, Sam McCartan and John Heslin were all part of that Westmeath side who recorded a 2-14 to 1-13 victory. Cavan, who were beaten by Monaghan in the Ulster Championship (0-27 to 2-14) will be stern opposition under former Lake County boss Dermot McCabe.