Gaelic Football Season Kicks Off

By Michael Dalton

Sunday, April 7, at Gaelic Park in the Bronx, the start of the 2015 Gaelic Football season kicked off with the first round featuring two contenders, Westmeath versus Longford, both teams expecting to win the championship. 

Westmeath was coming off a long winter after losing in heart-breaking fashion in the 2014 Final.  Longford, coming into the match, was fully expecting to start off the season with a convincing win.  The ball was thrown in at approximately 1:30 p.m. in front of a rather larger crowd than expected considering the Easter holidays. 

The first half of the game was closely played, with hard hitting, nice ball movement, and some great scores.  Both back lines (defenders) were put under intense pressure throughout the first half.  By the end of the first half of the game, Westmeath was holding onto a narrow lead. 

Team manager and player Vinny gave a great half time speech, inspiring the players to relax and have fun.  Westmeath came out of the gates in the second half on fire, scoring several points and adding to their goal total.  With about 8 minutes left in the game, Westmeath expanded their lead to 9 points, essentially pulling away from the hard fighting Longford side. Westmeath began playing possession football in the last few minutes, letting the clock run out.  Westmeath took the convincing win of 2-18 to 1-11 (winning by 10 points). 

Westmeath star Keith Scaly played his last match for Westmeath, as he is taking a year off to travel the world.  Westmeath won convincingly despite have no substitutes on the bench and throwing the team roster together minutes before the throw in.  Westmeath players are looking forward to their next contest against Donegal, as well as the rest of the season.  It will be a long, hard fought season, but Westmeath hopes to get back to the Final and get a better result.  As a member of the Westmeath club, I feel this will be done!