All-Ireland U-17 Celtic Challenge Final: Roscommon v Westmeath at Mullingar at 11.30 am on Sunday
It’s been a busy year for Mike Fallon. Having steered the Roscommon U-20s to an All-Ireland final, he is now concentrating on the U-17 team who face Westmeath in the Celtic Challenge Cup final this coming weekend.
“Any time you get to an All-Ireland final is a fantastic occasion. We have a great spread of players from all the hurling clubs and we have been working hard all year so this is the culmination of all that work,” Mike told People Sport this week.
“The main point of this (competition) is to get as many games into the young players as possible. It’s also important that these games are competitive. I have been involved in this since 2017 and we have always had good games in this championship.
“It’s a great opportunity for Roscommon to be able to play in a competition like this. We have had five games so far and this final will be our sixth so it’s great for the game at underage level”.
Mike says that to be playing Westmeath in a local derby will add a bit of spice to the occasion.
“Our near neighbours are at a much higher level at senior grade but at underage level we are not that far away from them,” he said.
“Any year you set out you want to win silverware and this year is no different. We want to win this final but the bigger picture is to try to keep these lads playing hurling and to develop them as players.
“We have a big panel of players here – a panel of 34 players now – and we are trying to include as many players as possible and we are really looking forward to this final,” he concluded.
