An Ríocht take on Castlewellan in the first round of the Down Senior Championship on Monday the 18th August 2003 at 7.15 pm in Newcastle.

Castlewellan who lie second in the league and only lost 3 times in the league this year will be hoping that they can lift the title for the first time since 1995. Castlewellan had been going well - only losing once until a fortnight ago.

Things seem to have taken a dip for the town side losing two games in a row - Kilcoo defeating them 0-16 to 1-06, and then Bryansford running out 4 point winners a fortnight ago. Castlewellan recovered last week to overcome Loughinisland 3.13 to 2-10, which should lift their spirits for this championship game. Castlewellan will be looking to the likes of County stars Greg McCartan and Mickey McVeigh to send them into the next round.

An Ríocht who had a slow start to their league campaign seem to be running into a bit of form of late, scoring some fine points, and have defeated Longstone and Liatroim in the past fortnight.

For An Ríocht to win this tie they will be looking to the likes of County stars John Clarke and John Lavery to show the way and lead by example for some of the younger lads. The Kingdom will also need good performances from the likes of Gary Cunningham, the Annett brothers and Liam McVeigh.