It's time for a Westmeath hurling team to break that duck
Gerry Buckley
It is an astonishing statistic that only one Westmeath hurling team has ever contested a Leinster final proper – the senior hurlers losing to Kilkenny in 1937.
In recent years, a number of very promising minor and U21 sides in maroon and white have threatened to end that depressing stat, while a couple of near misses by Westmeath Examiner Cup winners on the senior club semi-final stage have added to the frustration of long-suffering Lake County Gaels.
The latest attempt by Westmeath standard-bearers to reach a provincial final takes place in Cusack Park next Sunday at 2pm when Clonkill, fresh from a very impressive display in the quarter-final against St Mullins, face Wexford kingpins Oulart The Ballagh.
The 'Pikemen’ have won nine of the last 12 Model County senior titles, contesting all bar one of them, and this remarkable run includes a five in-a-row victories from 2009 to 2013.
As Clonkill manager, David O’Reilly stated last Saturday: “They are a formidable side and have been there or thereabouts in Leinster in recent years.”
Indeed, while very much the dominant force on Slaneyside this millennium, they have been the bridesmaids in provincial fare, losing four finals in-a-row from 2010 to 2013, the last of these in a major shock at the hands of Carlow’s Mount Leinster Rangers, when most neutrals felt certain that the cup would be heading to Oulart.
In that regard, O’Reilly is hoping that Oulart “may take their eye off the ball” ahead of Sunday’s clash, with thoughts of another Leinster final appearance and black and red ribbons adorning the cup, somehow contriving to dismiss Clonkill’s significant challenge.
The Loughegar-based men hurled superbly for almost three quarters of the game in Netwatch Cullen Park nine days ago, and Mount Leinster Rangers’ achievements in 2013/14 highlighted just how good Carlow club hurling can be.
However, O’Reilly has moved on since that quarter-final victory, labelling it as “a good win when we played well, but we’ll be facing better opposition next Sunday and we’ll have to up our performance”.
“We’ve done a bit of homework on Oulart and tried to gather as much information as possible on them to target their game plan. We have home advantage and I was delighted with the level of support we had in Carlow. Hopefully, we’ll have even more in Cusack Park with lots of Westmeath people coming out to get behind us,” O’Reilly stated.
Paddy Dowdall’s ankle injury remains a concern, the dual star’s football exertions with St Loman’s, Mullingar adding to Clonkill mentors and fans’ concerns. “It is not easy twisting and turning this time of the year with a bad ankle, but Paddy will help us out if at all possible,” his hurling bainisteoir added.
“When Johnny Greville’s minors beat Wexford in their own backyard this summer, their local papers wrote that a Westmeath hurling team should never beat a Wexford one. I hope we get the respect we deserve next Sunday. There has been a lot of talk about the need for a Westmeath team to get to a Leinster final. If we get every bit of luck on the day, we might be able to break that duck,” O’Reilly concluded.
To date, Westmeath senior hurling champions have played Wexford opposition on seven occasions in provincial matches. They have failed to win any of the four games against senior opponents, albeit the average losing margin has been just a little over three points.
The last such game saw next Sunday’s visitors (who were put to the pin of their collar to shake off Clough Ballacolla in their quarter-final nine days ago) facing Raharney in virtually unplayable conditions in Cusack Park, with dense fog spoiling an otherwise enthralling contest.
In the two-year period when the Westmeath Examiner Cup winners played in the Leinster intermediate championship, both Raharney and Clonkill defeated Slaneyside teams (as asterisked below), the green and golds edging out St Aidan’s in their Loughegar pitch in November 2007 in the provincial final, en route to All-Ireland glory the following February.