Minors going to Newbridge to win, not just to take part, says Leahy
The Kildare minor footballers may be many people’s favourites to pick up a third Leinster title in four years, but Westmeath manager Peter Leahy is adamant that his side won’t park the bus when the two teams meet in St Conleth’s Park, Newbridge this Saturday (throw-in 12.30pm).
Leahy’s charges go into this Saturday’s quarter-final on the back of a morale-boosting victory over last year’s losing provincial finalists, Longford.
Leahy described Kildare as a “formidable force” at this level, thanks in no small part to their underage player development programme which is “years ahead” of Westmeath’s and many other counties. Yet he’s confident that his team will not be found wanting on Saturday afternoon.
“Kildare are the Leinster champions and have five of six forwards and two midfielders from last year’s team. They are a formidable force and we haven’t beaten them at minor or U21 level for a long time. However, footballers aren’t robots and our level of skill rivals any team,” Leahy said.
Leahy and his backroom team of Tom Stuart Trainor (the Athlone man was an All-Ireland minor medallist with Westmeath in 1995), Danny McDermott, Gerry Reilly and Michael Reynolds, not only take care of the team on the pitch, they also make the post-training sandwiches. And Leahy insists they receive no expenses for any of their services, culinary or sporting.
Any available resources are spent trying to improve the training facilities for Westmeath’s up and coming footballers.
“We don’t ask the county board for anything. They have provided brilliant facilities and got us GPS tracking vests and speed gates and paid for foam rollers among other things. We don’t get buses, we ask parents to bring the players to training and matches, or myself and my selectors will do it,” said Leahy.
“I genuinely can’t give out. The county board have given us Cusack Park whenever we’ve needed it. It goes both ways, we haven’t asked for much but anything we’ve asked for, we’ve got.
“We are trying to create something here. We should be spending the money on facilities to make our young players better athletes. Spending money on sandwiches or curries will not make them better athletes,” Leahy continued.
If coming up against one of the best sides in the country was not a big enough challenge, Leahy will have to plan without both long term absentee Finbar Coyne and Ruairi Aspell of Maryland/Tang. Despite these setbacks, Leahy - who won an All-Ireland intermediate title with Westmeath ladies footballers in 2011 - said that his team can cause an upset in Newbridge this Saturday.
Referring to Leicester’s surprise Premier League success title and the Connacht rugby team’s performances in the PRO 12, the year 2016 could be the year of the underdog, he says.
“I took over this job to win something. Taking part is not in my nature or any team that I’m in charge of. Any Westmeath person that goes to Newbridge will see 15 or 20 lads trying to win the match. Where that leads us, we’ll have to see, but I guarantee that we won’t be far off,” he added.
The early throw-in time of 12.30 for Saturday’s minor game is down to Kildare playing in the Leinster SFC quarter-finals on Saturday (they face Wexford in Croke Park at 5.15).The winners of the Kildare v Wexford game will face either Westmeath or Offaly in the semi-finals.
The Faithful County recorded an emphatic win over Longford on Sunday last and will meet Westmeath in TEG Cusack Park on Sunday, June 12.