Westmeath v Louth: what the TV pundits said...

Live television coverage certainly hasn't had a positive effect on football matches involving Westmeath in recent times.Last year, the poor quality of the Leinster quarter-final clash with Wicklow, which Westmeath won after extra-time, caused outbursts of despair among the RTE pundits. And then there was the 27-point annihilation at the hands of Dublin which was shown on TV3.Last Sunday evening, the Leinster semi-final clash between Westmeath and Louth was given the live TV treatment on RTE's 'The Sunday Game'.And once again, Westmeath did not show themselves in a positive light to the watching TV audience.Before the match, pundit Joe Brolly was very pleased with the fact that Louth were managed by a native of the county, describing Peter Fitzpatrick as "Louth to the bone". He went on to say he preferred counties to appoint managers from within rather than head-hunting the likes of Joe Kernan or, indeed, Jose Mourinho! But judging by the negative comments of Brolly and fellow pundit Pat Spillane at half-time, perhaps both sides could have done with some inspiration from 'The Special One'.Pat Spillane was more positive about Westmeath's chances, saying they had "a lot of players with experience of playing and winning in Croke Park". He also said many of the players involved on Sunday were on the team which came within "a kick of the ball" of beating eventual All-Ireland champions Tyrone in 2008.However, when asked for their predictions both Brolly and Spillane had no hesitation in opting for a Louth win. With the majority of Dublin fans having left the stadium following their defeat to Meath, Davis said there was a "surreal atmosphere".The tempo of the game was not to the liking of Davis, the former Cork star describing the early stages as "a challenge game type of atmosphere so far". Davis praised the "delicate" freetaking style of Brian White, but said Westmeath's build-up play was "laboured and slow", a point which was hard to argue with.After Derek Heavin's involvement in the game was ended by injury, John Smyth prepared to enter the fray with commentator Marty Morrissey comparing Smyth to former Dublin star Tony Hanahoe! Davis highlighted the difficulty Westmeath full-back Donal O'Donoghue was having in trying to mark Louth dangerman Shane Lennon, while Morrissey was in agreement with his colleague about the pace of the game, describing it as "being played at challenge match pace".Before the match, Pat Spillane had described Denis Glennon as "a very exciting player" but also said he could be "an infuriating player" and, when he kicked a straightforward chance wide, Westmeath supporters could see what Spillane meant.At half-time, Spillane called it a "Jedward game". What he meant by that was not entirely clear, though it seemed to have something to do with what Spillane saw as the "innocence" of both teams. He went on to say the game lacked quality and pace, and he highlighted the "basic unforced errors" made by both teams.Brolly described it as a "very, very poor game, the worst I've seen this year". As if that wasn't enough, he then said it was "an atrocious game of football".When anchorman Michael Lyster asked Spillane if the injury to Derek Heavin had taken the steam out of the game, the Kerryman was quick to say that "the steam was already well gone" at that stage.Brolly said Westmeath looked like a "hotchpotch" team and he said they gave the ball away 13 times during the opening half. With Louth leading by just three points at half-time - despite looking much the better team - Brolly warned that "Westmeath can only continue to be so atrocious for so long.""The prize is great but Westmeath don't seem to be interested at all," said Brolly, who felt Louth had the desire to reach the Leinster final but were "nervous" about the prize at stake. On the other hand, Brolly said: "Westmeath don't look like they want to be anywhere near the Leinster final"."They have no relish for getting through to the Leinster final to get slaughtered by Meath which is exactly what will happen to them (if they beat Louth)." But repeating his early warning to Louth, Brolly said they "can only rely on Westmeath's ineptitude for so long".Ultimately, Westmeath's late rally - inspired by Martin Flanagan's superbly taken goal - fell short with Louth emerging as deserving winners.Due to the coverage of the World Cup match between Argentina and Mexico, there was no time for any post-match analysis back in studio. So the viewers were left to wonder if Messrs. Brolly and Spillane would have found much to praise in the second half.