June can be a watershed for county hurling

However, I share the Mayfield man's detestation of those who are happy with 'moral victories'. But last Saturday in Cusack Park was a rare exception, as I basked in the joy and pride felt by all Westmeath people at the Lake County senior hurlers' extremely gallant display in defeat by Galway.I often talk to a fellow sports fanatic about sporting odds offered by bookmakers. It is relatively easy to understand the mechanics of tight odds in individual games and competitions overall. However, I regularly wonder how 'generous' odds are calculated.For example (and I will avoid offending readers from any 'normal' counties), New York footballers may be on 'offer' at 5,000/1 to win Sam every year - but frankly they are not going to win it, so why are they not available at twice that figure, or a hundred times it?Therefore, the 1/500 price on Galway basically meant that Westmeath had no chance whatsoever in the turf accountants' eyes (and books). At least, they accepted that there was a game being played in Mullingar last Saturday evening, a fact I honed into on Newstalk radio last Tuesday, as some of RTÉ's 'experts' dismissed Brian Hanley's charges without even showing sufficient respect to concede that Dublin would play "the winners of Galway and Westmeath", rather than just "Galway". Having seen Hanley very impressively take charge in a hands-on manner of an internal game among the panel on the previous Sunday, I had no doubt that a fired-up team in green (why could we not have played in our normal strip and Galway wear white with a maroon trim?) would put on a big show six days later. And what a show they put on.Take some (untypical but understandable) nervous defending and attacking out of the equation, and a seismic shock was possible. There would have been hats to eat aplenty on the 'Sunday Game' in that scenario!However, as the very forthright Hanley stated about events which happened or didn't happen prior to his interim reign (which will surely be extended?): "A lot of things went wrong. I don't know. I don't ask. I don't care. I can only care about now." And 'now' means a trip to Casement Park on Saturday week for Brian Smyth and Co.While this is a difficult assignment, it is surely reasonable to suggest that we ended up in the better side of the Qualifiers draw? A game against Cork in a win-or-bust contest, even in Cusack Park, would have been a bridge too far.I am not being negative, only downright realistic. Offaly at senior level (not minor, as results this decade have shown) are still a tad better than us. Laois have consistently been a bogey team and our league display against the O'Moore County in February was a deplorable effort, albeit under the previous regime.So a mini-group with Antrim (whom I accept defeated Laois in the championship this year and, even more significantly, Dublin last year) and Carlow is a decent outcome. Now, of course, the trick is to win our next assignment. It is a real pity that we have been drawn away, as it is hard to envisage many fans travelling to Belfast for the game, whereas the buzz of last Saturday's inspirational performance would have meant a good-sized home crowd had Dinny Cahill's men been drawn to play in Cusack Park.Westmeath's relegation to Division Three for 2012 is an unmitigated disaster. Full stop. Again, I will avoid offending readers from any 'normal' counties, but games in near-empty stadia against virtual nonentities like Fingal and Non Ards are no use to a Lake County team with ambitions of continually putting the Galways of this world to the pin of their collars (and eventually beating them).There were whispers of a re-jigging of the National Hurling League groups, largely prompted by perennial moaning from the stand-out top two in Division Two about the unfairness of a system which prevents a 'traditional' county playing in the top flight. The irony is that Westmeath fared well against this year's 'stand-out' duo - Limerick (very well) and Clare (quite well).Indeed, seven displays on a par with last Saturday would have had us competing strongly for a Division One slot next year. It would be marvellous if Westmeath was somehow spared next spring in hurling limbo, where a number of this year's excellent minor team would learn nothing if given senior jerseys in Division Three.Most of Ray Gavin's side are now (rightly) concentrating on their Leaving Cert exams, although they may well be doodling briefly prior to the invigilators collecting their scripts about the very real possibility of Westmeath featuring in a Leinster minor final 'proper' next month. What a magnificent achievement that would be in its own right if we can overcome Dublin in Parnell Park in less than three weeks from now (we will leave talk of the possibility of actually winning the title till another day).So, in a nutshell, there are serious opportunities for June 2011 to be looked back on in years to come as a watershed month for Westmeath hurling. The first step is to beat Antrim on Saturday week. Calling a spade a spade, last Saturday's heroics will ultimately be semi-meaningless if we lose to Antrim. Last weekend's 'moral victory' which Roy (always) and Gerry (usually) despise will not be worth a hoot if we follow it up by losing to the men in saffron and white. Or half a hoot. Or any segment of a hoot.As Brian Hanley vehemently stated after the Galway game: "Hoping went out the window before the Carlow game." I could not agree more. From now on, it's about delivering.