Cooney questions venue choice for Westmeath v Dublin clash

Westmeath manager Jack Cooney has admitted to being disappointed that the upcoming Leinster SFC quarter-final against Dublin will take place in Portlaoise rather than TEG Cusack Park.

The fact that the match is going to be televised on Sky Sports is a key factor in the venue choice of MW Hire O'Moore Park, Portlaoise. And the throw-in time of 6.15pm means that a venue with floodlights is required.

“I would have loved if it was in Cusack Park. It would be great for Westmeath GAA to have it in Cusack Park regardless of fans not being allowed in," said Cooney.

"Why not bring it to Cusack Park is what I would ask. They could bring it forward a few hours and give us a right crack at it,” continued Cooney, after Westmeath finished their Allianz Football League Division 2 campaign with a defeat to Kildare last Saturday.

“But we’ll go to Portlaoise, we don’t mind and we’ll play under lights. We’ll put in four or five good training sessions towards that and we’ll bring our best to Portlaoise."

Cooney was very pleased that Westmeath succeeded in maintaining Division 2 status, which he described as the “minimum target” from the outset of the campaign.

“I don’t think we were out of our depth by any means in Division 2. I thought we competed really well.”

Yet there is precious little respite for the Lake men with the clash against All-Ireland champions Dublin looming on Saturday week, November 7.

“It’s a quick turnaround (to the Dublin game); we’re just looking forward to the challenge. We’re probably lucky in one way that it’s not a five or six week wait," said Cooney.

The old cliché is that underdogs have ‘nothing to lose’ when facing overwhelming favourites. In this case it’s particularly fitting as there will be absolutely no burden of expectation on Westmeath’s shoulders.

“We can have a right good cut off it,” agreed Cooney. “Our take on it early on in the season was that it wasn’t really about the Dublin game, it was about the game after it - how we responded irrespective of the result. That opportunity is taken away from us (with no All-Ireland qualifiers); it’s knockout for every county.”

“There will be loads of ways of us measuring that performance. The outcome, or the result, will be one of them. But there will be loads of other things that we’ll measure, they’ll be as important as the result. Everybody is going to look at the result, but we’ll be looking at things we can implement and to have them there for going forward,” he added.

*See more on the Kildare v Westmeath match in this week's paper.