Mayo clash 'another great challenge' - Westmeath boss

Twenty years ago, Westmeath claimed a famous victory over Mayo in the All-Ireland qualifiers, sparking scenes of unbridled joy at Dr Hyde Park. That extra-time win (1-14 to 0-16) saw Luke Dempsey's charges qualify for the All-Ireland football quarter-finals where two epic battles with Meath transpired.

In 2004, Westmeath got the better of Mayo in a crucial league encounter which saw Páidí Ó Sé's men avoid relegation from Division 1. It was a major boost in a year when Westmeath went on to finally land the Leinster senior football crown.

Current Westmeath manager Jack Cooney was a selector with both of those Westmeath teams. A lot of football has been played and a lot of water has flown under various bridges since those games in 2001 and 2004.

The last meeting between Westmeath and Mayo was an All-Ireland qualifier in 2016 at Croke Park, which the westerners won en route to reaching the Sam Maguire Cup decider.

In any case, Westmeath and Mayo meet again tomorrow (Saturday) in Division 2 North of the Allianz Football League. The match at TEG Cusack Park will be shown live on Eir Sport, throw-in 3pm.

Looking ahead to playing Mayo, Connacht champions and 2020 All-Ireland finalists, Jack Cooney said: “It’s a massive game and another massive opportunity to test ourselves against probably one of the All-Ireland favourites. Down could be back in it this weekend and it could all come down to the last games. We have to give ourselves every opportunity, physically and mentally, to go the full hog.

“It’s a great occasion for the lads to be playing Mayo. When anybody is talking about trying to topple Dublin as All-Ireland champions, Mayo are never far away from the mindset. For them to be coming down to Mullingar is another great challenge for us."

Cooney felt last Sunday’s narrow defeat to Meath (0-16 to 0-15) would "take a lot out of the lads" as they prepare to face Mayo. James Horan's men have an extra day of recovery after their 2-21 to 1-11 victory over Down in Castlebar on Saturday last.

“It’s very disappointing to lose (against Meath) but there are a huge amount of positives to take from it. We need to take stock and be better for it next weekend,” said Cooney.

Looking back on the Meath match, the Westmeath manager said: “I think we definitely deserved something out of it. It was a warm day and we tired a bit. Meath came at us in the last few minutes, but I’m very proud of the lads. I thought they played some really top class football.”

It was no surprise to hear Cooney highlight the black card shown to Westmeath midfielder Sam Duncan as a pivotal moment.

“When you’re down a man and you’re 15 against 14, it takes an unbelievable amount of energy to try and sustain what you’re doing and the lads did that,” he said.

“We probably held the status quo pretty well in that ten-minute period, but there was a huge amount of fatigue the far side of it as you’re working so hard. That probably was a factor. Meath saw the finishing line and they definitely had a lot of energy in the last few minutes.

“Meath are down from Division 1 and any team that has been up in Division 1 takes huge learnings from it. We learned that with Roscommon last year.

“At times we were by far the better team on the pitch. I thought we played with great structure and patience and kicked some really good scores. We were ferociously competitive from start to finish and it just slipped away from us in the end.”

Cooney admitted he was concerned about how Westmeath were doing in terms of securing possession from kickouts in the first half against Meath. “We addressed that at half-time, we had the stats on it. I think we did well going in at half-time a point up considering the amount of kickouts we lost.”

“We have young players in there who are gutted that they were beaten today but when the dust settles, they will be encouraged by what they did here against a Division 1 team from last year,” he continued.

Cooney was understandably pleased with the way Ger Egan performed considering his injury difficulties last year. “Ger had a tough season last year with injuries and for him to come back and compete at this level for 70-plus minutes is great. It’s a credit to him and how he has recovered and rebounded from his injuries last year.”

As for the impact made by the Meath bench compared to Westmeath’s, Cooney said: “We have young fellas on the panel who are learning their craft. We had plenty of quality on the bench and loads of quality on the field in the last few minutes and I thought what we had on the pitch might have got us over the line. There are learnings in that too.”