Cooney takes huge positives from league clash with Mayo
Having watched his charges compete with 2020 All-Ireland finalists Mayo all the way into the dying moments last Saturday, Jack Cooney understandably focused on the positives afterwards, despite the eventual three-point defeat.
“It started going away from us a little bit in the last quarter, but I thought the lads showed great character,” the Westmeath manager said, after the Allianz NFL Division 2 North game (see pages 70/71).
“There were huge positives again. Considering that we should have got something out of last week's game (against Meath), to come back a week later and to get such a good bounce out of the fellas again, I think they deserve huge credit,” he continued.
“Mayo found a few gaps in their forward line but our defence was immense, the amount of turnovers we had, lads stood up. Let’s not forget that Mayo were in the All-Ireland final last year so you're measuring yourself against that.
“I think the lads are making great progress and they have huge belief in what they’re doing. We had two debutants today, two 20-year-olds (Sam McCartan and Fola Ayorinde) and facing up against the All-Ireland finalists from last year, they gave a great account of themselves. We're very proud of them.
“I thought we threatened them well when we got in behind them. With their high press, they put serious pressure on you in your half of the pitch, but if you can manage to play your way through that, you can get some joy on the other side as there is space. We focused on that for the week.
“If Brandon (Kelly) had got that ball a little bit further out from the endline, I would have fancied him to put it away. It could have gone right down to the wire."
Mayo’s Cillian O’Connor scored seven points from dead balls and when asked about the concession of frees, Cooney pointed to the “massive effort” his players made.
“You can’t just take this game in isolation; it’s on the back of another massive effort last week, and a very short preparation period. We’ve been put up against two Division 1 teams who have come down into Division 2.
“We took a huge amount of learnings out of last week, every one of us, and if we take more learnings from this week and bring them forward, we’ll make steady progress."
“I think it’s a testament to the performance that the lads are very disappointed that we didn't get something out of it. I think we put ourselves in a great position. Even though it looked as if like Mayo were pulling away from us, we kicked some great scores to keep in touch.”
Although Cooney admitted that this year’s Leinster quarter-final against Laois - due to be played on July 4 - is “never far away” from his thoughts, for the moment the focus is on trying to stay in Division 2.
“We need to build on the performances and then the results will look after themselves. If we keep building on these performances, we’ll give ourselves every chance of staying in Division 2, but it's going to be tough,” he remarked.
“The lads are hugely committed, that can’t be underestimated. The commitment from inter-county players now is phenomenal. The lads are committed to this, and they’ve created a brilliant environment. They’re investing in the future of Westmeath football, and they want Westmeath to be better for the long run.”
At the time Cooney was speaking, the Down v Meath match had yet to be played and therefore Westmeath still had some hope of avoiding the relegation play-offs. As things transpired, Meath’s win over the Mourne men the following day ensured that Westmeath would be in the relegation play-off, irrespective of how the Down match goes next Sunday (throw-in 1.45pm).
“The Down game is important in terms of building on the last two games. But if we end up in a relegation play-off, that’s the big game to win,” Cooney added.