Westmeath seniors facing a white-knuckle fortnight

Last Sunday evening’s Delaney Cup semi-final draw which pitted Westmeath against Kildare has ensured that both Shane O’Brien and Jack Cooney will have make-or-break championship matches against senior hurlers and footballers respectively in the distinctive all-white jerseys over the next two weekends.

Meatloaf famously sang that ‘Two out of three ain’t bad’, and Lake County fans (speaking of that dwindling breed, why had Laois more support than us in Tullamore two days ago?) will probably reflect that ‘three out of six ain’t bad’ after three victories in an eight-day period for the U20 footballers (an excellent win – yes, against Kildare) in addition to O’Brien and Cooney’s men, while the minor footballers, and both the U20 hurlers (who died with their boots on, to be fair) and minor hurlers exited championship ‘proper’ action during the same action-packed period.

Damien Gavin’s young troops defied 6/1 odds to eke out a deserved win in Newbridge, the affable 1995 Tom Markham Cup recipient getting the ‘rub of the relic’ (as Páidí RIP used to call it) that eluded him and his management team in both of the previous two seasons in the grade. As somebody who rants on about the need for a strong bench in modern Gaelic games, it was heart-warming to see the influence of subs in St Conleth’s Park.

Glennon Bros Pearse Park has always proven to be a difficult venue for a succession of Westmeath inter-county and club teams, and next Thursday at 7.30pm is sure to be no different. Longford defeated Louth by the narrowest of margins (and even that one-point win needed clarification at the end, it seems), but they blitzed their hosts early in the game. An achievable path to a Leinster final has opened up for this talented side, backboned by former star colleges players with the medals to prove it. However, Gavin will be focusing solely on the formidable challenge in two nights from now.

The ‘lack of a bench’ has been bandied about quite a bit with regard to Cooney’s charges. Accordingly, it was great to see noteworthy contributions from last Sunday’s subs in Bord na Móna O’Connor Park, albeit against a bitterly disappointing Laois outfit. Yours truly made a point of seeking out Ross Munnelly for an elbow-bump (will we ever shake hands again?) as a huge admirer of the Arles/Kilcruise man’s longevity in his beloved blue and white colours. He is almost as old as Stephen Cluxton (I wonder could the raincoat-clad Lieutenant Columbo drive to the Parnells clubhouse in his banger of a car to decipher if the great custodian will grace Croke Park again?).

Kildare had it anything but easy against an improving Offaly team, albeit still relying on another veteran, Niall McNamee, for inspiration. While Dublin were untypically sloppy in defeating Wexford, let’s be blunt and state that we were glad to avoid them in the semi-final draw, while Meath’s demolition of Longford was eye-catching – and very unexpected. Colm O’Rourke had a pep in his step on the Sunday Game in this regard, albeit methinks the sight of green and gold jerseys will utterly revitalise Dessie Farrell’s men. It is a pity that O’Rourke got his facts so badly wrong about Westmeath in his summing up. Jack O’Connor’s men will be raging-hot favourites on Sunday week, but it is probably the kindest draw for Kevin Maguire (what a great leader the Caulry man is) and his merry men.

The less-vaunted Lilywhite hurlers will be the visitors to TEG Cusack Park next Saturday (throw in 3pm). Again, it was heart-warming to see the spirit displayed by Westmeath in Netwatch Cullen Park last Saturday, Cormac Boyle and his colleagues failing to fire on all cylinders, yet eking out a precious and potentially season-defining win against the Barrowsiders.

A plethora of wides looked like they might prove fatal thereby making next Saturday’s game utterly meaningless but, again, subs proved crucial to the outcome. Remarkably, Delvin, kingpins of Westmeath hurling many decades ago, provided no less than three pivotal replacements in Alan Cox, the hugely-promising Josh Coll (whose second goal illuminated MW Hire O’Moore Park a week ago) and Darragh Clinton, all three of whom chipped in with a point apiece in a very tight finale.

The upshot of the win in Carlow is that Westmeath are in pole position to reach the Joe McDonagh Cup final for the third time in the competition’s four-year history. However, many a team has mistaken ‘pole position’ for ‘done and dusted’, and O’Brien, a man with experience in coaching Kildare, will undoubtedly be hammering home the ‘banana skin’ nature of this fixture in the days ahead.

Kildare put Carlow to the pin of their collar ten days ago and they certainly have the capability to do the same to their hosts on Saturday. A four-point win will be their target to eliminate Westmeath, and any morsel of complacency in the ranks of the maroon and white-clad camp will be severely punished. If Westmeath hurl at their best, a winnable tier two final in Croke Park beckons. Any other outcome would be an unmitigated disaster for the small ball game in the Lake County.

While the sides have never met in the Joe McDonagh Cup per sé, they have clashed in the senior hurling championship in its various guises on 14 occasions over the years, with Westmeath winning ten times as follows:

16/5/1971, Tullamore, Westmeath 3-9 Kildare 1-10 (L)

14/5/1972, Portlaoise, Westmeath 1-7 Kildare 0-8 (L)

2/6/1974, Newbridge, Kildare 2-10 Westmeath 1-8 (B)

5/6/1977, Portlaoise, Kildare 4-11 Westmeath 4-9 (L)

27/5/1990, Cusack Park, Kildare 4-16 Westmeath 3-9 (B)

28/4/2002, Cusack Park, Westmeath 1-14 Kildare 1-10 (L)

3/5/2003, Clane, Westmeath 2-15 Kildare 0-7(L)

16/5/2004, Cusack Park, Westmeath 1-18 Kildare 1-6 (L)

30/7/2005, Navan, Westmeath 7-14 Kildare 1-12 (CR)

5/8/2007, Croke Park, Westmeath 2-15 Kildare 0-13 (CR)

19/7/2008, Newbridge, Westmeath 2-22 Kildare 3-13 (CR)

9/5/2009, Cusack Park, Kildare 3-19 Westmeath 2-21 (CR)

5/6/2010, Navan, Westmeath 3-19 Kildare 0-18 (CR)

14/6/2014, Cusack Park, Westmeath 2-22 Kildare 2-13 (P-O)

L – Leinster championship

B – All-Ireland ‘B’ championship

CR – Christy Ring Cup

P-O – relegation play-off