‘The players know they didn’t perform’

Westmeath football manager Jack Cooney couldn’t hide his deep disappointment over his side’s performance in the home defeat to Longford last Saturday.

“I’d say it’s the most disappointed I’ve been over the last three and a half years. We need to start searching for explanations and answers to it. We have a mountain of work to do,” he said after Longford’s 0-14 to 0-10 victory.

“We knew how Longford were going to play. They did exactly what we expected in the second half. We found it hard to break them down. We started the game well, we were 0-5 to 0-1 up. We were creating a lot of chances, but we missed some chances and they worked their way back into the game. We had them semi hooked and then just completely let them off the hook. At the start of the second half, we got the equaliser straight away and we were applying plenty of pressure and then just fell off that again,” he continued.

Cooney didn’t think John Heslin’s missed penalty caused the players to lose heart. “I don’t think so. I think they are resilient enough that way,” he responded.

“Ronan Wallace, who was superb today, made another great run through the middle and the ball was blocked on the line, so those were two good goalscoring opportunities we missed. We were chasing the game and they tacked on a few scores and countered us pretty well.

“We need to review it and have a good look at it. Probably not enough lads are bringing enough energy to it and we need to address that,” Cooney continued.

Westmeath were indebted to goalkeeper Jason Daly for preventing a heavier defeat. “Jason is an excellent keeper and he has been excellent for us since he came in. It’s just a pity when he was pulling off those saves that we weren’t able to turn the screw at the other end,” said Cooney.

Sam McCartan was also among Westmeath’s better players on what was a deflating day. “Sam is a fabulous player and it’s a pleasure watching him play and driving at teams. He’s a 21-year-old with a tremendous future ahead of him and he’s turning into a good leader on the pitch,” said Cooney.

Pointing to the number of wides and other missed chances in general, the Westmeath boss said: “It’s something that needs to be looked at. We had four shots that dropped short I think.

“I think Longford saw the chequered flag and it gave them huge energy. When we weren’t able to convert chances, they got energy from that and they were running into a lot of green grass because we were chasing it a wee bit. They took advantage of that and fair dues to them, that game meant a lot to them and it showed.”

Asked about the cards shown to David Lynch (red) and Martin (black) - which saw Westmeath end the game with 13 men - Cooney said: “We need to deal with that frustration and be disciplined on it because we need everyone on the pitch and everyone with their shoulder to the wheel.”

Westmeath are away to Allianz Football League Division 3 leaders Limerick next Saturday (TUS Gaelic Grounds, 7pm). Looking forward to the challenge, Cooney said: “It won’t be easy but I have 100 per cent faith and confidence in these players. They are very disappointed; they know that they didn’t perform in the second half and they will want to put that right.”

Cooney said his focus will be on some quality training sessions this week ahead of the Limerick match. “We’ll focus in on Limerick, we won’t be thinking about anything the far side of that,” he said.

As for the progress of Ger Egan and James Dolan on their recovery from injuries, Cooney said: “Ger is still a couple of weeks away. He’ll be back on the pitch next week. I think it’s important that we get the injury right. We took a more long-term view on it so that he would get more longevity in his career. With James it’s a very slow healing process with the particular injury he has. We have to get the injury cleared.”

In conclusion, Cooney agreed that the Longford game must serve as a wake-up call.

“We have to look at a lot of things. The lads are definitely not as poor as they played out there today, they know that and we know that in the management team. I’m disappointed for the supporters to be honest. We have to face up to it and embrace the challenge that is ahead of us and turn it around,” he added.