Clarke targets improvement as minor hurlers face Offaly

Damien Maher

Westmeath minor hurling manager Pat Clarke is gearing his troops for a showdown with Offaly next Sunday at TEG Cusack Park and it's a game that will certainly test the true progress of the Lake County side.

Already they have defeated Meath, Down and Carlow - the latter denied on Good Friday after an unspectacular performance. Clarke, who's joined by Andrew Mitchell, John Shaw and Tony O'Keeffe on the management team, said his side will relish the challenge against a top tier team, but they are conscious of the need to improve.

"We're looking forward to that game. We had our goals at the start of the year: we wanted to get out of the Tier Two competition that we're in and get a shot at somebody coming from Tier One. We figured if we won our group, Offaly was our likely opponents. We're looking forward to it now. It feels a little like a defeat today because the performance was so bad, but I think on Tuesday when we get down to training - a game against Offaly here in TEG Cusack Park will whet the appetite," he said, following Friday's victory.

Clarke was satisfied with the outcome of the Carlow game, with his side scoring 2-4 in the first half, but he's targeting a more complete performance the next day.

"Games are about winning, but the performance was well below par and well below what we were expecting the boys to produce. But we'll take a victory over performance any day. We are facing a much tougher challenge next week and we have a lot of work to do," he remarked.

The manager agreed that his players were over-exuberant with some of their passing, but he was happy with how his defence performed.

"They definitely over elaborated (with passing). I thought, defensively, we were very strong again; to a man the defence was excellent. Kian Loughlin wasn't really troubled in the goals, so the defenders are doing their job when that happens. I thought Connaire Martin was excellent at centre back," he observed.

"Midfield - Carl (McCormack) was very good - and from there in, we were just that little bit sloppy by times with our passing. We need to work on that for the Offaly game and not be allowing those passes go astray. We need to be a bit more direct, I feel."

Westmeath took their goal chances well and Conor Heffernan was particularly impressive at corner forward with 2-6 in total, but Clarke is looking for greater consistency.

"We looked dangerous, definitely, anytime the ball went in there, but maybe they thought they were going to score a goal every time when there were a few easy points for the taking, especially early in the second half when we really needed to tag on a few scores. We went for goals and came away empty-handed, which is something else we need to look at," he noted. "Goals are great when you get them! When you're creating great chances and not getting scores, there's a case for sticking the ball over the bar and keeping the score board ticking over."

Clarke realises his side will have to produce a bigger total next weekend.

"We need a lot more than that; I don't think 3-10 is going to win the next day, not by any stretch. It's windy today, but conditions are perfect for hurling and you'd really think you should be scoring 16 or 17 points in those conditions," he remarked.

Sunday's Leinster MHC game against Offaly takes place in TEG Cusack Park at 12.00.

Meanwhile, the U20 game against Meath is on Saturday in Mullingar (2pm).