Some positives from a disappointing week for Westmeath GAA followers
For the past year or so, I have been in the habit of starting my day with an enjoyable – if occasionally frustrating – word game called Wordle.
Like virtually everything in life, there is an element of luck in it. In this case, that hinges on what random word you choose to start the process. It is an extremely rare – and a very smug! – feeling to get the answer in two. The maximum number of guesses allowed is six. When you need the full six, the little blurb at the top says, ‘Phew’.
Long-spoiled Dublin football fans in my company were all using that word at approximately 6pm in and around Jones’ Rd last Sunday after the 1/33 favourites had struggled to eke out a win against a Kildare side which they had throttled at the same venue less than a year ago.
The ‘phew’ word wasn’t quite as prevalent a few miles away in Donnycarney some 22 hours earlier, with the metropolitan hurlers ultimately emerging as comfortable winners against a Westmeath side which tore into them from the throw-in but ran out of gas on the change of ends, the momentum having swung the way of the home team in the closing stages of a hard-hitting first moiety.
It would have been a totally unacceptable result for the men in sky blue and navy to have lost in Parnell Park, but for the opening half an hour that looked a distinct possibility. Indeed, there was quite a number of audible ‘phews’ when Dublin led by four points at the break. Despite the absence of some of the county’s best hurlers – none more so than All Star nominee Killian Doyle – Joe Fortune’s visibly charged-up troops took the fight to their opponents and put in a heart-warming display for their loyal fans.
The return to the maroon and white cause of dual star Niall Mitchell was a huge boost. Unsurprisingly, he faded after a bright and goal-scoring start, while three other attackers more than able to hurl at this level – Niall O’Brien, Derek McNicholas and Darragh Clinton – also got some game time, albeit all three were largely ineffectual in their cameos. The focus of this campaign has always been May 28 when Antrim come to TEG Cusack Park. That remains so.
In the interim, of course, invaluable championship experience will be picked up at home to Galway (next Saturday) and away to Wexford (eight days later). Henry Shefflin’s Tribesmen are certain to prove too strong for their hosts at Westmeath GAA headquarters (throw-in 5pm), the ‘other’ county which wears maroon and white having already handed out heavy beatings to the Lake County in the Walsh Cup and National League in Ballinasloe and Mullingar respectively in 2023.
The target on Saturday will be respectability and another never-say-die performance against a side with very real ambitions of garnering, not just the Bob O’Keeffe Cup, but the Liam MacCarthy Cup. ‘King’ Henry will have been granted ‘honeymoon’ status last year in his adopted county, but meaningful silverware will be a must in year two. The Galwegians will not be in charitable mood when they cross the Shannon, and Noel Conaty – what a fine net-minder he has turned out to be since being surprisingly turned to in recent seasons – is likely to be a busy man.
Galway have beaten Westmeath – usually comprehensively – in all seven championship meetings so far, as follows:
6/7/1975, Athlone, Galway 6-14 Westmeath 1-8
22/7/1984, Birr, Galway 2-17 Westmeath 2-8
8/7/2006, Galway, Galway 3-21 Westmeath 0-6
4/6/2011, Cusack Park, Galway 4-17 Westmeath 2-14
3/6/2012, Cusack Park, Galway 5-19 Westmeath 4-12
5/6/2016, TEG Cusack Park, Galway 3-27 Westmeath 0-19
23/4/2022, Galway, Galway 3-36 Westmeath 1-17
Positive contribution from U20 hurlers
Andrew Dermody and all associated with the U20 hurlers can hold their heads high after a campaign which gave us all a lift and was quite unfortunate to end last Saturday when Wexford left TEG Cusack Park with a flattering five-point win in the Leinster quarter-final. The Castlepollard man unashamedly wears his heart on his sleeve when patrolling the line. With the vast majority of the squad eligible next year, an even longer provincial run can be achieved. In the short-term, it seems very likely that a number of them will enter Fortune’s thinking to acquire big match experience in the three senior games remaining.
On the football front, tomorrow (Tuesday, May 2) is set to be a fascinating day for Westmeath big ball fans without a ball being kicked, as the draw for the ‘new’ Sam Maguire Cup 16-team competition will be streamed at 1pm. There has been some confusion along the way as to the format, but with the exception of knowing which four teams will actually be crowned provincial senior champions, everything else is now crystal clear.
Ironically, it has transpired that three of the four finals look to be foregone conclusions (even if Louth folk’s joy after edging out Offaly last Sunday will have extended for a couple of hours if they stayed on to watch Dessie Farrell’s men limp past Kildare). A successful treble of Kerry, Galway and Dublin (subject to the caveat in the last line) would yield just a small dividend. Derry will be expected to retain the Anglo Celt Cup, but are certain to find Armagh very hard to shake off in the Ulster final.
Taking a chance on three of the finals going to plan, the situation is that Dessie Dolan’s fourth seeds will have an away game to open the campaign against Clare, Sligo or Louth (all definitely winnable for a Westmeath team playing to their best for 70-plus minutes), or the losers of Derry v Armagh (an undoubted step-up). It will be a shot in the arm if the 75 per cent chance of avoiding the Ulster runners-up comes to fruition.
Football in the county needs a lift. And quickly. Eoghan Kevlihan’s minors had a very disappointing three-match campaign, albeit they finished it off by playing quite well in the second half against a strong Dublin side last Wednesday. Lady Luck totally deserted Damien Gavin’s injury-ravaged U20s, and it was very frustrating to see Kildare, our first round ‘victims’ in the first-ever year of a ‘back door’ championship, recover and win the Leinster title last week.
An achievable target of (at least) making the All-Ireland senior preliminary quarter-finals is an exciting prospect. Did I mention that football in the county needs a lift?
And quickly.