Play it again - and again - Sam
After last Saturday’s wall-to-wall coverage of the coronation of King Charles III, it appears that he and I may have one thing in common, albeit with a little twist on my part.
The new monarch across the water has apparently expressed a desire to visit every county in Ireland. While I achieved that specific ambition decades ago, the twist is that my wish is to attend a senior Westmeath football and/or hurling game at every one of the 32 county grounds.
I have long since reached the 31 mark (and throw in a number of trips to Ruislip for good measure) and it now seems likely that the 32nd piece of the jigsaw will be put in place on Saturday, May 27, with last Tuesday’s ‘draw from hell’ in the ‘new’ Sam Maguire Cup pitting Dessie Dolan’s troops against the Ulster championship runners-up in their opening round robin game.
Going on current form, it seems that Noel Heduan will be driving Slevin’s bus to the Athletic Grounds in Armagh in 18 days’ time, as holders Derry will be hot favourites to retain the Anglo Celt Cup next Sunday in Clones. Having only attended a number of Armagh v Westmeath games in Crossmaglen, a likely visit to what I am told is a lovely ground on the outskirts of Armagh city would complete my personal project.
However, that is the only crumb of consolation I can muster from the worst draw imaginable as overseen by Larry McCarthy and Paddy Andrews at lunchtime this day last week. As opined in this column a week ago, there was a 75 per cent chance of a winnable opening game against Sligo, Clare or Louth. Indeed, two of the three relevant provincial deciders were won with the minimum of fuss by Galway and Kerry respectively on Sunday, and even a stuttering Dublin will surely see off Louth next Sunday. So it was more than a little unfortunate that Lady Luck pitted us against the loser of Derry v Armagh.
The Lake County’s second and third games are definite fixtures – at home to Connacht high-fliers Galway in TEG Cusack Park on June 3/4, and a neutral venue for a daunting clash with 2021 All-Ireland champions Tyrone a fortnight later (one suspects Cavan, Clones, or possibly Croke Park).
It would be a brave man who would predict a Westmeath win in any of those three games, but sport is nothing if not unpredictable. A 75-minute display by the men in maroon and white akin to the first half v Louth in Navan could put it up to the best in the land on a given day.
“Why couldn’t yiz have played like that against us a few times instead of walloping us?” This was yours truly’s post-match rant at the many Dubs in my vicinity after Dessie Farrell’s metropolitans had edged past a resolute Kildare side in the Leinster semi-final nine days ago. Should Sam Mulroy manage to lift the Delaney Cup at approximately 3.30pm next Sunday, there will be incredibly joyous scenes in and around Jones’ Rd among ecstatic red and white-clad fans, many of them still carrying the pain of Joe Sheridan’s infamous thrown goal for Meath 13 years ago.
However, if it is James McCarthy who is presented with the silverware, it will be a damp squib akin to Sean Kelly and David Clifford (albeit with personal sadness his undoubted emotion after the death of his mother) two days ago in Castlebar and Limerick respectively. The continuation of the four provincial championships in their current guise is in doubt. Every new idea from the GAA, for long labelled a conservative organization, is worth trying. However, to play 24 tightly-crammed matches from mid-May to mid-June to merely eliminate four teams – and, yes, Westmeath will be expected to be one of those four – seems way over the top. Unless, of course, you are one of the accountants in GAA headquarters!
And just to add to the despair of Westmeath football fans in recent days, the Kildare U20 side which lost by two clear goals to Damien Gavin’s talented troops in the rain at Hawkfield as recently as March 21 have marched on to the All-Ireland final in the first-ever year of a ‘back door’ in the grade. They must surely have a great chance of beating Sligo in the decider despite the great progress made in the Markievicz County in the past couple of years.
Westmeath have faced all four possible (including two certain) opponents since the advent of the senior ‘back door’ in 2001. That year will always conjure up magical memories for hitherto success-starved Lake County Gaels of an eight-game odyssey. However, it could easily have led all the way to Croke Park on All-Ireland final day. Indeed, a mate of mine often alludes to my semi-cheeky question of Ja Fallon in a restaurant in Kildare that summer i.e. “Which of us will change colours on the third Sunday of September?” And Galway did go on to win Sam!
The same Ja will not have fond memories of the clash which did take place almost five years later when Tomás Ó Flatharta’s charges edged a titanic fourth round Qualifier in Salthill when Gary Connaughton ruled the roost as Lake County net-minder. Westmeath have lost the other five games against their upcoming opponents, albeit a sensational win in Omagh against champions-in-waiting Tyrone could easily have been achieved in 2008.
The relevant results follow.
Possible opponents:
v Armagh, played two, lost two
8/7/2017, TEG Cusack Park, Armagh 1-12 Westmeath 1-7
9/6/2018, TEG Cusack Park, Armagh 3-16 Westmeath 1-11
v Derry, played two, lost two
14/8/2004, Croke Park, Derry 2-9 Westmeath 0-13
10/7/2010, Cusack Park, Derry 0-13 Westmeath 1-7
Definite opponents:
v Galway, played one, won one
29/7/2006, Galway, Westmeath 1-8 Galway 0-10
v Tyrone, played one, lost one
26/7/2008, Omagh, Tyrone 0-14 Westmeath 1-7