Hurlers facing a fight for survival
Westmeath senior hurlers are facing a battle to survive in the Joe McDonagh Cup after a disappointing first half display led to a 10-point defeat against Carlow last weekend.
The result confirmed Westmeath’s elimination from the championship, and it also means Seoirse Bulfin’s charges need to go to Kerry and win on Saturday to make absolutely certain of their place in the Joe McDonagh Cup in 2026.
“It was one of those bizarre games. You can’t leave yourself with 18 and 21 points to claw your way back into this,” observed the manager afterwards.
Asked why his side underperformed in the first half, and trailed 4-16 to 2-4 at the break, Bulfin replied: “It’s very hard to put your finger on it. Why did we hurl with such freedom in the second half? I don’t know. It’s very soon after the game, we have to figure those things out. We have to try and figure them out and get them right for next Saturday.”
Defeat against Kerry and victory for Down against Kildare in next weekend’s final round would mean Westmeath are relegated to Christy Ring Cup hurling next year.
With an in-form Kildare side having home advantage against Down, Westmeath seem likely to get a reprieve, but they cannot take anything for granted and badly need to produce a winning display. They will have to cope in the absence of Davy Glennon and Niall Mitchell who were both injured against Carlow.
“It’s crucial, a massive game. We knew that coming in to today,” said Bulfin.
“Down play Kildare away in the last game, so, it’s Down ourselves and Kerry at the moment are on two points. It’s a very, very difficult game to finish with. But look, at the end of the day, we knew the fixtures before the whole thing started, so we knew what was ahead of us. And the second-half performance is a really good performance to take into next week. Obviously, the first half wasn’t at all where we needed to be.
“You’re not going to, or you’ll certainly struggle, to pull a team like Carlow back at that stage (being 18 points behind). But the second-half performance was a tremendous fight on their backs for us. They showed fierce heart, fierce dedication to the cause, so that’s a big plus going forward.”
Bulfin said taking the positives from a spirited second half display is the most important thing.
“We were going away and scratching our heads about the first half and probably Carlow are going away and scratching their heads about the second half. There was some fight in those lads in the second half. The soft option at half time would have been to fold, to drop the white flag and lick our wounds for the next week before we play Kerry.
“By God, did they fight on their backs for Westmeath, which is the most important thing. And again, a sucker-punch straight from the throw in, goal, 21 points down. We got it back to five and then had a chance if it was a goal or a point, missed it.
“And then they come down and get the sixth goal; it probably killed our momentum. I don’t know what we’d scored on the run at that stage. But I’m exceptionally proud of them for the second half display.”