McCartan pleased with fine collective effort as Westmeath advance

Westmeath’s Sam McCartan hailed a “selfless performance” from his team as they swept Laois aside in Cusack Park last Sunday afternoon to march into the quarter-finals of the Tailteann Cup where they will meet Wicklow.

McCartan, who produced a man of the match performance, scoring 0-8, including a brace of superb two-pointers, played a pivotal role in the 3-26 to 1-15 victory — a 17-point statement win just seven days after a disappointing display against Limerick.

“We needed to bounce back from a poor showing from us,” said McCartan after the game. “I think it was the lack of energy more than anything that lost us the game against Limerick last week. The emphasis in training all week had been getting the intensity up and setting the tempo ourselves. I’m very happy with how it started and maintaining our momentum in the second half.”

Westmeath scored three goals and the second on the stroke of half-time gave them a clear grip on the match. McCartan acknowledged the first-half goals, including the second one, moments after the hooter sounded.

“The goal in the first half was vital, but just the one after the hooter really put the gap there,” he said. “It’s important that we found out before the game, we had clarity on the hooter being in. The lads are very good for reminding us to play past the hooter. There’s no timer once the hooter’s gone, so you can find a good play and take your time with it. The lads, Matty (Whittaker) and Wally (Ronan Wallace), executed it really well.”

McCartan credited the collective effort across the park, including the contributions off the bench, for keeping Westmeath’s dominance intact despite a drop in tempo in the closing stages.

“It was hard to keep the intensity up the whole way,” he said. “But the lads who came in did really well; Shane Ormsby came on and won a great few balls. I think it was the whole thing of when you’re winning like that, it can sometimes turn into a thing of everyone wanting to get a score. But it was a very selfless performance from everyone. Everyone was very happy with that team performance.”

On his own standout contribution, McCartan remained typically modest: “I was happy enough. I just happened to be in the right position at the right time. A lot of it was just finishing off the hard work. The lads turned over a mountain of ball: Joe Moran, Jack Geoghegan and Sam Smyth in particular. Sam Smyth’s been excellent the last three games. I think our backs really set the tone there in terms of their work rate and showing for kick-outs and everything.”

With no break between the preliminary quarter-final and the next round, Westmeath will be on the road on Sunday against Wicklow. But McCartan is taking the challenge in stride and is hopeful everyone will be fit for the quarter-final, which gives Westmeath an opportunity to avenge last year’s defeat.

“It will be the same preparation as always. Make sure we get the bodies right; hopefully get a few lads back who are on the brink of returning from injury. We’re in a good spot now and looking forward to next weekend.”

Aughrim is the venue on Sunday for a 1.15pm throw-in time, and with Wicklow having defeated the Lake County in last year's Leinster championship, this will be something of a revenge mission.