Westmeath names on successful Irish side

Hurling-Shinty International Rules Series

Westmeath's hurling fraternity looked on with interest as Ireland retained the Mowi Quaich Cup and made it three wins in a row in the Hurling-Shinty International Rules series last week.

Two local names featured among those in the programme for the clash with Scotland at Bught Park in Inverness.

Ringtown's Mark Cunningham donned the green of Ireland, while on the sideline Kevin O’Brien was part of a management ticket that included luminaries Michael Kavanagh, Terence McNaughton, Damien Coleman and Joe O’Leary.

The Hurling-Shinty hybrid saw a panel of 20 Irish hurlers make their way to Scotland for the annual event. This was Ireland's third successive victory in the match up, but their first on Scottish soil since 2013.

Ireland scored 3-3 to Scotland's 2-4 to secure the victory. For the new Westmeath senior hurling manager being part of the backroom team was an honour: “Michael Kavanagh and Samba McNaughton, have been joint managers for the last three years.

“They brought me in as part of the coaching team. It's a three year cycle, so this was probably our last year. We've now won the three of them, so this was a great last year,” O'Brien told the Westmeath Examiner.

Kevin was not the only Lake county man to contribute to the win: “Last year there was no Westmeath player on the panel. That was because of club commitments. Lads just couldn't make trials. But this year, Mark Cunningham from Ringtown was part of the team. He did well, and contributed to that win over Scotland. It was a great experience.”

One of the challenges for the coaching and management team is preparing players for what is a very different game: “Shinty is a big game over there. There are similarities between the games, but there's a lot more ground striking in shinty. The game is a kind of compromise rules. Our lads adapted well.”

The fixture was a fiercely contested game, played in blustery conditions: “They got a couple of goals in the second half, which was a bit of a setback. Owen Murphy from Kilkenny had a good game in goals. Dan Morrissey from Limerick, our captain, was outstanding.

“Gerard Walsh from Antrim as well, was another good player. There were a couple of the Laois lads who did very well.”

The preparations for the international contest were not as rigorous as the average intercountry game: “It wasn’t that much of a burden. It was basically four Saturdays mornings in Abbotstown, two trials, then two training sessions and the match.

“There wasn’t as much hardship on coaches and managers. It was actually a very enjoyable experience.”

Being part of such an illustrious management team was an experience the new Westmeath senior hurling manager valued: “You can only learn in a group like that. I have worked with Michael Kavanagh before. Myself and Michael were selectors for Michael Fennelly in Offaly.

“You pick up little bits from every manager really, from when you were a young lad, the whole way up through the managers you work with as a selector. I’ve worked with other great managers like Ken Hogan. You’re always observing, some things you do the same, others differently, but you are always learning. A lad that thinks he knows it all, well he’s in bother.”

With the international game out of the way, attention will now turn to next year’s intercounty run: “As regards the Westmeath side of things, we’ve assembled 52 lads who are coming in. That is a lot of young lads.

“There are a lot of new faces. Some of the older guys will be moving on in their own time, so it’ll be a new looking squad.”

Kevin says this is not a one shot campaign: “We’re building for the future. Obviously 2026 is important, but we’re also building for ‘27, ‘28 and onwards. That probably hasn’t been done in the last few years. There’s a good injection of youth now and a lot of new faces coming in.

“There has been a very positive response overall from players. One of the days I made 28 phone calls and got 27 ‘yeses’. We’re delighted with that as a management team. Hopefully it’ll bode well for the future.”