Dublin will bring serious intensity - McHugh

Leinster SFC final preview

Westmeath manager Mark McHugh has a perceptive eye as a coach and is acutely aware of the challenge facing his side against a Dublin team that was almost dismissed after a slow start against Wicklow in the opening round.

Ahead of Sunday’s Leinster senior football final he said writing off the 14-in-a-row Leinster winners serves only to elicit a big response from a team decorated with All-Ireland winners. The former Donegal star believes the criticism directed at Dublin after their sluggish opening-round display against Wicklow only fuelled the response which followed against Louth, when the reigning champions produced a ruthless, high-intensity performance to reassert themselves as the province’s dominant force.

Now McHugh, an All-Ireland winner in 2012, expects that same edge and aggression to arrive in Croke Park for the Leinster decider.

“One thing I would never do - and you boys in the media love to do it - is write off the Dubs,” he declared.

“Once you do that, it’s like writing off anybody, they’re going to come back with a bite. They did that last week and they showed they haven’t gone away as a group or as a team. They brought a different intensity and different energy against Louth. I’m not saying they took Wicklow for granted or anything like that, but they brought a different intensity against Louth,” he observed.

“I don’t know whether Louth were prepared for it or not, but Dublin really showed their class in the control they took on that game. We have to be prepared for that and they’re going to bring that same intensity back in their home patch in Croke Park. It’s a massive challenge for us; probably a mammoth challenge.”

Despite suggestions in some quarters that Dublin are no longer the dominant machine of previous years, McHugh sees little evidence of decline when he looks at the quality still available to Ger Brennan.

“Dublin have had an up-and-down year themselves and they’ve been struggling a wee bit, obviously with injuries as well, but when you still have a half-forward line of Ciarán Kilkenny, Sean Bugler and Niall Scully, those boys haven’t gone away,” he opined.

“You’ve Con O’Callaghan inside, Davy Byrne still playing, Brian Howard in the middle of the field. All multiple All-Ireland winners. They’re Rolls-Royce footballers, they always have been and they still are,” he added.

Westmeath travel to headquarters carrying significant momentum after defeating Meath and Kildare to reach their first Leinster final in a decade, but McHugh knows the performance level will have to rise again if his side are to bridge the gap.

“I think the way we play football is with a very high intensity, high aggression and energy,” he explained.

“Every day we go out, we ask the lads to give that and that’s what they’ve been doing. There’s a huge opportunity there for us now, but it’s going to take an almighty effort. Whatever is in these boys’ bodies will have to be left in Croke Park on Sunday, but we have full faith they can do it,” he said.

McHugh was particularly pleased with the composure his players showed after Kildare snatched a dramatic late equaliser before extra-time in the semi-final.

“Probably for the lads themselves, that wasn’t easy, knowing you should have won the game in normal time. Usually when things like that happen, the momentum is with the team that scores. Kildare had the momentum with Alex Beirne kicking the score, so we had to regroup quickly,” he noted.

“I thought, bar maybe the first two minutes of extra-time, we really controlled the whole of extra-time. Our legs showed, our composure showed and our control within extra-time was definitely pleasing for me,” he continued.

A bonding weekend in his native Donegal gave the Westmeath players a new sense of energy, it seems. McHugh believes the foundations for Westmeath’s championship run were during that difficult spell for his side, following challenges met during the Division 3 league campaign.

After inconsistent performances against Down and Laois, the squad rallied during that training weekend in Donegal.

“We went away for a weekend and regrouped. Between Killybegs and Kilcar we got a good bit of work done. Ever since that, I think we’ve been clearer on what we have to do and how we do it in the game plan,” he observed.

“I would say since then - even though we lost the Wexford game - we’ve had five good performances in my view, the three championship games and the two games to finish the league.”

McHugh also pointed to the growing resilience within the panel after a 2025 campaign where too many close contests slipped away.

“We started the league pretty well and then had a bad enough performance up in Down. We had one good game and then we’d go down again,” he noted.

“I think consistency was the thing that troubled us as a squad, but this group doesn’t know when to give in. That’s probably the biggest thing,” he explained.

Westmeath’s run to the final has come despite a lengthy injury list.

Luke Loughlin has been ruled out for the remainder of the season, while Brian Guerin, Sam Smyth, Johnny Lynam and Conor McCormack are also unavailable. Boidu Sayeh faces a race against time to return later in the summer, while McHugh admitted Matty Whittaker remains a major concern after battling through injury against Kildare.

“Matty’s been struggling the last wee while. He’s a tough cookie and he went through a lot of pain in the semi-final. We’ve given him every chance we can, but it is a bad enough injury and we have to assess where he’s at,” he remarked.

The team has responded well to adversity up to now and they may have to dig even deeper next weekend. However, the manager insists the squad mentality built within the camp means others are ready to step forward.

“As I keep saying, Senan (Baker) took his chance last week and was the next man up. That’s the kind of squad we’ve built. Nobody is bigger than the team and nobody is bigger than the squad. If somebody gets injured, somebody else replaces them and that’s the way it goes,” he said.

Westmeath’s attacking threat has become one of the stories of the championship, with goals proving decisive throughout the run to the final.

McHugh believes the firmer summer conditions have suited his side’s direct style.

“It’s no secret that once the hard ground comes, it’s always going to suit our team more than the league. We have a lot of fast inside forwards that are very direct and jinky, they just rather the hard ground,” he observed.

“The goals against Meath came at vital times, a bit like last weekend. If we get into the right positions and the right shot is on, we’re going for them. We’ve given the players the allowance to back themselves in front of goal and not shy away from it,” he insisted.

“There’s nothing beats a goal still. A goal swings momentum your way and gets that bigger roar from the crowd. I do think we’ll probably need a few to beat Dublin as well,” he added.

McHugh has also been struck by the growing connection between the team and the county support during this championship run.

“What we tried to give the county from day one was a team they would like to support. The numbers and the colour on the field afterwards last week gave the lads a great lift,” he remarked.

“Coming down the stretch, our roars were a lot louder than theirs. I do think what the lads have done for the county is incredible. The commitment they’ve shown to the jersey, to their clubs and families; this year I couldn’t ask any more of them.”

For McHugh the challenge now is ensuring Westmeath embrace the occasion rather than becoming overwhelmed by it. That they don’t simply get carried away by the occasion and forget to play the match.

“Some lads haven’t played in Croke Park, some lads haven’t played in finals. We have to prepare them to deal with the nerves, the parade, the escort in and all those things they’re not used to,” he said.

“That’s our job over the next week.”

And while he fully appreciates the magnitude of the task awaiting his side, McHugh insists Westmeath will not travel to Dublin merely hoping to keep the scoreboard respectable.

“There’s no point in being there to make up the numbers: We’ll be there to do the best we can and compete for as long as we can,” he added.