Browne hails players as ‘brilliant role models’ after Leinster success

Westmeath ladies football manager Frank Browne was justifiably proud of his players after last Sunday’s Leinster intermediate final win against Laois - describing them as “a credit to the county” and “absolutely brilliant role models”.

He highlighted the high number of blocks his side managed on the day which showed their appetite for hard work. “The blocks are so important because it drives you on and it indicates your level of work rate. All year we’ve been working hard, and we had a really tough league campaign and we had a hard year last year. But the girls never stopped believing in what we’re trying to do,” he said.

“You see Fiona Coyle (the team captain) up there making her speech and she has been absolutely exemplary. She has such composure and all the things you want in a leader. All of the other players stood up and led today. I think we fully deserved it and we had two disallowed goals as well,” Browne continued.

The fact that full-back Sarah Murphy was selected as the player of the match was a reflection of Westmeath’s tenacious defending on the day.

“We have worked incredibly hard from the beginning of the year on our defence and how we’re going to set up,” said Browne. “We moved into a system where we said, ‘look, we’re all going to take individual responsibility here’. We’re going to take a player; we’re going to mark them. We want to be brave and try to win our own individual battles.”

Asked about Westmeath’s prospects in the All-Ireland intermediate championship, Browne insisted he hadn’t considered that challenge yet.

“You’re going to laugh now and say that’s what all the boys say, but I haven’t even thought about it. I really haven’t. Today we put all our eggs in the Leinster final basket and getting a bit of silverware on the table,” Browne responded.

“We communicate brilliantly as a group and now we have to decide are we happy to be the Leinster champions, or do we want to drive on and really make this a year to remember? And that’s within our control. We’re going to enjoy tonight and we’re probably going to enjoy tomorrow and we might even enjoy Tuesday as well. Then we’ll look and see where we are, but these girls deserve it.

"I think these guys are working as hard as any men’s team in the business, you know, in terms of their conditioning and how they apply themselves. This is just rewards for them and we will celebrate this.”

Some observers may have been surprised to see Westmeath’s Chloe Gonoud (formerly Kelly) replaced early in the second half. Browne admitted it was “a really tough call” to take off a player he described as “a loyal servant”.

“She’s probably annoyed and hurt at being taken off. But that’s how players should be, and she’ll be the very first to say that the end justifies the means. In training over the last couple of weeks, Chloe was marking Sarah Dillon, and what did (Brian) Cody always say - ‘you train hard and you win easy’,” Browne added.