Westmeath boss hails players as Tyrone fixture is confirmed

Westmeath ladies reached the All-Ireland intermediate football semi-finals last Sunday with a one-point victory over Cavan and they can now look forward to a clash with Tyrone in the last four.

The semi-final against Tyrone has been confirmed for Avant Money Páirc Sean Mac Diarmada, Carrick-on-Shannon on Sunday week, July 13 (throw-in 2pm)

Much of the post-match debate last Sunday centred around the referee’s late decision to award, then overturn, what looked to be a free-in to Cavan in the dying seconds - a decision that could have forced extra-time. Westmeath manager Frank Browne was measured in his assessment afterwards.

“To be brutally honest with you, I thought David Hurson had a really good game throughout. Just as it happened, I thought it was a free. I turned to the dugout and said, ‘OK, let's get ready now, this is a tap over, we're going to extra-time.’ Then I turned around and it was a free out. Our goalkeeper said it was a stonewall free out. She had no doubt. When you watch it back on the video, she actually comes out and gets the ball ready for the kickout. She was crystal clear.”

There was confusion, however, and it was a source of controversy afterwards. “I suppose it was confusing when the referee pointed for a free-in and then changed his mind. On days like this, warm summer days, extra-time turns into a lottery. It would have turned into somebody making a mistake or something like that,” remarked the Westmeath boss.

Expressing satisfaction with the victory, Browne said: “I suppose when you look back immediately after, there's certain things you say, could we have done better? Did we make the right decisions or not? But at the end of the day, I suppose the end justifies the means. We got over the line.”

Browne was keen to challenge any notion that Cavan had handed Westmeath the win through poor shooting alone. While it may have appeared that the Ulster side were wasteful in front of goal, the numbers told a more balanced story. “There wasn't an awful lot in the score efficiency. The goals were crucial,” he said.

Indeed, Westmeath’s ability to strike at key moments kept them in contention during Cavan’s dominant spells, and it was a brilliantly worked goal late on that ultimately proved the difference.

The role of one of Westmeath's youngest players also stood out on the day. “I think Lara McCartan - we have to mention her - she was corner-back there, only minor last year, and she had a superb game as a plus one. She read the game, she attacked, and she was the girl that ended up at the edge of the square to give the pass to for the winning goal.”

Westmeath’s defensive structure and counter-attacking style were notable on the day. “We're very fast on the breakout. We've got good runners and we've got good fast hands,” Browne explained.

Yet, as Browne acknowledged, no matter how detailed the game plan, championship football often boils down to raw desire.

“You can analyse it all you want, but to me, as one of the guys said, at half-time in a championship with nothing in it, the team that’s willing to go all the way is the team that’s going to win it. And that’s the way it was. Any one of the eight teams in the quarter-finals could have beaten each other. We saw games going to extra-time. When you get to half-time in a championship match, you can nearly throw the playbook out the door. In the last 15 minutes of that game, it took on a life of its own.”

Westmeath had to weather a real storm in that final quarter, especially during a Cavan purple patch that saw them dominate the kickouts and apply sustained pressure. “We couldn't get a bit of space, we couldn't get out. We left ourselves close enough to Cavan that when we got a little bit of the rub of the green coming into the last ten minutes, we were able to take it. And that’s the key. Did we get lucky? Yes, we did. But we have to be in a position to take that luck as well, and we did.”

Browne was quick to credit the physical preparation that helped his team close out the game.

“There are a lot of tired bodies now. It was very warm out there, very heavy and muggy. But that's why you do your hard running in January and February. We made a decision this year to go a little bit old school. We went back to long, hard 250, 300 metre runs.”

“Last year after Wexford beat us in extra-time, we didn’t have that in our heads or in our legs. But we’ve done the hard runs already. And I think we had that sense when we got into the last ten minutes here, we have it in our legs. We've ran hard in St Loman’s in January, February, March. It's in us now. We just needed to get it out.”

With Tyrone now lying in wait in the semi-final, Browne knows that an even stiffer test is around the corner. After all, Tyrone emerged as very comprehensive winners (6-11 to 0-7) when Westmeath travelled to Stewartstown for their last game in the group stages

But with momentum, belief and fitness on their side, Westmeath will carry plenty of confidence into the last four.

“We're just delighted to be there, but we know we have more work to do,” Frank added.