Downey - 'Victory is very special for the Milltown club'
Westmeath IFC final - reaction
Milltown manager Barry Downey hailed his players as “a credit to their parish and their club” after they secured a comprehensive victory over Shandonagh in the Westmeath Intermediate Football Championship final.
Having knocked on the door in recent seasons, Milltown got over the line in emphatic fashion last Sunday, producing a disciplined performance to pull away from their neighbours in the second half.
“It’s very special for the club. They’ve been knocking on the door the last couple of years, so it means something extra special when they have been just wanting to get over the line,” he remarked.
“As a bunch of players and individuals and men, they’re a credit to their parish and their club, and it will be nice now to celebrate with them. In the depths of January, they were the lads out training, so it’s nice to be able to give back.”
The final had been expected to be a close contest, with little separating the sides in their previous meetings and Downey spoke of his respect for Shandonagh as a team.
“I think the last two or three times they met, there hasn’t been much in it,” he observed.
“But we were concentrating on ourselves. We knew if we could hit the parameters that we wanted to hit, that we’d be there or thereabouts. In fairness to the lads, they delivered on all of them, which was brilliant.”
Although Downey was not entirely satisfied with their first-half performance, a two-pointer (scored by Luke Gunning) immediately after the restart swung the momentum in their favour.
“I was disappointed at half-time. We gave them a bit of oxygen in the closing ten minutes. But I thought the two-pointer just after the break was huge. It was a real momentum swing there and we backed that up with a single point. When the goals came, it was a case of managing the game from there,” he remarked.
Downey also acknowledged the defensive efforts of his side, pointing to the fact they only conceded 0-7 - continuing a trend established over their previous games.
The manager also praised Shane O’Malley (a former player with Roscommon club Michael Glaveys), who stepped into the side following Conor Gibney’s injury and delivered an impressive performance on his debut for the club.”Shane has been training with us since last February and is well deserving of his place, and credit to the lads as well; there was no issue with bringing him in,” he said.
“We would have liked to have played him in the semi-final, but his transfer hadn’t come through. When Conor was out, he was the obvious choice, and in fairness to him, to put that on his shoulders today and deliver a performance that he delivered, I was delighted for him.”
Attention will now turn to the Leinster championship, where Milltown will face Offaly’s Ballinagar in the quarter-final.
“We’ll be proud to represent Westmeath. It’ll be a tough challenge, but we’ll concentrate on that now,” he said.
“After the Rose of Tralee (Caoilfhinn Ní Choiligh), the Tidy Towns (Ballinahown) and the Leinster Championship, Westmeath is on the up. So hopefully we’ll give a decent account of ourselves in that competition.”
Downey, originally from Dublin and living in Galway, has been involved in coaching in Westmeath in recent seasons, including with Killucan last year. And the Milltown manager believes the Westmeath’s success at senior level this year has helped raise standards throughout the county.
“It’s kind of a knock-on effect. I even see it with the underage in Milltown, which has been like every club in the county and even the schools as well. It’s been a big boost, and I think everybody’s riding on the crest of a wave at present,” he added.