Hurling: ‘We were a bit flat in the last ten minutes’

When it was put to Westmeath senior hurling manager Shane O’Brien after his side’s 11-point loss to Kerry last Saturday in TEG Cusack Park that his charges had put in a disappointing display, he responded: “There’s no question about that, but I think there are a lot more positives from today’s performance considering the circumstances.”

Just six days after a 19-point hammering in Belfast, the Lake County’s dreams of a third consecutive Joe McDonagh Cup final appearance are all but over, and the losing manager conceded that this was the case, stating: “We just have to keep everybody staying united and move on with what is now our pre-season, which is essentially what the next few weeks will be.

“Our approach will be to look at the remaining games (against Meath and Carlow) as preparation for Division 1 next year.”

O’Brien lauded the squad’s commitment to the cause, adding: “The resilience this group has shown over the past four or five weeks has not been publicised. It’s only in the last week that we’ve had a decent contingent back in training.

“Unfortunately, our preparation hasn’t been what it needed to be. I wouldn’t fault anyone out there. We gave it absolutely everything.”

The Dubliner, who clarified that new goalkeeper Eoin Skelly was eligible to play because his mother is from Westmeath, continued: “The sending off (of Niall O’Brien) was a huge influence on the game. A lot of people were unhappy with the referee. I’d like to see the game again because it seemed we weren’t getting the rub of the green in that regard.

“But we can have no excuses. I said to the lads, ‘we win together and we lose together’. We have nothing but praise for the effort that the lads put in. We have lost players through injury and emigration.

“It’s a big ask for other players to step up. The fitness of lads who had been injured definitely showed there in the last ten minutes. We were a bit flat and the momentum from the league (having retained Division 1 status) was lost,” he concluded.