Fortune longs to get Westmeath to ‘the next level’

Leinster SHC: Dublin 0-27, Westmeath 1-16

Westmeath senior hurling manager, Joe Fortune, had mixed emotions after his side’s eight-point loss to Dublin in TEG Cusack Park last Sunday afternoon, the Wexford man proud of his team’s battling display but remaining frustrated at the failure to take a big scalp.

At the outset, the losing bainisteoir, who praised the groundsmen for the state of the pitch after a busy weekend at the venue, stated: “We knew that Dublin had won their first two games. We were right in it up to about the 55th minute and we had a goal chance towards the end which we didn’t take.

“I was very proud of the performance the lads put in, but there comes a time when performances like this are only worth so much. The group inside the dressing room are craving to get to the next level and they are working as hard as any other team.

“At some stage, we’ll need that bit of luck. I thought some of the decisions went against us in the first half. We didn’t get the rub of the green at all today to get on top. Every ball that we seemed to hit in the first 15/16 minutes against Kilkenny (in round one) seemed to go over the bar,” he added.

Fortune knows the Metropolitan hurling scene extremely well and lauded his county of domicile for their win, stating: “Hats off to Dublin, they needed to close out the game and they did. Dublin are a very good team.

“Remember they beat Wexford last weekend. They have aspirations of going to a Leinster final and even winning a Leinster title. They seemed to be able to find scores a little bit easier than we did at certain parts of the game.

“The first five wides we had were frustrating and they were not typical of what this team is capable of. Last week (a very heavy defeat in Salthill) was not an indication of where the team is. We knew we let ourselves down in that 15/20-minute spell at the start last week.

“Credit where it’s due, the lads put their bodies on the line again today. I’m proud of them every day, whether we win, lose or draw. But at some stage we’re going to have to turn this corner and put a proper victory on the board.”

Niall O’Brien’s goal on the hour mark left the home team trailing by just a goal and a shock was a distinct possibility. In this regard, the Malahide-based teacher opined: “I’m disappointed that we didn’t push on after our goal but, look, they were bringing in lads of serious quality, the likes of Mark Schutte .We had another two goal chances in the second half that we didn’t take.

“At the other end, credit to our defence for keeping them from scoring a goal. I keep saying that there’s a bit of patience needed with this project. We’ll be back in two weeks’ time to face Wexford and we’ll have Laois the week after. That’s a big one. That will be the journey for this year done.”

He concluded as follows: “I’ll make mistakes in selection and on the line, but we’re doing our best to get this Westmeath team to the next level. We’ll welcome Wexford here in two weeks. Aonghus (Clarke) and Tommy (Gallagher) are missing, and Shane Williams is only coming back from injury.

“When we lose one or two, it does impact the group.”