Kevin Martin hopes to make Westmeath senior hurlers "a force in Leinster"

Newly installed as Westmeath's senior hurling manager, Kevin Martin met his backroom team and players last Saturday in the Hilamar Hotel in Kinnegad. Prior to this, he took time out to briefly talk to Gerry Buckley about his ambitions in the Lake County hot seat.The Offaly didn't beat around the bush when he stated: "I'm delighted to have been appointed and it's a big challenge for me. I know I'm up to the job and my ambition is to get Westmeath up to being a force in Leinster. We have to get to Division One and we have to win the Christy Ring." When queried about the massive difference between the hurling graphs of his native county and his adopted county over the past three decades, he opined: "That's why I've been appointed, to try and get Westmeath up to the standard of the likes of Offaly. I've no doubt in my mind that if the boys listen to what I want them to do and turn up for the training sessions and train hard, we can get to that level. The hurlers are there and it's a matter of gelling them together."The former All-Star is quite familiar with club hurling in Westmeath. He laughed out loud when contemplating his clash as Tullamore player-manager with Clonkill next Sunday. "It's going to be a tough one. Sure listen, club is club, it's a different story. Whatever happens happens. Clonkill are a big strong team and we'll have to give our best to beat them. We'll give it a lash and hopefully I'll run into Sean (Loughlin, a Westmeath selector) and I might give him an oul clip! We would also have played the likes of Raharney and Castletown-Geoghegan in challenges over the years. Ok, they mightn't be the Portumnas of this world, but there's always definitely four of five players who are real, real good." The double All-Ireland winner conceded that the maroon and whites' efforts in the 2009 Christy Ring Cup were bitterly disappointing. "Yes, some of the results were poor, Kildare beating them and Mayo scoring 2-20. I don't know where the defenders were that day. If you want to contest the Liam McCarthy, you have to be winning the Christy Ring. Winning Division Two and the Christy Ring is my ambition and then Croke Park will hopefully stand up and see what we're doing." He would have liked if Westmeath were in next year's Leinster championship, but was philosophical about the current scenario. "It's a time process and that's the way things are after working out. From what the boys are telling me, there are good minor teams coming along, so there has to be a foundation laid down for the younger players. We'll be looking at games here and there, especially at Under-21. They are the future of the county."With the closed season coming up, Kevin will not get many opportunities to meet his players for the remainder of the year but he was keen to stress that plans are in place to keep the squad sharp over the winter. "Padraig Lynn has his own individual schedules laid out for the lads. We will be meeting a few times before Christmas but, come January, we'll be hitting the ground running and doing some serious training. The Kehoe Cup starts in early 2010 and every game for me will be vital to get a look at players. The more games the better."The new bainisteoir is delighted to have retained many of the backroom team from his predecessor Eamonn Gallagher. "They have gained experience from last year. If we can all pull together, things will work out," Kevin Martin concluded. All Westmeath Gaels will be keeping their fingers crossed that this is very much the case.