Westmeath ladies aim to reach Leinster senior final

Westmeath Ladies Senior Footballers will be hoping for a winning return to the top flight, when they face Meath in the TG4 Leinster Ladies SFC semi-final on Sunday next (The Downs, Westmeath, 12noon). The Lake County side have done well to come back through the ranks in recent years with All-Ireland Intermediate success last year, along with taking Division 3 and 4 league honours in the past 14 months. It's been a whirlwind for this current side, but joint-captain and Glasson native Laura Walsh is now firmly focused on this weekend's semi-final and hopefully securing a place in the decider against either Laois or Dublin in Dr Cullen Park, Carlow on July 15. "I think the game coming up against Meath is a culmination of efforts from last year's win in the All-Ireland and again this year winning Division 3 and getting ourselves to Division 2," she said. "We are not going to underestimate Meath at all, we know what task we have ahead of us this year coming up to Senior football, but we have been going well the last few weeks. "We've had a couple of nice challenge matches and we have been learning a lot from the games we have played. "No doubt about it I'm sure we'll learn a lot about ourselves again playing Meath and hopefully whatever way the result goes, once we put in a good performance and build on it from there that's important too." Walsh says there's a great buzz around the Westmeath camp at present, after the heartbreak suffered by the side in Walsh's early years. "I think that's the beauty of the underage players that have come through at the moment that they don't know how to lose and they don't know the meaning of losing. "That's a really nice mix, especially when mixing it with the older girls like myself and a few more. "We have had the other end of the stick and it's going quite well at the moment - there is a nice balance and the enthusiasm is great." And looking back to Meath, Walsh is fully aware of the talent they have on their side. "We know ourselves from being fans of Ladies football the quality and the calibre of the player that is in the Meath side. "We have played them a few times over the last two or three years in challenge matches and we know what's ahead of us."