Westmeath U21 hurlers face Dublin with final place at stake

By Gerry Buckley

“None whatsoever is the answer”. I simply can’t remember why we learned this off, but it was a specific answer to some First Communion-related question from over a half century ago.

And that was the reply I gave to all and sundry who asked me what chance the Westmeath U21 hurlers had of springing a massive shock against Kilkenny two weeks ago.

As it transpired, Fr Dougal Maguire could not have given a dopier answer! Westmeath won and now face Dublin in the Leinster semi-final this evening (Wednesday) in Parnell Park (LIVE on TG4, throw-in 7.30pm).

If Westmeath can defeat the Dubs in their spiritual home, it would propel the Lake County to only its second-ever Leinster final 'proper’ (a statistic which this columnist is utterly sick of regurgitating every year).

History-making Westmeath manager, Adrian Moran, spoke to the media in Joristown last Wednesday evening when the TG4 cameras were down, highlighting the county’s magical month of May in the small ball game.

“We’re re-grouping here tonight. Look, it’s very simple we have to pick ourselves up after the Galway senior game. We have to get up and get on with the job. I don’t think there will be any issues with the lads not being psyched up for the Dublin game,” the affable Ringtown man stated at the outset.

“We spoke strongly about this the day after the Kilkenny game – it was just a quarter-final. It was fantastic to beat Kilkenny, but it was just another game. Reality sets in fairly quickly. We’re in a Leinster semi-final and we have to focus on that,” he added.

Moran and members of his backroom team travelled to Wexford to spy on their penultimate round opponents. They were suitably impressed by the metropolitans.

“Dublin are very, very physically strong - there’s no doubt about it. We have our work cut out for us to compete with their physicality. They are a well-conditioned team.

“They are very strong in the full back line and they have good midfielders who do a lot of travelling forward, and they are well able to take their scores. But we’re hoping for a good performance from our lads on the evening,” said Moran.

When I put it to the bainisteoir that my records indicate that a Westmeath side has won just once competitively against their hosts in the Donnycarney venue (the U21 footballers by 0-7 to 0-6 in 1978), he responded: “It’s not a stat that we’ll be looking at. We’ll be looking at our own performance against Kilkenny where we feel we exploited them a little bit.”

“We’ll be taking another look at the Dublin DVD during the week and driving forward from there with whatever plan we come up with. I don’t believe in such a thing as a 100 per cent settled team.

“We have no injury worries, but I want to pass on my best wishes to Fionn Dowd (Southern Gaels) who was hospitalised before the Kilkenny game. The night before a game, you could have a guy that’s sick, and you never know what’s going to come up and hit you on the morning of a game. We will have an in-depth look at our panel and see can we add more physicality for the Dublin game. There could be a bit of a surprise there somewhere.”

Moran was asked whether the seniors’ dramatic under-performance against the Tribesmen adds extra pressure on the U21s, and he replied: “The Galway game will be well out of our minds by the time we hit Parnell Park. They are a fantastic group of young lads and they have good futures ahead of them if they work hard enough.

“When I say the word 'work’, that’s what we’ll be doing next Wednesday evening. If we can get the work rate and the intensity up to the same level of the Kilkenny match, I have no doubt that we will be well in with a chance of winning the game.”

The manager concluded with the hope that a big crowd would travel from Westmeath: “It is being televised (on TG4) and it’s on a Wednesday evening which is a very tight schedule for people who are working and want to travel. But there will definitely be 25 Westmeath men there wearing jerseys! We’ll be hoping for lots of support - it’s always great to have the crowd behind you.”

Westmeath Team (U21 HC v Dublin)

Sean Maher; Alan Cox, Conor Shaw, Michael Heeney; Joe Rabbitte, Liam Varley, Robbie Gillen; Warren Casserly, Killian Doyle; Niall Mitchell, Liam Cassidy, Darragh Egerton; Jack Galvin, Ciaran Doyle, Darragh Clinton.

Subs: Conor Bracken, Darragh Quamar, Paddy Lynam, Peadar Scally, Ian Kilcoyne, Fionn Dowd, Darren Giles, Paddy Doody, Sean Flanagan.