'We will need to be at our very best’
By Gerry Buckley
There are very few certainties in sport, or in life, but it is surely safe to assume that Ronan O’Toole is a shoo-in for a place on the soon-to-be-announced Tailteann Cup team, after producing a series of wonderful displays for Westmeath in this year’s inaugural tier two competition.
Speaking last Friday, however, the St Loman’s, Mullingar attacker was fully focused on his club’s attempt to win a second Flanagan Cup hat-trick since the Delvin Road outfit became the dominant force in Lake County football less than a decade ago.
When it was put to him that next Sunday’s opponents The Downs had been the more impressive of the two finalists in the campaign to date, he responded: “Definitely so. The Downs won all their games convincingly enough. Even the last day against Tyrrellspass when they were down to 14 men, they looked like they were in control of the game.
“They are the form team. We saw their strengths in the round robin game when they cut us open and won by 12 points. We know how strong they are, especially from that performance. Hopefully, we can put in a better performance in the final.”
And is the vital ingredient of hunger still in the Mullingar Blues’ camp? O’Toole replied: “It may be our eighth final in-a-row, but definitely there’s still hunger. Any time you go on to a pitch, you want to win.
“We all love playing football, and we want to win a three in-a-row. It’s always a great day when you win the Paddy Flanagan Cup. It would be very special to win it this year.”
This is, of course, the year when the great former player and administrator after whom the cup is named sadly passed away.
The Westmeath centre half-forward conceded that Lady Luck smiled St Loman’s way in the last two finals. “Those two deciders were coin tosses nearly. You need the luck on the day. Garrycastle will be kicking themselves that they didn’t finish it out in last year’s final.
“The previous year, John (Heslin) kicked a great free to bring it to extra-time (against Tyrrellspass). Those two matches could have gone either way. It can be down to who gets a rub of the green on the day,” he opined.
O’Toole agreed that The Downs’ ability to score goals, like the three they got in the recent semi-final against Tyrrellspass, is a source of concern in the champions’ camp.
“One of their strong points is being able to run through the middle. They have a lot of fit lads there, a lot of players who aren’t afraid to take on their man – the likes of Kevin O’Sullivan, Andrew Kilmartin, Johnny Lynam and Charlie Drumm,” he stated.
“You obviously also have Niall Mitchell and Luke Loughlin who are dangerous whenever they get their hands on the ball. It’s going to be a huge challenge for us to cope with all of them.
“Hopefully we’ll be injury-free. Injuries are a part of the game. We hope to have a full deck of cards to pick from."
And will blue and white ribbons be adorning the Flanagan Cup again next Sunday evening? O’Toole concluded: “You always have to go out with the intention that you are going to win the game. We are confident enough, but we do know that we are going to have to be at our very, very best.”