Finneran praises players for never giving up

Westmeath manager Michael Finneran admitted that a bad start cost his side dearly in last Sunday’s All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to Clare.

But he was understandably proud of the way his charges battled throughout a highly entertaining encounter in Ennis which the home side won by 3-14 to 3-8.

Even Aoife Connolly's tally of 2-6 (2-4 from open play) was not enough to prevent a Westmeath defeat, with Clare having a scoring ace of their own in Fidelma Marrinan (scorer of 2-9, 2-5 from play) - see match report here

"It was a classic battle that we are disappointed to lose. We gave Clare a ten-point start and it took an incredible effort to get back into the game,” said the former St Dominic’s and Roscommon star.

“The effort we put into fighting our way back probably ate into our energy levels but, by God, did we never give up. You'd have to say overall though Clare probably deserved it on the balance of play. They have a very athletic spine to their team and they are full of strong runners.

“We felt we were in a great place at half-time to push on, but in the second half we didn't manage the game as well. Clare held the ball well but we had our chances and their keeper (Amy Lenihan) made a huge save with ten minutes to play,” he continued.

“There are fine margins at this level and today we just came up short but I'd be so proud of their efforts and I'd be very hopeful we can come back next year. They are a fantastic bunch of girls who give their all for their county," Finneran added.