'We live to fight another day' - Garrycastle joint manager
Garrycastle joint manager Karl Henson was quite relieved that his side would have another chance after last Sunday's Westmeath IFC final against Milltown ended in a draw.
“I’d say both teams are ruing missed chances but, at the end of the day, neither of us are going home losers today. We both have a second chance at it. Conditions were tough, it was low scoring and it was hard to get a score out there today. Hopefully Storm Ashley has left us for the next day," said Henson, who is joined at the helm by Gary Dolan.
“I think in the first half when Milltown had the wind, you could see how many times they over kicked balls out over the endline. It was very hard to judge the wind. They had their homework done for the second half; they tightened up their defensive area and bottled it up, so there weren’t many opportunities to shoot.
“Both teams scored very little against the wind. I think we got five points against the wind and they might have got two. Whilst it was hard at times to play with the wind, it was a bit of a benefit," he continued.
Although more known as a hurler with Southern Gaels, Cian McCarthy was drafted into the Garrycastle starting line-up as they tried to curb Milltown's strong midfield pairing of the Murtagh brothers, Jack and Dylan.
“You have to match them in certain areas of the field. Cian is a big, tall man. He’s up and coming in the football scene as well, I know he’s a good hurler. We gave him an opportunity and I think he did alright. I think he matched the boys well in the middle of the park," said Henson.
After Milltown forged four points ahead early in the second half, the Garrycastle management made changes with Ben Donegan and Rory McGowan introduced in place of Cathal Mannion and Eoin Monaghan.
"We just wanted to get other guys in. Conditions like that suit Rory McGowan, a big, strong lad. At that stage, we could have been three points down and we just needed something different," said Henson.
Milltown had the best chance to go ahead late on when awarded a free in a scoreable position. But Ben McGauran’s free, albeit kicked against the wind, went short and was caught by Garrycastle defender Jack Donohue.
“I didn’t think it was a free in the first place. We were lucky that it dropped short. Some of the decisions might have been questionable and that was one of them, but we live to fight another day," Henson said.
Henson also felt the penalty awarded to Milltown in the first half (and scored by Daire Hynes) was a harsh decision.
“I thought it was harsh from where I was," he said. "They all got caught in the conditions and they all went for the ball. I personally couldn’t see a penalty there in adult football. I was also with the minors today out in Bunbrosna (where Garrycastle defeated The Downs in the Division 2 championship final) and you wouldn’t get a penalty for that there! We won’t pick on referees but that penalty did make a difference in a match which ended 1-6 to 0-9.
“Both teams will benefit from another week of training and maybe better conditions the next day,” Henson added.
Replay details
The Westmeath IFC final replay between Garrycastle and Milltown will take place on Monday (a bank holiday), October 28 at TEG Cusack Park (2pm). Click here for report on drawn final.