‘We have to try and regroup’ - Westmeath hurling boss
By Gerry Buckley
When Westmeath senior hurling manager Seoirse Bulfin opened his post-match media duties in TEG Cusack Park last Sunday by stating, “it was a very difficult afternoon for us”, he can hardly be accused of having resorted to hyperbole.
In truth, his charges had just been humiliated by a rampant Waterford side, thereby sealing life in the unglamorous surrounds of Division 2 (to all intents and purposes, Division 3) for 2026.
A 31-point mauling was a sad way to copper-fasten this fate, with only pride to play for now when the side travels to Carlow next Saturday week.
The losing bainisteoir continued: “There isn’t much to be said. Not many people gave us much of a hope at the start of the league, but we felt we’d a chance to stay up. We felt we’d be there or thereabouts but, ultimately, it wasn’t to be. It’s never nice to be relegated, but that’s our lot now.
“We have to try and regroup now. We have six weeks ahead of us to get ready for the Joe McDonagh Cup and try and get back into the Leinster championship. We’re trying to bring lads back and give them game time and manage their load. We don’t want to flog lads because there is a bigger picture now.
“Waterford are a Liam MacCarthy team. The likes of Dessie Hutchinson and these lads – they are phenomenal players. We found it hard to cope with their movement, and their physicality and athleticism. Our full back line had been very good in Tullamore, but today we were playing a better standard team.
“Maybe three of their goals could have been prevented, but the top teams punish little mistakes. That’s the nature of sport. A mis-pick or whatever, they will pounce on you. Also, there probably wasn’t as much pressure on the lads delivering the ball into their full forward line as we would have liked.
"We missed maybe six frees today also. If we’d got them, you’re up on 30 points which isn’t a bad return for a game.”
He concluded as follows: “We’ve all been in dressing rooms where we’ve suffered heavy defeats, but we just have to get ourselves right for the last game against Carlow and then the Joe McDonagh Cup. The league is done for us now, unfortunately.”