The right Price
April 30, 2011Since making his senior inter-county debut in 2007, Eoin Price has dreamed of playing top-flight hurling. And that dream will become a reality this summer when Westmeath return to the Leinster and All-Ireland championships after a five-year absence.
Last year's Christy Ring Cup triumph, which was Westmeath's third since 2005, has earned Kevin Martin's charges a minimum three-year stint in the Liam McCarthy Cup and according to 22-year-old Price, who has become such an integral figure in the Lake County defence, they're determined to make the most of it.
"This is an opportunity to rub shoulders with hurling's elite. We want to show people what we're capable of," the Clonkill clubman enthuses.
"We're going into it with a positive attitude. We've a nice mix of youth and experience in the squad and everyone is eager to do well. It's going to be a big step-up from the Ring Cup, but we're looking forward to the challenge nonetheless and the prospect of maybe claiming one or two big scalps."
Price reveals that Westmeath's goal for 2011 is to beat Carlow in the first round of the Leinster championship and set up a glamour home tie against the reigning National League champions Galway.
"Everything is being geared towards the Carlow game. If we could get over that, it would make for a fantastic occasion in Cusack Park against Galway. It would be like 2006 all over again when Kilkenny came to Mullingar after Westmeath had beaten Dublin in the first round. It's a huge incentive for us," he says.
Price, whose brothers Adam (aged 23) and Anthony (aged 18) are also members of the county senior panel, admits it would have been nothing short of a disaster if Westmeath had failed to land the Ring Cup last year.
"If we hadn't won it last year, a lot of the older lads would have packed it in. When we previously won it in 2007, there was no promotion and fellas were disgusted about that. So when promotion was on the line last year, we had to stand up and be counted. We couldn't let the opportunity slip. Thankfully, we managed to get over the line against Kerry in the final and secure our place in the McCarthy Cup.
"The pressure is off us to a certain extent and we'll be able to enjoy our hurling more this year. The older guys like Andrew Mitchell and Darren McCormack are back for another year and we have also had an influx of players from last year's All-Ireland 'B' minor winning team, which is great to see."
Price is in no doubt what the catalyst for last year's success was.
"The last-gasp win over Down in the National League up in Portaferry," he remembers.
"We were facing relegation to Division 3 until Derek McNicholas scored a late goal to give us a crucial win. Up until then, things hadn't been going great for us, but we seemed to take off after that win. It gave us the confidence and belief to push on and win the Ring Cup.
"We played out of our skins in the games against Down and Kildare, both of which were played in Navan. We didn't play as well in the final, but we came good when it mattered most and it was great to see a young player like Andrew Dermody scoring the winning point in Croke Park of all places."
Eoin's contribution to the victory was recognised when he was named on the Christy Ring Cup 'Champion 15' team, which was announced just before Christmas. His Westmeath team-mates Joe Clarke, Andrew Mitchell and Paul Greville were similarly honoured.
"It was nice recognition to receive at the end of the season. It probably meant more to Joe and I because Andrew and Paul had won 'Champion 15' awards before. But it was a team effort and any of the lads could have got awards."
Price predicts a bright future for Westmeath hurling and takes particular encouragement from the huge strides the county has made at underage level in recent times. As well as winning the Ring Cup last year, Westmeath also claimed the All-Ireland 'B' minor and under 16 championships, while Raharney and Castletown-Geoghegan won the All-Ireland Feile na nGael Division 2 and 3 titles respectively. And earlier this year, Mullingar CBS were crowned Leinster Colleges senior hurling 'B' champions.
"The amount of work that has gone into coaching has been unbelievable," he explains.
"This work is already bearing fruit at underage level and last year was one of the county's most successful years ever in hurling. We have six or seven of last year's minor team on the senior panel now, including Tommy Doyle, Anthony (Price), Shane Fagan, Aaron Craig and Diarmuid Garvin (Eoin's second cousin). They've brought a freshness to the whole thing as well as greater competition for places, which is always important."
He continues: "I was at last year's county minor final between Clonkill and Castletown-Geoghegan, which went to a replay, and the standard was something else. It certainly bodes well for the future."
The dual player debate has gained impetus in Westmeath following the decisions of Conor Jordan and Niall Kilcoyne to concentrate solely on football, and Brendan Murtagh and Paul Greville to combine both codes. While stressing that players are entitled to choose whatever sport they wish, Price admits it's not a good sign to see the county hurlers lose some of their top performers to football.
"We're the big losers in all of this. Our resources are a lot smaller than the footballers and we can't afford to lose anyone. Conor Jordan and Niall Kilcoyne would be huge additions to the hurling squad, as would Francis Boyle and Alan Giles, but they've made their decision to play for the footballers and you have to respect that.
"In fairness to Brendan Murtagh and Paul Greville, they've stuck with the hurlers, but it must be very difficult for them to juggle both codes, especially with the amount of games they are expected to play."
An All-Ireland club intermediate medallist with Clonkill in 2008, Price has a big inter-county future ahead of him and is determined to help Westmeath reach new heights in the year ahead.
"It's all about improving and trying to get up the next level. We won silverware last year and it's important to drive things on and not rest on our laurels. We can only benefit from playing better teams in the McCarthy Cup," he concludes on a positive note. Tweet
