Back in the big time
April 30, 2011Westmeath will take their place among hurling's elite counties for the first time since 2006 this summer after capturing the Christy Ring Cup for a third time last year.
It was a case of mission accomplished for Westmeath manager Kevin Martin, for whom winning the second tier championship was the be all and end all in 2010. Coming with the carrot of three years in the Leinster and All-Ireland championships, the Christy Ring Cup took on a whole new meaning for Westmeath and, thankfully, they didn't let the opportunity pass.
The challenge now for Westmeath is to build on this success and become a competitive top tier outfit. After winning the inaugural Ring Cup in 2005, they recorded a famous win over Dublin in the Leinster championship, but still ended up back in the second tier after just one year.
In 2007, there was no promotion, but they were invited to play in the Leinster championship. However, they suffered a heavy defeat to Dublin and had been languishing in the second tier until last July when Andrew Dermody's last-gasp point gave them a dramatic 2-16 to 1-18 victory over Kerry and heralded their return to the top flight.
When asked if the Lake County can drive on from their latest Ring Cup success, Kevin Martin stressed the need for the players to make even greater sacrifices in the year ahead.
"That's up to the players," the former Offaly All-Ireland winner said.
"There is only so much you can do with them, but they will have to up their commitment again next year if they want to be competitive.
"The players are good enough if they do give the commitment. Westmeath are every bit as good as Carlow on their day, so there is no reason why Westmeath can't perform in the Liam McCarthy, so I would be very optimistic for the players if they really think about what they are going to do and put the effort in."
The Ring Cup triumph was the highlight of a successful year for the small ball code in Westmeath. The under 16 and minor teams also claimed All-Ireland 'B' titles, while both Raharney and Castletown-Geoghegan won All-Ireland Feile titles. Players from these successful underage teams can now aspire to playing in the Liam McCarthy Cup, while it seems entirely fitting that long-serving stars such as Darren McCormack, Andrew Mitchell and John Shaw will finish their inter-county careers playing at the highest level.
Appointed manager in late 2009 after guiding his native Tullamore to their first Offaly SHC title since 1964, Kevin Martin and his selectors Noel Geraghty (Castletown-Geoghegan) and Nicky Weir (Raharney) delivered early silverware in the form of the Kehoe Cup. However, the honeymoon period ended following a poor run of results in the National League which left Westmeath staring at relegation to Division 3A. But, against all the odds, they eked out wins against Antrim and Down either side of a battling display against Clare in Ennis to preserve their Division 2 status.
Martin remarked several times during the course of the season that Westmeath played better when their "backs were against the wall", and this certainly appeared to be the case. Following their strong finish to the National League, they were expected to open their Christy Ring Cup campaign against Derry at Cusack Park on May 8 with a resounding victory. But a disaster almost unfolded as Derry stormed into a 1-14 to 2-5 half-time lead and were still six points clear with seven minutes remaining. However, despite having Alan Dowdall sent off, Westmeath rallied in the closing stages and forced extra-time courtesy of Brendan Murtagh's last-gasp equalising '65.
The home side eventually got on top in the additional 20 minutes to win by 5-15 to 3-16, but the performance wasn't that of a team that designs on lifting the Ring Cup.
Westmeath's poor form continued when they went down to Kerry by 2-11 to 3-14 in Tralee - a defeat that put paid to their hopes of qualifying directly for the semi-finals.
Westmeath made the long journey south without a number of key players and they were further depleted when team captain Andrew Mitchell was forced off with an injury inside the first quarter. After the visitors had opened the scoring, Darragh O'Connell nipped in for an eighth minute goal to put the Kingdom in the driving seat and a second major from corner forward Shane Nolan just before the break made it 2-8 to 0-10 at half-time.
With the breeze behind them in the second half, Kerry extended their lead to nine points, 3-10 to 0-10, when John Mike Dooley slammed home an early goal. But Westmeath rallied with a series of converted frees from Brendan Murtagh and goals from Joe Clarke and teenage star Stephen Bardon.
That rally brought the margin down to three points, but the home side pulled clear again with a brace of points from Dooley before a missed penalty by Murtagh ended the Lake County comeback.
Westmeath couldn't afford another defeat and they showed something closer to their true form when inflicting a second defeat on Down in a matter of months at Pairc Tailteann to set up a semi-final meeting with Kildare.
Talisman Brendan Murtagh hit 0-8, while Joe Clarke and Daniel Carty also found the net as Kevin Martin's charges powered to a 2-21 to 1-18 quarter-final win. Westmeath led by 1-11 to 0-11 at half-time before weathering a Down storm at the start of the second half to run out comfortable winners.
Down settled quickly with Paul Braniff, James Coyle, Eoin Clarke and Conor Woods all on target in the opening quarter. Murtagh, Blaine Lehart and Stephen Bardon replied for Westmeath who trailed by three points before Joe Clarke levelled with an opportunist goal in the 29th minute. Murtagh, Enda Loughlin and Portumna clubman Leo Smith tagged on points to give the Lake County a 1-11 to 0-11 interval lead.
Down restored parity within a minute of the restart when Stephen Clarke finished to the net after Westmeath 'keeper Pat Burke had made a spectacular save to deny Coyle. But the maroons refused to panic and gradually pulled clear through points from Murtagh, dual star Paul Greville and Bardon before Carty sealed the deal with a well-taken goal four minutes from the end.
Westmeath returned to Navan on June 5 to face Kildare and produced arguably their finest performance of 2010 to run out 3-18 to 0-17 winners. The victory was sweet revenge for Westmeath's disastrous defeat to the Lilywhites in the National League only a few months earlier and was achieved without Paul Greville, who made his Leinster SFC debut against Wicklow the following day.
Westmeath laid the foundations for their victory in the first half when goals from full forward Blaine Lehart and Brendan Murtagh helped them to a 2-9 to 0-4 interval lead. They could even afford the luxury of 12 wides as they completely out-hurled Andy Comerford's men in those opening 35 minutes.
Kildare improved considerably in the second half, but couldn't get any closer than nine points with Andrew Dermody's goal for Westmeath 10 minutes after the restart effectively ending the game as a contest. Daniel Carty and substitute Alan Dowdall also chipped in with some fine scores.
Free-taker Martin Fitzgerald did his best to bring Kildare back into it, finishing with a personal haul of 0-9, but the Lake County were not to be denied as goalkeeper Pat Burke turned in another impressive display by saving two second half penalties from Fitzgerald and Richie Hoban, the latter coming deep into injury-time.
Westmeath travelled to Croke Park for the final on July 3 as underdogs against a rejuvenated Kerry who had beaten all before them, including the Lake County. But no strangers to Croke Park, Westmeath were a different proposition on this occasion and, aided by a couple of dubious refereeing decisions in the closing stages, they edged a thrilling contest.
Kerry were quick to settle and led by 0-4 to 0-1 after 10 minutes thanks to three frees by Darragh O'Connell and a point by Shane Nolan. They continued to hold the upper hand for much of the first half and had established a five-point lead before Daniel Carty revived Westmeath's challenge with a goal to leave Kevin Martin's charges just two points adrift, 1-7 to 0-12, at the interval.
Kerry regained a three-point lead before Paul Greville brought Westmeath level with a rousing goal in the 39th minute. There was nothing to separate the sides until midway through the half when Westmeath hit four unanswered points to lead by 2-14 to 0-16. The margin could have been wider but for the fact that Daniel Carty had a goal disallowed for a square ball infringement in the 50th minute.
But Kerry refused to throw in the towel and a Shane Brick goal, followed by a Michael Boyle point, had the sides level again with seven minutes remaining. With three minutes to go, the Kingdom thought they had scored a second goal, but referee Tony Carroll controversially disallowed it for another square ball infringement.
Mike Conway and Brendan Murtagh then traded points before an under pressure Andrew Mitchell appeared to throw the ball, rather than hand pass it. But despite Kerry's protestations, play was allowed to continue and Joe Clarke drove the ball long into the left corner where substitute Andrew Dermody collected and fired over from an acute angle to spark the Westmeath celebrations.
The Westmeath team which defeated Kerry in the Christy Ring Cup final was: Pat Burke; Adam Price, John Shaw, Eoin Price; Ronan Whelan, Andrew Mitchell (captain), Darren McCormack; Joe Clarke, Leo Smith; Stephen Bardon, Brendan Murtagh, Enda Loughlin; Paul Greville, Blaine Lehart, Daniel Carty. Subs used: Paddy Dowdall, Conor Jordan, Alan Dowdall and Andrew Dermody. Tweet
