After a most disappointing 2005, the Westmeath senior footballers showed a welcome return to form last year by reaching the quarter-finals of the All-Ireland championship and securing promotion to Division 1 of the National League. By Randal Scally. At the outset of 2006, new Westmeath football manager Tomas O Flatharta had one very clear objective and that was to restore winning ways. And after guiding his adopted county to a third All-Ireland quarter-final appearance in five years and to league promotion, he can justifiably feel satisfied with his first year at the helm. O Flatharta was faced with a major rebuilding job after fellow West Kerryman Paidi O Se ended his involvement with the Lake County after a shockingly poor 2005. Westmeath were only a pale shadow of the team that captured a first Leinster title 12 months earlier, but last year they showed something close to the form that made 2004 such a special year. O Flatharta would be the first to admit, however, that his new charges were the benefactors of some lucky breaks in 2006 and despite their feat in reaching the last eight of the championship, are still considered by many to be a long way off challenging for All-Ireland honours. The manner of the defeat to Dublin in the All-Ireland quarter-final raised serious questions about Westmeath's ability to compete at the top level and they will certainly have a point to prove in the coming season. It was somewhat unfortunate that, on the two occasions they played in Croke Park last year in front of the live TV cameras, they produced their poorest performances of an eventful six-match championship campaign. In their first outing of the year at GAA headquarters, they were beaten 0-15 to 0-11 by midland rivals Offaly in a truly forgettable affair. On their return to Croke Park in mid-August, they offered only token resistance to a Dublin side that had won the Leinster championship in emphatic fashion. But in between, there were some real highlights, none more so than the magnificent All-Ireland qualifier win over Galway in Pearse Stadium which ranks as one of the county's greatest championship wins. Since the introduction of the All-Ireland qualifying series in 2001, Westmeath have been among the teams to benefit most from the system and they made the most of their second chance again last year, beating London, Limerick, Sligo and Galway before the collapse at the hands of the Dubs. The squad assembled by O Flatharta and his selectors Paddy Collins and Frank Mescall at the start of 2006 was notable for the number of new faces included. With the likes of Rory O'Connell, Martin Flanagan, Brian Morley, Fergal Wilson and Paul Conway no longer involved, the new management gave young players such as David Duffy, Brendan Nannery and Paul Bannon their first taste of senior inter-county action. Under 21 full back Francis O'Boyle and minor stars John Connellan and James Durkan were added to the squad as the season progressed. After beating Carlow and losing to Meath in the O'Byrne Cup, Westmeath settled down to the task of making a hasty escape from Division 2B of the National League. Without ever impressing, they chalked up four straight wins over Waterford, Tipperary, Wicklow and Antrim. They appeared to be coasting to promotion until they suffered a shock away defeat to a Sligo team that had lost their first four matches and another loss to Cavan on a miserable day in Cusack Park looked to have ruined their chances of making an immediate return to the top flight. However, against all the odds, promotion was secured after the Lake County ended Louth's unbeaten run in Drogheda and Waterford recorded a sensational victory over Cavan at Kingspan Breffni Park. Westmeath subsequently lost to Donegal by two points after a gallant performance in the Division 2 semi-final, but their main objective had been achieved. Westmeath suffered a huge setback in the lead-up to their Leinster championship opener against Offaly when talisman Dessie Dolan was ruled out with a knee injury. The Garrycastle ace could only look on from the sideline as Offaly avenged their 2004 defeat in a game they never looked like losing. Offaly sprinted into a 0-9 to 0-3 interval lead and although Westmeath got to within three points of them in the closing stages, a late Niall McNamee point sealed a deserved victory for the Faithful County. The confidence gained from achieving league promotion had been drained from Westmeath and few would have given them much chance of making progress in the All-Ireland qualifiers. But they got another lucky break when drawing London and after a far from convincing showing against the Exiles at Cusack Park, they gradually built up momentum. The London game didn't make for pretty viewing and the prospect of a humiliating defeat could not be ruled at half-time with Westmeath sitting uncomfortably on a 0-6 to 0-5 lead. But with Denis Glennon in inspirational form, a different home side emerged for the second half and their eventual winning margin was 12 points, 0-20 to 0-8. It was clear, however, that things still weren't quite right and a bad defeat to Roscommon in a Hyde Park challenge match confirmed as much. Despite Dessie Dolan's return to the starting line-up against Limerick - some six weeks ahead of schedule - Westmeath continued to stutter and looked doomed when trailing by seven points early in the second half. But following the dismissal of substitute James Davitt, the Maroons suddenly came to life. They proceeded to score eight points without reply with the last two coming from defenders Donal O'Donoghue and Michael Ennis. It was easily the Lake County's best championship win since they beat Laois after a replay to claim a historic Leinster title in 2004. A last-gasp Gary Dolan goal gave an improving Westmeath a controversial extra-time victory over Sligo in their next outing at Markievicz Park. Sligo finished the game with just 12 players, while Donal O'Donoghue also received his marching orders for the visitors. Despite the sweltering conditions, the game was played at a cracking pace and Sligo raced into a 0-4 to 0-0 lead after 16 minutes thanks to two points each from Mark Breheny and Sean Davey. Dessie Dolan eventually opened Westmeath's account in the 17th minute and followed it with a free from the left. Sligo goalkeeper Philip Greene then took centre stage by producing two brilliant saves from Denis Glennon and Dessie Dolan. At half-time, the Yeats County led by 0-6 to 0-4 but Westmeath started the second half in blistering fashion, shooting five points without reply in the first 12 minutes to open up a 0-9 to 0-6 lead. Sligo showed great character, however, to come back and level the match through points from Eamonn O'Hara, Davey, Kenneth Sweeney and Breheny. Dolan put Westmeath back in front from a free, only for McPartland to force extra-time with a superb equalizing point in the fourth minute of injury-time. Sligo's hopes suffered a major setback when O'Hara was wrongfully sent off in the first period of injury-time, but they still looked set to prevail when they went two points clear five minutes into the second period. However, Westmeath never gave up and Gary Dolan's late major gave them a dramatic 1-12 to 0-14 victory. The high point of Westmeath's year was undoubtedly their stunning 1-8 to 0-10 defeat of Galway in Salthill. Tomas O Flatharta's charges went into the game as 4/1 outsiders, but displayed tremendous resolve, determination and ambition to pull off a major shock. Favoured by a gale force wind in the first half, the onus was on Westmeath to build up a decent interval lead but they were only two points in front, 0-6 to 0-4, facing into the second period. It seemed only a matter of time before Galway would take control, but the visitors dug deep and stretched their advantage to four points courtesy of efforts from the Dolan brothers, Dessie and Gary. Galway scored the next three points to reduce the deficit to the minimum, but then came the decisive score when Dessie set up Gary for the only goal. Galway threw everything at the midlanders after that, but couldn't get back on terms as heroic displays from Damien Healy, John Keane and substitute David O'Shaughnessy kept them at bay. Westmeath's championship adventure ended in front of 80,000 spectators - at least 60,000 of which were from Dublin - at a heaving Croke Park. Tomas O Flatharta's men never got to the pace of the game and their goose was well and truly cooked by half-time when they trailed by 0-2 to 1-7. En route to winning the 2004 Leinster championship, Westmeath recorded a famous victory over the Dubs but a repeat of that result never looked like materialising after Tomas Quinn took advantage of an unfortunate slip by Francis O'Boyle after Conal Keaney's speculative effort had rebounded from the upright to fire home the only goal midway through the first half. With the Dublin midfield totally on top and Dessie Dolan being well restricted by Paul Griffin, Westmeath could only manage two scores in the opening half from John Connellan and Dolan. Westmeath's misery was added to by the fact that Dolan had a rare off-day from frees. Westmeath seemed resigned to their fate at half-time and the second half turned out to be a non-event with Dublin comfortably maintaining their advantage. Both sides were guilty of some poor finishing, particularly the Metropolitans who were foiled on more than one occasion by the ever reliable Gary Connaughton. Dublin's eventual winning margin was 10 points, 1-12 to 0-5. While 2006 ended on a bitterly disappointing note, Westmeath supporters have much to look forward to in the coming year, although supporters will need to show patience as Tomas O Flatharta and his new management team of Paul Conway and Eamonn Gallagher continue the rebuilding process. Westmeath's immediate priority will be to retain their Division 1 status and after that all the focus will be on beating Luke Dempsey's much-improved Longford in the opening round of the Leinster championship. Tweet

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