The contribution of physical trainer Tomas O Flatharta to Westmeath's historic Leinster SFC success cannot be overstated. But his involvement with the Lake County only came about after much persuading by fellow Kerryman Paidi O Se. A virtual un-known in the GAA world 18 months ago, Tomas O Flatharta emerged in 2004 as a key figure in Westmeath's capture of the Leinster SFC title for the first time. The physical trainer's arrival in the Lake County in November 2003 was in stark contrast to that of fellow Kerryman Paidi O Se a few days earlier. While O Se's appointment as Westmeath manager was one of the year's biggest sporting stories, O Flatharta slipped onto the scene almost unnoticed. Few, if any, Westmeath supporters had ever heard of the Ballsbridge-based bank official but it wasn't long before he made his presence felt. Although soft spoken, O Flatharta is a commanding presence on the training pitch and his attention to the areas of coaching, fitness and discipline contributed enormously to the midlanders' historic success. "It wasn't a bad year," the former An Ghaeltacht and Kerry underage player modestly says. "We started off by reaching the O'Byrne Cup final but then things started to go wrong for us in the league and we only held onto our Division 1 status by the skin of our teeth. "As someone who was new to the whole area of preparing an inter-county team, I was a bit anxious about our fitness going into the championship. I was concerned that we may not be able to perform. But thankfully, we gauged it perfectly and we went on to have a successful championship campaign." Due to work and other commitments, O Flatharta admits that he was reluctant to get involved with Westmeath and it was only after a dozen phone calls from Paidi O Se offering him his right hand man role that he accepted. "Paidi can be very persuasive so I couldn't refuse," he recalls. Tomas and Paidi go back over 30 years, having grown up a mere three miles apart in West Kerry. At 44, O Flatharta is five years younger but this didn't stop them from becoming good friends and as An Ghaeltacht team-mates, they regularly travelled to games together. After moving to Dublin, Tomas joined Stillorgan-based outfit Kilmacud Crokes and was a substitute on the Tommy Lyons-trained team which won the All-Ireland club title in 1995. He had been strongly linked with the Dublin minor manager's position before O Se came calling and swept him off to Westmeath. O Flatharta admits that he knew little or nothing about Westmeath football and the only players he was aware of were Ger Heavin and Dessie Dolan. However, he was conscious of the fact that the midlanders had an impressive underage pedigree and looked forward to the challenge of making players who had savoured All-Ireland success at minor and under 21 level realise their potential at the highest level. From day one, it was patently obvious to his fellow selectors Paddy Collins and John Cooney, the Westmeath players and the handful of supporters who regularly attended training, that Tomas meant business. A fit and imposing figure, his voice resonated around Ballinagore and the players responded well to his promptings. After viewing one of O Flathara's first training sessions, one local - who had experience of training a number of club teams - headed for the bookies the next day to place a sizeable bet on Westmeath to win the Leinster championship. At the time, you could get generous odds of 20/1 on Paidi O Se's men to achieve such a feat, so there is little doubt that the individual in question had a smile as broad as Lough Ennell when he collected his winnings on July 24! 2004 began promisingly for Westmeath who recorded wins over Louth, Kildare and Carlow to reach the O'Byrne Cup final. However, after suffering another narrow defeat to old rivals Meath before a record crowd of nearly 15,000 in Mullingar, Westmeath's season took a turn for the worse and they needed a last-gasp victory over Mayo to retain their National League Division 1 status. Despite the poor results, O Flatharta never lost faith in his players. "The league was a tough period for us but, having said that, I wasn't too worried because we had no luck whatsoever," he recalls. "With the exception of the games against Fermanagh and Tyrone, I thought we played quite well but the ball wasn't running for us. If the luck had been with us, I'm sure we would have beaten Cork, Dublin and Kerry. The only game I was really disappointed with was the Tyrone game. We went up to Omagh with a defeatist attitude and we were duly beaten off the park. "But just when it looked as though we would be relegated, our luck changed in the final game against Mayo. We got a few fellas back from injury and everything seemed to take off from there." The Leinster championship proved to be a wonderful odyssey for Westmeath. A first championship win over Offaly in 55 years was followed by a first over Dublin in 37. A five-point win over surprise-packets Wexford earned them a crack at Laois in what was their first Leinster final appearance since 1949. After being caught at the finishing line the first day, many felt that Westmeath had blown their chance. But they made no mistake in the replay, winning by 0-12 to 0-10 to end 120 years of pain and misery. "It's amazing how much our luck changed after we beat Mayo in our final league match. While we were getting no luck before then, we had all the luck we could ask for in the championship. Against Offaly, Dublin and Laois when Kevin Fitzpatrick missed that late goal chance - our luck was in. "It was great for the Westmeath fans to be up in Croke Park every second Sunday to witness their team doing so well. The excitement was something else," Tomas says. Westmeath's fairytale summer was eventually ended when they suffered a surprise defeat to Derry in the All-Ireland quarter-final. Now the objective for O Se, O Flatharta and co. is to at least equal this season's achievements. "The expectations are higher this year and the element of surprise we had last year is gone," he points out. "But if we can keep our feet on the ground, put in the same effort and not take anything for granted, I can see no reason why we shouldn't be there or thereabouts again." Tweet

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