Within the space of a week last July, the Westmeath senior footballers went from heroes to zeroes. Supporters are still wondering how a side that looked so impressive in their destruction of Longford could look so ordinary against an albeit vastly superior Donegal seven days later. Westmeath football finds itself at a crossroads after a 2007 campaign which started very promisingly but ended in bitter disappointment. The Lake County's second round All-Ireland qualifier defeat to Donegal at Cusack Park was a bitter disappointment to fans. After a decade of unprecedented success, a major rebuilding job now looks inevitable and much time and patience will be required as Tomas O Flatharta - whose term as manager has been extended to a third season - begins what is sure to be an unenviable task. In his first year at the helm, O Flatharta surpassed all expectations by guiding Westmeath to an All-Ireland quarter-final spot. But last year's campaign wasn't as successful with the collapse to Donegal highlighting the gulf in class that now exists between Westmeath and the top teams. It also confirmed the widely-held view that Westmeath have been in steady decline since their Leinster championship winning heroics of 2004. A big concern for Westmeath fans is the county's failure to win any underage title of note since 2000 when the Leinster minor and under 21 crowns were both annexed. Sadly, the quality of footballer coming through from the underage ranks is not what it was a decade ago, and this is reflected in the fact that Francis Boyle, and David Duffy, Paul Bannon, John Connellan and Kieran Gavin were the only new talents unearthed by O Flatharta during his first two seasons at the helm. Westmeath made a brilliant start to 2007, winning their first three matches in Division 1B, but defeats in their remaining four games means that they will be competing in Division 2 of the restructured National League this spring. They played some outstanding football in the first half of the Leinster championship clash against Luke Dempsey's Longford at Pearse Park, only to suffer a dramatic second half fade-out. When Westmeath walloped Longford in their All-Ireland qualifier rematch eight weeks later, supporters began dreaming of another extended championship run, but it wasn't to be as National League champions Donegal gave the home side a footballing lesson on a night to forget in Mullingar. Following a heavy defeat to Dublin in the O'Byrne Cup, there wasn't much confidence surrounding the Westmeath team as they faced into a tough National League campaign. But they upset the odds by beating Laois 1-11 to 1-9 in their opening game at a foggy Cusack Park. Dessie Dolan's goal gave Westmeath a dream start and despite a rare mistake by Gary Connaughton which led to Brian 'Beano' McDonald replying with a similar score for Laois before half-time, the home side managed to keep their noses in front during a tense second half. Maintaining their good form, Westmeath recorded a superb 3-10 to 1-9 victory over Derry at Celtic Park one week later. In what must rank as one of the finest performances ever produced by Westmeath on their travels, Denis Glennon, Martin Flanagan and Alan Mangan scored the goals which flattened the home side. The Lake County stormed into a nine-point lead before an Enda Muldoon goal cut the deficit to four points at the break. But Mangan's second half strike put the result beyond doubt. Westmeath made it three wins from three when they accounted for Down by 0-11 to 0-9 in a hard-fought contest at Cusack Park. Tomas O Flatharta's charges led by 0-5 to 0-2 at the break after playing with the wind, but had to dig deep after the break to maintain their advantage against opponents who found themselves a man after just 20 minutes. There were signs in the win over Down that Westmeath were beginning to wobble, and the wheels came off the wagon spectacularly when they were well beaten by Louth at a sub-standard Dowdallshill venue outside Dundalk. Fifty minutes into their next game at home to Galway, Westmeath led by 0-10 to 0-8 and looked to be back on track. But the Tribesmen finished with an unanswered 1-5 to condemn the midland maroons to their second consecutive defeat. Westmeath's hopes of reaching the National League semi-finals for the first time since 1994 were dashed following an agonising 0-8 to 0-9 defeat to Kildare at Cusack Park. Despite dominating for long spells, the home side succumbed to a contentious injury-time free from John Doyle. That reversal also put paid to Westmeath's hopes of playing Division 1 football in 2008 and left them with little to play for when they travelled to Crossmaglen to face Armagh in their final league outing. By contrast, Joe Kernan's charges needed to win to avoid relegation to Division 3 and after a typically dogged display, they emerged as 2-10 to 0-12 winners. However, the game was much closer than the scoreline suggested with Armagh scoring 1-1 in injury-time. The Orchard County were 1-6 to 0-6 in front at half-time, only to be reeled in by points from Dessie Dolan, Denis Glennon and Fergal Wilson after the resumption. There was nothing to separate the sides until stoppage time when Steven McDonnell's late, late goal confirmed Armagh's win. Westmeath and Longford had the honour of getting the 2007 football championship underway in front of a live TV audience at Pearse Park on May 13. Luke Dempsey's involvement with Longford added considerable spice to this eagerly-awaited midland derby which turned out to be the proverbial game of two halves. Westmeath were rampant in the first half and aided by a fortuitous Martin Flanagan goal, led by eight points at the interval. It was difficult to see any way back for Longford, but by the end of the third quarter they had wiped out Westmeath's huge lead thanks largely to two quick-fire goals from Brian Kavanagh. The visitors were badly rattled and could nothing to stem the tide as an inspired Longford went on to record an incredible 2-13 to 1-13 victory. Longford's subsequent defeat to Laois saw them go into the first round of the All-Ireland qualifier draw along with Westmeath and amazingly, the midland rivals were paired together for a second time, with the game this time taking place in Cusack Park. Still hurting from their Pearse Park debacle, Westmeath produced a wonderful display to overwhelm Luke Dempsey's men by 0-18 to 0-9 and exact sweet revenge in the process. The early exchanges suggested that it was going to be a close contest with only two points, 0-4 to 0-2, separating the sides after a quarter of an hour. Westmeath gradually pulled away, however, with a splendid 18th minute point from Denis Glennon a sign of things to come. Brian Kavanagh hit a fine point in response, but Westmeath finished the half with five unanswered points per Fergal Wilson, Glennon and Dessie Dolan to take a 0-10 to 0-3 lead into the break. Tomas O Flatharta's charges had extended their lead to 0-13 to 0-5 when Wilson received a second yellow card for a high tackle on Longford defender Declan G Reilly. But even with the extra man, Longford could make no headway and with Glennon running riot, Westmeath were 0-17 to 0-5 to the good with under 10 minutes remaining. As many of the 6,098 attendance headed for the exits, Longford managed a few consolation scores from frees. Sub John Connellan registered Westmeath's 18th point before Kavanagh completed the scoring with a close-in free in stoppage time. Westmeath also received home advantage for their second round qualifier against Donegal on July 14. Following their destruction of Longford, Westmeath were fancied by many to upset the National League champions in their own back yard but such predictions never looked like materialising on a day when the Lake County failed abysmally to live up to expectations and were greatly flattered by the 1-13 to 1-8 scoreline. The dominance exerted by Neil Gallagher and Kevin Cassidy at midfield ensured that the home defence was always under pressure, and but for the brilliance of goalkeeper Gary Connaughton, the home side would have been on the receiving end of a severe beating. Connaughton saved a penalty from Michael Murphy inside the first minute, though the young full forward partly redeemed himself with the opening score moments later. Alan Mangan levelled and further scores from Dessie Dolan and Fergal Wilson gave Westmeath a 0-3 to 0-2 lead after nine minutes. But Donegal gradually gained the upper hand after that and with Devenney, Murphy, Kevin McMenamin, Ryan Bradley, Niall McCready and Ciaran Bonner all finding the target, they were 0-9 to 0-6 in front at the break. When Denis Glennon reduced the deficit to two points immediately after the restart, Westmeath looked set to make a real fight of it but they wouldn't score again until the 67th minute, by which time the game had long ended as a contest. A brace of frees from Devenney and McMenamin had put Donegal four clear before Devenney finally beat Connaughton in the 57th minute after Kevin Cassidy intercepted a wayward pass from sub Kieran Gavin and sent Rory Kavanagh bearing down on goal. After Ciaran Bonner was dismissed on a second yellow card seven minutes from the end, Gary Dolan fluffed a Westmeath penalty. Niall McCready also received his marching orders for a second yellow in injury-time before Martin Flanagan grabbed a consolation goal for the demoralised home side with the last kick of the game. Tomas O Flatharta conceded afterwards that Donegal were by far the better team. "They played some fantastic football and silenced a lot of their critics. We stayed with them for a while but they opened us up in the second half," the Kerry native said. "We were well in at half-time and cut the lead down to two points after the break. But they started to win all the breaks after that and their goal changed the game. It's very disappointing for us." Tweet

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