Brian Hanley believes Westmeath let a glorious opportunity to beat Antrim in the Leinster SHC for a second year in succession slip at Cusack Park yesterday.

The Lakemen were in the driving seat when Derek McNicholas had his penalty deflected over for a point early in the second half. Within minutes, Neil McManus hammered home a penalty at the other end for the Saffrons who went on to register a flattering eight-point victory.

"Yes, it (the missed penalty) was a big swing because we had Antrim holding on by their shirt-tails at that stage," the Westmeath boss said.

"To go seven points up would have been huge, we'd have definitely driven on. That's the way hurling is.

"We can take a lot of positives from this year. We put ourselves in a position to win that game and that's all we can ask." Tweet

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