Westmeath may be reigning Leinster football champions, but you'd never have guessed it judging by their performances in the recent Division 1A National League campaign. A dismal run of results saw last summer's sensations relegated with a whimper. As a result, the odds on Westmeath retaining their hard-earned provincial title have lengthened considerably with many predicting that they will struggle to get past the first round. But despite the Lake County's poor start to the year, team selector Jack Cooney remains reassuringly upbeat ahead of the Leinster championship opener against either Kildare a Wicklow. The former county star takes encouragement from the progress made by some of the new members of the panel and feels that Westmeath will not give up their title easily if they can avoid injuries. "If we have a fully fit panel to choose from come the championship, we'll be a match for anyone in Leinster," he says. "To retain the Leinster title, it's vitally important that we avoid injuries. The luck was with us last year in that regard and we're keeping our fingers crossed that it will be with us again this year. "I would have great faith in the squad of players we're working with - I thought some of the new fellas played very well in the league. Our hand was forced to a certain extent with the amount of players we lost after last year's campaign, but overall, the new lads have done well. "Between now and the start of the championship, we'll be trying to get a settled team and hopefully everything will fall into place like it did last year," he adds. Cooney admits that he was disappointed with Westmeath's National League form, insisting that the "damage was done" in the earlier rounds when points were dropped against Offaly, Cork and Dublin. "Our aim had been to win our first four games against Offaly, Donegal, Cork and Dublin which, on paper at least, were the least difficult games to win. But the first round defeat to Offaly left us in trouble straight away and, even though we came back to draw with Cork and beat Donegal, we were staring at relegation the night we lost to Dublin. "The last three games against Kerry, Tyrone and Mayo were always going to be the most difficult and that's exactly how it turned out. They're probably the top three teams in the country at the moment and we were unfortunate to come up against them when the three of them were chasing semi-final spots. "We were also unfortunate in that we had injury problems throughout the campaign. We weren't able to call on our best team at any stage. We had a terrible run of injuries towards the end and it was very hard for us to compete with so many players missing." Most football followers expect Kildare to provide the opposition for Westmeath when they begin their Leinster championship defence on May 29 at Croke Park and Jack is inclined to agree. "I'd be surprised if it isn't Kildare we're facing, but Wicklow will have something to say about that. Kildare finished the league very strongly and based on that form, they will be favourites going into the game with ourselves. "Padraig Nolan has done great work with them at both senior and under 21 level with the result that he's got a good blend of youth and experience in the squad. We'll have our work cut out to beat them, but that's the challenge we face and hopefully the lads will rise to it." As someone who wore the maroon jersey all through the 1990s, enduring dark days and false dawns as, little by little, Westmeath took steps up the football ladder, Cooney fully appreciated last year's historic success. "It was something I always dreamed of as a player and I was thrilled to be still involved in some capacity when it finally happened," the Coralstown/Kinnegad clubman says. "When I was playing for Westmeath, the aim every year was to win a Leinster championship. The players were just as ambitious in my time as they are now but it just wouldn't happen for them. "Last year, things finally happened for us and I would have to acknowledge the fantastic effort the players put in. They were asked to undergo a complete sea change in their attitudes and they responded magnificently. "Looking back on the year, I suppose the turning point was beating Mayo in our final league match to stay in Division 1. We never looked back after that." On retiring from the inter-county scene in 2000, Cooney became a selector under Luke Dempsey. When Dempsey's tenure ended in 2003, he was looking forward to slipping back into the mundaneness of domestic life. He was married with two young children and was in the process of building a new house. But when Kerry legend Paidi O Se came calling, he found it impossible to walk away. "I felt very privileged to be part of the management set-up in such a historic year for Westmeath football," he explains. "Paidi O Se immediately commanded the respect of the players and got them believing in themselves. Behind Paidi, you had 12 or 13 people carrying out the duties in a very efficient and professional manner. It was a great team effort both on and off the field." Westmeath football has come a long way in the past decade and, while the long-held ambition of winning a Leinster title has now been achieved, Cooney is eager to see things remain on an upward trajectory. "The worst thing we could do now is rest on our laurels," he warns. "Just because we've won a Leinster championship, it doesn't mean that we should stop putting in the effort. It's vital that we keep the underage coaching going, otherwise we could find ourselves back to square one very quickly. "Last year's victory should have a knock-on effect at all levels and it would be great to have a situation where every youngster in the county is out kicking a ball whenever they can. What was achieved last year has to be looked upon as a start, and not as an end to 10 years hard work started by Luke Dempsey with the minors in 1995." Despite the air of pessimism in the county at present, Cooney is confident that Westmeath will confound the doubters this summer. "I know that our supporters were disappointed with how the league panned out, but that has been put to bed and we're starting into a new competition now. The slate has been wiped clean and we're determined to go out and defend our Leinster title with pride. There will be no effort spared by anybody," he concludes. Tweet

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