Hanley says hurlers are in a 'happy place' despite Walsh Shield defeat

Far from being disillusioned after his troops were well beaten by Carlow in the Walsh Shield final last Sunday, Westmeath senior hurling manager Brian Hanley was actually quite upbeat, stating: “We are going to continue doing what we’ve been doing. We have a lot of players to add to that today. We’re in a very happy place, it’s no different from last week. We won’t be judging this, as today was irrelevant.”

The Athenry man continued: “It was another challenge game really today. It’ll be a long campaign and you don’t want to show your hand down here too much as we’re going to be back here for the league (on March 23) and, while there’s no God-given right, these two teams will probably be in the league final, if right is right. However, there’s a lot of hurling to be done before that and our focus is on London (on February 16).”

When asked what positives he had taken out of the defeat, Hanley responded with his tongue firmly in cheek: “We turned up on time, we came out on time and we warmed up very well,” adding on a more serious note, “Brendan Doyle did well on his debut and Niall Leonard did fairly well up in the forwards.”

The light-hearted mood changed when he said: “I was disappointed with our indiscipline. Three or four times today the ball was brought forward and we let in a silly goal, which was a basic error.”

Conditions were very difficult for hurling, particularly in a hailstone-laden first half when the home team had wind advantage. Accordingly, Hanley had sympathy for his side: “That first 25 minutes was horrendous for any team to be defending in. It was like a game of backs and forwards.

“We didn’t score our first point from play till the 32nd minute of the second half and that’ll tell you everything. Listen, we are where we are and Carlow are that far ahead of us at the moment.”