Big players are not standing up vents bitterly disappointed cribbin

Just yards from where victorious Roscommon manager John Evans was exuberantly talking to RTÉ radio, Westmeath bainisteoir Tom Cribbin cut a different picture in the Cusack Park press box last Sunday evening, in the wake of the Lake County’s Allianz NFL Division 2 surrender to our neighbours to the west.

From the start of his interview, the Kildare man pulled no punches: “You need your big players to perform if you are going to deliver,” he said.

“You see young Killian Daly working so hard in defence, and poor young Shane Dempsey expected to come on and win matches for you in attack, while senior players look on. That’s just not f**kin’ on, excuse my language.

“These big players are not standing up. I don’t know why. Other lads worked so hard out there today. They put everything on the line, lads that are general, average players. They gave it everything.

“The few big lads who should be standing up, who should be leading with the chest out, they lay down. They are the ones that are killing this team. That’s the real trouble with this team. There are questions to be answered in the next few weeks.

“We might have to go on without a clatter of these players and just work purely on young lads for the future. Most of them gave everything. There are a few big players just not performing for us. I don’t know why, or what’s wrong.”

Cribbin was asked whether Senan Kilbride’s goal (his side’s second) on the hour mark was “the killer blow”. He responded briefly before reverting to his earlier theme: “Maybe, but at that stage we were chasing the game. The problem was we didn’t look threatening inside.

“We had one young lad inside who was trying his heart out, the same as he did in Cavan, but he probably can’t do it all on his own.

“John Connellan in the first half gave it everything also. We took him off at half-time because he’s not that long back. He gave me everything and was trying to do his best for the team.

“John Stapleton is probably getting used to the pace of the game at this level. David Lynch did well also.

“This was a game where we were going to learn. There is no point in playing challenge matches and thinking lads would step up to the championship.

“Young Ronan Foley, he’s not long back and I took him off hoping that some of these senior lads would stand up. They haven’t been injured. They’re fully fit, they’re flying, and you’re hoping they’ll do something.

“But they didn’t take responsibility. When there was only a few points in it and we needed to go for goals, those lads were happy to tap it over the bar. They didn’t go for the jugular when we had to go for it.

“The opposite happened with Roscommon. They went for the jugular. Our main lads didn’t. That’s it. If our big lads can’t give us a bit of inspiration, we have no choice but to move on without them.

“It’ll be a tough road doing that, but the one thing is you can build with a solid foundation. A lot of lads worked hard and took heavy blows, but we just didn’t stand up near the Roscommon goalmouth.”

When queried about Westmeath’s indiscipline occasionally leading to Roscommon frees being moved forward, Cribbin exonerated the culprits: “No, that was just honest players giving it everything. At half-time, it was still 0-6 to 0-5.

“There was a lot of pressure being put on their players and they kicked ten wides in the first half. We brought on James Dolan who is back from injury, but there was only 20 minutes in him. Everyone knows what James has to offer. He tried, he was cute and was in the right positions. But we couldn’t get that zip forward.

“There are some senior players,” and Cribbin paused and shrugged his shoulders before stating with clear exasperation, “I just don’t know.”

He continued: “We have to learn from this league campaign. I wouldn’t harp back to losing the Galway game (a draw would have kept Westmeath up). It was the last four matches which cost us. We have to find out what the real problem was behind it all.

“Whether some big players have lost their appetite, or whether they think they have a right to be on that pitch, I’m not really sure. It’s probably realistic that we are going to have to develop a young team and go forward from there.”

Briefly looking ahead to the championship, Cribbin finished by saying: “Louth won’t be easy. No games are easy. But Armagh last year went down to Division 3 and still got to an All-Ireland quarter-final.

“We have to try and turn our season around. There are tough questions to be asked. Who’s here for the battle? I’m bitterly disappointed today.”