SFC final: Tyrrellspass’s Egan hopes for ‘huge’ display

“Who would have thought after the first game that we’d be in the county final?”

This initial comment from Tyrrellspass captain Ger Egan in relation to his club’s appearance in next Sunday’s Flanagan Cup decider echoes the opinion of most observers of Westmeath club football.

The concession of five goals to St Loman’s, Mullingar had many Lake County Gaels writing off the Tidy Town’s chances of challenging for the blue riband in the club game.

Indeed, some felt they might struggle to avoid being sucked into a relegation dogfight. However, three solid wins since sees them back facing Declan Kelly’s charges again on Sunday in a ‘winner-takes-all’ decider.

Egan continued: “It’s great to be back in the final. It’s been a tough few weeks - a surreal time. We showed a lot of battling qualities in the recent games. Conceding five goals against St Loman’s could be the best thing that ever happened to us.

“You learn from your mistakes. We knew we had to tighten up at the back and I think we’ve got better as the weeks have gone on. We only conceded one goal in total in the last three games (scored by Shandonagh’s Kevin Boyle) and that’s a big bonus, obviously. We’re building off that.”

Remarkably, at the other end of the pitch, the men in sky blue and navy have failed to raise a single green flag in any of their four games. The former Westmeath captain was self-deprecating in this regard, opining: “I’d enough goal chances against Shandonagh myself to do us for the rest of the year!

“Look, we’re chipping in with points and, at the end of the day, the team with the most scores wins. We’ve got this far without shooting the lights out in any sense of the word, but we’re winning.

“I remember years when we shot the lights out, but lost when it came to battles. I’d rather be in the situation we are now than in years gone by.”

St Loman’s, Mullingar have inflicted three defeats on next weekend’s opponents in county finals since 2013 during an unprecedented period of success for the Delvin Road outfit.

Egan added: “They are going to be hot favourites, everybody knows that, and rightly so. We’ve lost three from three finals against them and that will definitely favour them. But you know never know what will happen on the day of a final.

“We’ll do everything we can to put a performance together, but it’s going to take a huge performance to beat them. It’s as simple as that.”

The underdogs’ skipper is hoping for some sort of big match atmosphere despite the well-documented Covid-19 restrictions.

“Having some supporters there will add a bit to the atmosphere, even it is only 200. The walls will probably be used also, and we’ll get a few more there,” he stated.

“It’s been a strange year, but the lads have got used to it. They are just happy to be playing matches. The final day will bring its own atmosphere, there’s so much at stake.”

Remarkably, despite his richly-deserved high profile in Westmeath GAA circles, Egan has yet to feature in the winners’ enclosure in a Flanagan Cup decider.

When asked if this disappointing statistic will change next Sunday afternoon, he responded: “Please God, we’ll get there. We are going to put in a huge effort. If it’s us getting over the line, that would be brilliant. If it isn’t, there will be another year.

“Look, we’ll give it everything we can. That’s all we can do.”

– Gerry Buckley