Six of the best well deserved for our Tailteann Cup heroes

The Gerry Buckley Column

Yours truly is going through a rare period of successful predicting of the outcomes of sports events, what with the recent black and amber double in the Westmeath Examiner Cup and Flanagan Cup finals.

I managed to get three of the last four World Cup men’s winners correct, and backed those hunches with bookmakers. The exception, Spain in 2010, were pre-tournament favourites, but I foolishly doubted their ability to win when it really counted. However, despite the advent of the rightly-criticised Qatar equivalent, a likely winner has not even crossed my mind.

As for the women’s World Cup next year, all I know is that those better up in the female game reckon that last Saturday’s draw pitted Vera Pauw’s troops in a tough group with Australia, Canada and Nigeria. More about that down the line, please God.

I suspect that some Westmeath footballers may not have been up in time to witness that women’s soccer draw, having been wined and dined in Croke Park the previous night for the inaugural Tailteann Cup team of the year awards ceremony. My predicting hat was pretty much spot on in that regard also, after naming five Lake County ‘certainties’ for inclusion, and the sixth was in a short list of ‘next in line’ were we to get six statuettes, which thankfully we did.

There is unlikely to be any cribbing nationwide about Ronan O’Toole being named as player of the competition, the mercurial St Loman’s, Mullingar attacker excelling throughout Westmeath’s four-game odyssey, particularly when most needed in a comfortable penultimate round win against Offaly and a tight decider against Cavan.

So let us salute the aforementioned O’Toole, together with Jack Smith, Kevin Maguire, Ronan Wallace, Sam McCartan and John Heslin. Given that the latter duo, together with the overall award-winner, all don the Mullingar Blues’ colours, it makes The Downs’ win last Sunday week all the more meritorious. Lar Wall’s charges now face St Mary’s, Ardee in a Leinster quarter-final on Sunday week in TEG Cusack Park.

The word on the ground is that Luke Loughlin and co – he must have been close in the voting also – are taking the competition seriously. Their opening round exits when last the Westmeath standard-bearers in 2003 and 2005 were quite tame. Ironically, both defeats were at the hands of Louth kingpins. Conversely, yours truly vividly recalls a wonderful run by Dom Murtagh and co in 1972/73 all the way to a provincial final, albeit the famed St Vincent’s proved much too strong in Navan in a one-sided decider.

In addition to Loughlin, Lorcan Dolan will have had a lot of support for a corner forward slot. Similarly, Jamie Gonoud in defence and Ray Connellan in midfield. Unfortunately, the best days of three wonderful Lake County servants, James Dolan, Ger Egan and Kieran Martin, are behind them, but who will ever forget the latter’s sensational decisive goal against the Breffni men? The triumvirate are sure to feature for another while under Dessie Dolan, their experience invaluable as the Garrycastle maestro dips his toes into inter-county management.

And lest we forget it, another Westmeath player was honoured in recent days, Paddy Lynam from St Oliver Plunkett’s having helped out his fellow-county man, Adrian Moran, by playing for Longford in the Nickey Rackard Cup. Lynam was deservedly named on a combined Ring/Rackard selection.

Our history-making footballers are off next weekend on a thoroughly deserved trip to Cancun, together with members of the hard-working backroom team and partners. Winning the new tier two competition carried this great bonus for hitherto-ignored players. Westmeath will not be defending their title next year with bigger fish to fry in the Sam Maguire Cup proper. When minds and bodies settle down after the team holiday, attention will quickly turn to 2023, a need to get out of Division 3 (far from a simple task), and the Delaney Cup and Sam itself. It would be great if Westmeath never played tier two summer football again.

A Downs’ legend amused me last weekend in their resplendent grounds when we discussed the hunger they showed in dethroning Declan Kelly’s men. He knew of a young lad who had heard that ‘hunger is good sauce’ ahead of a big underage match, and asked his mother not to feed him in the days preceding the match!

In Westmeath’s case, the Tailteann Cup should really be considered a starter ahead of the main course of Delaney and Sam next year, and for years to come, please God.

For now, however, we can only wish Jack Cooney et al well as they head off. Eat, drink and be Mexican folks!