Hurling frustrations for under 20s and seniors

After a wonderful campaign, Westmeath’s U20 hurlers bowed out of the Leinster championship following a five-point defeat by Wexford at TEG Cusack Park last Saturday. It was a frustrating day for manager Andrew Dermody, but he was proud of his side’s performance, overall.

“Our lads are a great bunch. They are incredible. You saw the effort they put in. They never died: for 70 minutes, they gave it everything. I’m very proud of them. We are all sick of getting close, but not getting over the line. There is a big win in that group. It’s just so frustrating,” he declared.

He was satisfied his side made progress this year.

“Three wins in a row in the Leinster championship isn’t something that happens too often with a Westmeath hurling team. My whole idea is to develop these young lads and make senior inter-county hurlers out of them.

“I would be very hopeful that eight or nine of those lads today will be ready when the time comes to make the step up. That’s what it’s all about – improving Westmeath hurling as a whole.”

The senior team suffered their second defeat in the Leinster championship when Dublin proved too strong at Parnell Park on Saturday evening, but it was comments by the Dublin backroom team that left a sour taste. Westmeath manager Joe Fortune took issue with some claims. “A couple of comments irked me after the game from the Dublin management that we went out to have a go at Dublin. I was very disappointed with some of the comments. Micheál (Donoghue) came to me at the end to say ‘hard luck’, but he said that we went to do one of the Dublin players,” he revealed.

“Look, I’ll give you our tactical folder for the day and there was never a dismissive comment in any way, shape or form about any Dublin player. I’m disappointed because I’ve spent 10 years here. The way to carry yourself after a game is by saying ‘hard luck’ and move on. In fairness, Dublin were the better team and they deserved their victory.”