Cooney strategy vital for Westmeath

HAD everything gone according to plan for Jack Cooney, he would be knee deep in blueprints and nappies now, not assisting Paídí Ó Sé through the Kerryman’s first footballing assignment outside his native county.

Father to a one-year old daughter and with a son on the way, Cooney also had a new house due to be built down the country when his three-year term as a selector to Luke Dempsey came to an end last autumn. It seemed a good time to walk away, all told.

Then a temporary delay on the house eased the demands on his time, leaving him with more hours to spare than he had envisaged. When Ó Sé arrived on the scene the dye was cast. The football bug is a hard one to shake, the more so when Westmeath still feel like they have unfinished business to take care of.