Westmeath won’t silence the critics ’till they take big scalp

TWO years ago, when the qualifier competition was introduced to the Bank of Ireland SFC, Westmeath won the admiration of followers nationwide with a string of impressive performances, which all but earned them an All-Ireland semi-final appearance.

But that hard-earned profile dipped subsequently as a consequence of a poor League campaign and a devastating loss of form last summer.

Mighty Meath, who did most to frustrate their championship ambitions, stand in their way again tomorrow and popular manager Luke Dempsey recognises that his team won't silence their critics until they take a big scalp. Three times in the 2001 campaign they came up against the Royal county and three times, Seán Boylan's team survived. A draw was the best that Westmeath had to show for the trilogy.

And 12 months ago, they again suffered at the hands of Boylan and company. It is not surprising then that Dempsey, even with the NFL Division Two title safely stowed, is taking nothing for granted.

Outstanding full-back David Mitchell is recovering from a broken leg; replacement Damien Gavin missed training as a result of twisting his knee, but is certain to play and two of the more experienced campaigners, Michael Ennis and Paul Conway are only just back after injury, while wing-back David Kilmartin dislocated his collar bone in a weekend challenge against Down, which will keep him out of most of the next two months.

Dempsey does not need to be reminded of the wonderful summer of 2001.

Equally, he appreciates why many people in Westmeath still have doubts about their ability to compete at the highest level after the subsequent

tumble.

"We had an abysmal league run, and apart from picking ourselves up and beating Carlow and Antrim in the championship, our performances against Meath and Fermanagh were very poor," he says.

What helped change things around was the addition of new players and a renewal of the spirit which had sustained them through the 2001 season. "The players could have been still deflated. That's what I'm delighted about, that they picked themselves up and got promoted again the only county that was relegated and to come back up. And, then to go on and beat Limerick in a great match in Croke Park was terrific."

Another factor in the renaissance was the arrival of Johnny Mills, a friend of Dempseys, who became

official trainer, after working on the training programme for the past two seasons.

"The response to Johnny was fantastic and the training sessions were very good. Our performances in the O'Byrne Cup showed that the lads were right back up there, when we beat Louth and almost beat Kildare. The results weren't important, as much as the attitude which was very good. I knew the spirit was coming back right when we fought back against Leitrim in a very tough League match in Mullingar.

"People mightn't rate some of the counties in Division 2A but the likes of Antrim and Leitrim are steadily improving and that was borne out at the weekend when Antrim knocked out Cavan in the Ulster championship. We went up to Belfast and that was another turning point. We were five or six points down against Antrim, we came back, they came back at us again and we won at the end. The following weekend Antrim beat Offaly." The dramatic win over Limerick in the Division Two final provoked mixed feelings, naturally a sense of elation and pride but, concern over a lack of consistency which had been evident in earlier games.

"Near the end, Limerick were in much the same situation. But, as Liam Kearns said afterwards, that's where inexperience comes in. If one of the Limerick players had fisted the ball over the bar the sides would have been level. I watched the video of that match a couple of times since. It showed the instincts of the Limerick players that they had to go for goals, such were the good chances they created. It was a series of great saves from our players rather than missed chances which decided the game."

Limerick's win over Cork in the championship the following week didn't surprise him and, indeed, should be considered a marker for all teams clambering for a spot in the limelight. "The work we are doing here in trying to get counties up the level that's needed is phenomenal. Limerick have now done it and I feel it's only a matter of time before we take a big name. All right, we haven't done it yet, but things are steadily improving . And, with the next crop of under-21s coming up, we'd hope to do that sooner rather than later and very soon rather than very late!"

Predictably, Westmeath would have hoped for a different draw this year (they also played Carlow in the first round last year). Dempsey's initial reaction was "no, not again." for a number of reasons. "You like to pit yourself against different of counties, but it's been similar for the last three years. And, Meath had given us such a trouncing last year that the feeling was that it was going to take us a long time to pick up to that level.

"Whether we are or not will tell on Sunday, but maybe the draw next year will pit us against a different county! We did get promotion and we did win Division Two, but we were lucky in ways. At certain times in some of the matches unlike in 2001 we could have conceded three to four goals had it not been for elements of good luck and good goal-keeping. So, we are still short of being the finished article which you need to be against the likes of Meath. But, maybe on Sunday we will play for the 70 minutes. We haven't being doing that, and it's a worry.

"The spirit is there and regardless of what team we have out, it's our third year to take on Meath. We have to go out and give a better account of ourselves than last year or the sceptics in the county will be very happy and justified in their scepticism!

"People were full of hope last year, but we were knocked so flat that they are finding it hard to pick themselves up again. But they will after this game, I think!''