Pillar relived as Ó Flatharta rues ‘one that got away’

THE pained expression on the face of Tomás Ó Flatharta said it all.

Whichever way you describe it, Westmeath allowed victory slip through their hands in the second of the Leinster GAA football championship semi-finals in Croke Park yesterday. He knew it and so did his players.

In answer to a question, he admitted that it was “one that got away”. For his part, winning manager Paul Caffrey feared that it would be 2004 all over again — when, under the Páidí Ó Sé/Ó Flatharta management Westmeath beat them for the first time in 37 years. He had a feeling of déjà vu, he remarked, adding that with less than 10 minutes to go he was prepared for a draw. And he’d have been happy to accept it.

“I think Westmeath are one of the success stories of ‘08 and they continue to be after today’s game. We were put to the pin of our collar to get out of that game,” Caffrey said. “They got the early goal that they craved and it gave them a good foothold in the game.”

Caffrey was prepared to accept that his team’s conversion rate wasn’t up to the mark, and that 13 points won’t win the Leinster final for them. But he was loud in his praise for his players, explaining: ‘‘In terms of different things that were asked of our guys by the circumstances of the game, they showed massive steel and massive resilience in the second half to withstand the number of injuries we took and the number of changes we had to make during the course of the game.”

Saying that the management will have a “cold forensic examination” of the display later in the week, he expects that the Wexford challenge will be very different in the Leinster final.

“They have not been beaten in a competitive game, so it’s up to us as a group to come up with a plan to counteract the fantastic brand of football they are playing. I don’t think anybody could but admire what they have brought to the table so far. I thought their performance here the last day was just magnificent,” Pillar said.

Ó Flatharta felt the fact that Westmeath’s shooting “left them down a bit” was one of the stories of the game. But the good news story from a Westmeath perspective was great work-rate of his team and the intensity of their play.

“I am very proud of the way they played for each other,” he commented.

“It should either have been a draw or we should have won. We got chances and we didn’t take them. In games like this sometimes you learn from team and maybe that’s something we have to learn.”

Looking ahead to the qualifier series with optimism, he made it clear that they would be making an all-out effort to “get back on the road”.

“These lads have a lot of character, and after a few days they’ll start turning around and they’ll start preparing. There are some massive teams in the qualifiers and we would hope to be one of those again!”