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.