Westmeath sure to be well tested by Carlow

WHEN the Christy Ring championship was first introduced a few years ago, along with the Nicky Rackard Cup, the idea was to give the teams in the lower divisions a real target, a prestigious title at which to aim, with the further aim of raising the standards in all those divisions.

The disdainful treatment of the Christy Ring final fixture by the GAA authorities has tarnished the first ambition, and Johnny Dooley and Jim Greene, managers of Westmeath and Carlow respectively, have both made their feelings known on that.

On the raising of standards, however, both are agreed that these two competitions are achieving their aim.

“Definitely, yes, the standards are improving,” says Dooley. “I look at the way we train, we try to get as much intensity into it as possible, try to do things at real pace, work on the touch at all times — one-touch control, ball striking, all that.

“We’ve seen a big improvement in our lads since the beginning of the year and if we can keep doing that, we can get up to the level required to compete in the Liam McCarthy.”

That means taking on the likes of Mayo, the team Carlow pipped in the semi-final.

“I was pleasantly surprised with the kind of skill Mayo showed,” says Greene, “Delighted to see that improvement in these developing counties, delighted to get the win as well!

“Mayo are a good side, no messing with these chaps, they were all good hurlers, moving the ball very well, playing a good brand of hurling. Keith Higgins (dual player) in particular is a lovely hurler, he covers an amount of ground, all over the place, and he can really hurl, a good first touch, a very good player.

“We were extremely lucky to come out of there with a win, Martin Brennan and Peter Finnerty (former Galway hurler, multiple All-Star) are doing a very good job of coaching there. We were knocking at the door in the last 10 minutes looking for a goal, hit the upright, hit the crossbar, and it came eventually, a lucky break, but at the end of normal time Mayo were ahead. Up in Castlebar, it wasn’t easy.”

Over the past two seasons, however, as evidenced by the fact that both have reached the last two Christy Ring finals, that they met in this year’s division 2 league final, Westmeath and Carlow are still the ones to catch. For Jim Greene’s men though, are Westmeath the bogey team?

“I suppose you could say that, they’ve beaten us in a couple of finals, but I wouldn’t say they’re a bogey side, just that they’re a very good team in this division.

“They’ve improved again in the last couple of years under Johnny [Dooley], he’s doing a great job with them. We’re all aspiring to do that, to improve as Westmeath have done.”

Several of those Westmeath players are now becoming well known outside their own county, the likes of Paul Greville, Darren McCormack and Andrew Mitchell.

While Carlow also have their individual stars, Jim Greene’s looking for team effort: “We have a very good backline, five of the six backs played throughout the league, including the final, so there’s only one change there. We have a strong full-back line, a very good hurling half-back line and in the forwards, Ruarí Dunbar can be a match-winner on his own.

“We’re doing nicely, moving nicely, because we’re moving as a unit, it’s not really an individual thing with us.”

Westmeath will have a real battle on their hands in Tullamore, a venue which is a perfect compromise for both counties now that they’ve been denied their big day in Croke Park.

The nod here goes to Westmeath to continue their dominance and set up a promotion/relegation playoff against Laois next week to decide who gets to play in the Liam MacCarthy next season.