Wary Westmeath know the score
Yet, manager Tomás O Flatharta’s post-match comment that ‘if you were a pundit you would not give them any chance’ hardly reflects his true feelings about taking on a team they defeated in the Division 2 League final last year and ran to two points in the championship.
The problem is the circumstances are quite different from the perspective of doing so badly in the premier division and having to deal with a succession of injuries, which were added to on Sunday when centre-back Derek Heavin, midfielder John Duffy and centre-forward John Smyth (who left the venue on crutches) were all forced off.
And, while Martin Flanagan’s lack of match practice was clearly evident, on the positive side David O’Shaughnessy made an impressive return and, a little bit ahead of schedule, the team’s best known player, Dessie Dolan, made his comeback.
Dolan, who has been their leading attacker for the best part of the last decade, accepts Westmeath face a mammoth task. “It’s an ideal scenario for them. They are a team in transition and probably did not play as well as they can against Meath. If they had converted half their chances, they would have won the game comfortably.
“So, it’s only a matter of them ‘tweaking’ their shooting. They have some fantastic players. I see them as a force to be reckoned with for the All-Ireland.’’
While remaining optimistic about their prospects, he accepts this time last year Westmeath were ‘a lot more positive,’ elaborating: “it’s so hard to figure out where we are at now. The problem we had in Division One was that we were missing four or five key players in every game and that was bad for confidence going from game to game.
“The fact that we won on Sunday is after giving us all a boost and while we do realise that taking on Dublin in Croke Park is a major challenge, we’d like to think we can always put it up to them. Whether we can win or not is another thing but we’ll definitely looking forward to the game.
“There is a high percentage of injuries in the squad but you will get them in these games. Being able to turn things around so quickly is another matter. But, playing Dublin will give everybody a big incentive to be right and to be fit!’’
The management, meanwhile, will be keeping their fingers crossed that they get the injuries situation sorted out without too much delay. John Smyth could be the biggest worry, but Football Board chairman Des Maguire is optimistic that he will recover quickly. “He is a hardy boy. He hurt his back in a recent challenge against Wexford but he came back quickly,’’ he said.
