Keane gutted as Lake County players hurting after painful Dublin rout

JOHN KEANE’S body language told it all. Clearly despondent after their hammering from Dublin in the Leinster football semi-final, the Westmeath captain would have wished to be anywhere than being wheeled out to face the media. But, to his credit, he didn’t shirk from his duty and faced the music. Offering the view that he hadn’t had “a feeling like this in a long time coming”, he said: “I just want to get togged in and go home at this stage.”

His assessment of a 27-point defeat was that, individually and collectively, Westmeath let themselves down. Team manager Tomas O Flatharta conceded that it was “very hard to cope”, while a delighted Pat Gilroy acknowledged their display was “a hell of a lot better” than the performance against Meath.

“We still had a few bad misses, but I think the option-taking was better today, particularly in the first half when it was still a game,” said the Dublin boss. !

What disappointed Keane most of all was their poor start, saying that they accepted it was going to be a damage limitation exercise. “We knew they would come at us for the first 20 minutes as they always do,” he said, adding they had been confident they could withstand that and hold their own.

“I suppose we let them get too far ahead of us and then the (first) goal was a killer. It was a mistake between myself and John Smyth and that was disappointing.’

While praising his players for maximising their scoring opportunities, Gilroy accepted they were lucky with a few breaks which led to their goals, especially in the second half. And, admitting to having been particularly pleased with the finishing in the first half, he indicated that he will be looking for a further improvement against Kildare on Sunday week.

“There were things there that if we do them against the next team, it won’t be good enough. So, we have to be conscious of that and focus on being as analytical as we are of the good things as the bad,” said Gilroy.

“It’s the analysis from within the group that’s the really important thing. And we’d be fairly critical of some of the things we did today.”

Based on his viewing of the Kildare game on the internet (it wasn’t live on TV), Gilroy’s said of the Lilywhites: “They’re playing very well and they’re going to be a hard team to play.”

O Flatharta suggested that the excellence of Dublin’s early play contributed hugely to the way the game was decided: “They started off with a bang and got score after score.” In essence, they were winning “all over the field”. “They just seem to be a new team this year,’ he added. “They are very strong and work hard for each other. They are going to be there or thereabouts.’

Keane agrees, but insists that while Westmeath “slid back a bit today”, they are not as poor as they looked. “It was just one of those bad days. Dublin have had them over the years as well. Wexford had one last year,” he said.

In terms of the scope they have for improvement in the qualifiers, he says they can either “roll over and die” or come back twice as strong. “It is up to us (the players) to decide on that.”

For his part, O Flatharta is hopeful, saying that on the positive side Westmeath have always been a good qualifier team. But he knows that it is going to be difficult to pick up the pieces.