Conor Neville: The maligned ‘system’ due a break for one week

The traditional lethargy of the losing provincial finalist was on full display on Saturday evening.

Westmeath went down like a team who’ve been residing comfortably in bonus territory for four weeks now. After the match some of their players posed happily for selfies with distinctly non-distressed looking supporters.

For Cork, meanwhile, bonus territory isn’t even a speck on the horizon. More maligned than ever now (and that’s saying something) they haven’t got to enjoy the comfy environs of that warm no-pressure space for five years now.