Dessie Dolan: 'It is an anomaly. Division 3 champions should be guaranteed Sam Maguire football'
FLAWED: Westmeath manager Dessie Dolan, left, and Down manager Conor Laverty believe there is a flaw in the system in relation to who makes the Sam Maguire Cup from provincial championships. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Dessie Dolan claims that Westmeath's Division 3 title success should come with a golden ticket to the Sam Maguire Cup series.
Two goals from Jonathan Lynam and a thrilling individual display from Sam McCartan - 'one of the best performances that a Westmeath man has given in Croke Park', according to boss Dolan - secured the silverware for Westmeath.
They trailed by a point approaching the hour mark but outscored Down by 1-3 to 0-2 from there on to cap promotion with the title outright.
It's Westmeath's second big final win at Croke Park in a relatively short period having also captured the inaugural Tailteann Cup title in 2022.
But while that win came with a free pass to the Sam Maguire Cup series for the following year, there's no reward with the latest one.
Westmeath's status for this summer is still uncertain and, as things stand, only qualification for the Leinster final will guarantee they avoid the Tailteann Cup.
"There was commentary that the Division 3 (winning) team should be given priority and I totally agree with that and it's not just because we won the Division 3 title," said Dolan.
"I do think if you are in the Connacht championship and you get on the right side of the draw, and you are in a provincial championship (final), that seems absolutely ridiculous to me.
"Similarly in the Munster championship, Cork and Kerry are on one side of the draw. That seems ridiculous in two small provinces. It is an anomaly and maybe it will be fixed and certainly it would give great importance to Division 3 and the opportunity to get into the All-Ireland series would be a massive thing for the competition."
Westmeath will open their Championship account with a tie against Wicklow next Sunday in Portlaoise. If they win that Round 1 encounter, they will meet Kildare the following weekend, their fifth consecutive weekend of action.
There would still be a semi-final tie to win after that before Sam Maguire Cup qualification would be guaranteed as their league ranking may not yet be high enough.
"To be fair to the GAA, I imagine they went into this with good faith to promote the provincial championships," said Dolan. "It does appear now that it is lop-sided. If you are in Connacht or Munster, it is a bit unfair to the other provinces. I do think that tweak (is required), I would be surprised if Jarlath Burns doesn't see that it's a fair thing to do and it could be corrected."
Down are in an even more difficult situation with regards the Championship as they will probably need to beat Antrim, on April 13, and then Armagh or Fermanagh in an Ulster semi-final to avoid a third season in the Tailteann Cup.
"Probably a wee bit of a flaw in the system when you are beating teams in the league and they can still get into the Sam Maguire series," said Down manager Conor Laverty noting their Round 7 demolition of Clare who look a decent bet to reach the Munster final.
Down will kick themselves for not making life easier on themselves and collecting the Division 3 title. Like last year, when they followed up their eight-goal demolition of Laois with a subsequent Tailteann Cup final loss to Meath, they this time followed up the Clare hammering with another mediocre display.
Nine wides, a number of them poor ones, cost Down who only scored six points from play despite their huge scoring in the group. They still led by 0-11 to 1-7 following Oisin Savage's 57th minute point.
Midfielder Lynam's second goal, created by Man of the Match McCartan, came in the 60th minute and put Westmeath into a lead they held onto.
McCartan, who'd earlier kicked two points from play, made sure of the win with two late points from converted 45s.
Captain Kevin Maguire didn't feature after being withdrawn from the published lineup and Dolan was coy about the defender's fitness for the Championship opener.
"I don't know," he said when asked what the situation is. Fellow defenders Ronan Wallace and Jack Smith weren't available either though talisman forward John Heslin featured as a sub for the second weekend running following his return from injury.
It's yet another final loss for Down who haven't won a decider in the league or Championship since their 1994 All-Ireland triumph.
Pat Havern scored seven points from frees but they were well managed overall by Westmeath's makeshift defence.
Asked if Down have an issue with Croke Park, Laverty bristled at the suggestion.
"If you were here last year you would have seen us perform pretty well in the Tailteann Cup semi-final," he shot back.
: J Lynam (2-0); S McCartan (0-4, 2 45s); R Forde (0-3, 2 frees); L Loughlin (1 free), D Lynch, C Dillon (0-1 each).
: P Havern (0-7, 7 frees); L Kerr (0-3); O Murdock, M Rooney, O Savage (0-1 each).
: J Daly; D Scahill, C Drumm, J Gonoud; S McCartan, J Dolan, D Lynch; R Connellan, J Lynam; A McCormack, R O'Toole, C Dillon; L Loughlin, S Smith, R Forde.
: S Baker for Smith (45); L Dolan for Loughlin (50); M Whittaker for Dillon (54); N Harte for Gonoud (60); J Heslin for Forde (71).
: J O'Hare; R McEvoy, P Fegan, P Laverty; F McElroy, D Magill, C Doherty; P Havern, J Flynn; M Rooney, L Kerr, D Guinness; J Guinness, O Murdock, J McGovern.
: O Savage for McGovern (39); S Annett for J Guinness (44); C Francis for McElroy (54); B O'Hagan for Rooney (61); R Mason for Flynn (66).
: B Tiernan (Dublin).
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