McHugh hails Westmeath character after win over Cavan

'It took a lot of character, a lot of guts, a lot of balls,' the Donegal native said. 

Westmeath manager Mark McHugh during the game in Mullingar. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Westmeath 1-31 Cavan 3-21 

Kevin O’Sullivan was the toast of more than 11,000 delirious Westmeath fans in the capacity crowd of 12,000 in changeable weather conditions in Mullingar on Saturday evening.

The Downs man netted the match-winning goal towards the end of a pulsating 90 minutes, as the newly-crowned Leinster champions completed a remarkable hat-trick of extra-time senior football championship wins with a four-point success against their northern neighbours, Cavan.

In truth, the attempt by the men in maroon and white to win a fifth successive championship game for the first time in their history looked in big trouble when they trailed by six points (3-21 to 0-24) at half-time in extra-time as the rain made conditions tougher, with the Breffni County men urged on by manager Dermot McCabe, ironically the occupier of the home dugout just last year before moving to his native county. However, buoyed by two-pointers from Senan Baker and their inspirational captain Ronan Wallace, the home team dug deep and man of the match Brandon Kelly teed up O’Sullivan for the crucial three-pointer.

When McCabe arrived in Westmeath in the winter of 2024, he had Mark McHugh as his trusted lieutenant and the Donegal man has done an amazing job since replacing him in the bainisteoir’s bib. A second-ever Delaney Cup has guaranteed him legendary status in Lake County GAA folklore, but Saturday’s follow-up win has copper-fastened that his charges are worthy Leinster standard-bearers.

However, he admitted after the game that he had been “concerned” at the six-point deficit with 10 minutes remaining. “The lads could have said to themselves, ‘Look up at the sky, it’s pouring rain here. You know, we’ve got our Leinster medals, let’s go and celebrate tonight, or something like that,’” McHugh said. 

“But they found something. I don’t know what they found, to be honest with you. It took a lot of character, a lot of guts, a lot of balls, a lot of everything. We showed all that, but we also showed a lot of skill. That second half of extra-time, to kick the scores we kicked, the running was unbelievable.” 

The winning manager was unhappy with the early draw made for round one of the Sam Maguire Cup. “I know I didn’t really say it before, and if I lost today it would sound like sour grapes. But to have the draw away back to let Cavan have four weeks on us. Ultimately, we didn’t look at Cavan, probably until about 10 days out."

Scorers — Westmeath: B Kelly 0-6, S McCartan (2p, 2f), S Baker (1 2p), R Wallace (1 2p) 0-4 each, K O’Sullivan 1-0, J Heslin 0-3 (2f), M Whittaker, C Dillon, B Cooney (2p) 0-2 each, S Corcoran, C Drumm, R Forde, J Duncan 0-1 each.

Cavan: P Lynch (2pf, 2f) 1-4, D McVeety 1-1, T Madden (2pf, 2f), D Lovett (2 2p), C Casey (2 2p) 0-4 each, P Meade 1-0, E Shehu 0-2, R Donohoe, Conor Brady 0-1 each.

Westmeath: J Daly; D Scahill, C Drumm, C Dillon; T Baker, S Allen, M Whittaker; B Cooney, R Connellan; K O’Sullivan, S McCartan, R Wallace; S Corcoran, S Baker, B Kelly. Subs: R Forde for Corcoran (47), J Heslin for S Baker (53), J Duncan for Cooney (57), E McCabe for Allen (61), H Niall for Dillon (68), A Treanor for McCabe (start of e-t), S Baker for Whittaker (76), E McCabe for T Baker (80), I Martin for Scahill (89).

Cavan: L Brady; B Donnelly, B O’Connell, E Crowe; G Smith, Ciarán Brady, Conor Brady; J Tynan, P Meade; T Madden, R Donohoe, E Shehu; C McGovern, F O’Reilly, P Lynch. Subs: D Lovett for McGovern (h-t), C Casey for O’Reilly (48), D McVeety for B Donnelly (52), N Carolan for Crowe (58), Cormac Brady for Tynan (68), R Tobin for Shehu (start of e-t), R Brady for Carolan (start of e-t), N Carolan for Donohoe (85), P Corrigan for Ciarán Brady (85).

Ref: P Neilan (Roscommon).