Published: Wednesday, 3rd February, 2010 5:00pm

New Westmeath boss pleased with victory over Down in opener

New Westmeath senior hurling manager Kevin Martin was happy with his side's quarter-final win in the Kehoe Cup tournament on Sunday last, and is looking forward to next weekend's trip to Carlow for the semi-final.

"We're under no illusions, there's a lot of work to be done," he said at Kinnegad on Sunday, after his charges edged Down on a score of 0-18 to 0-9.

"But it's a great start for us. It was a hard fought contest; touch and go for a time. But the lads are starting to work hard and hopefully it will pay off for them."

Down stunned Westmeath with a 4-18 to 4-10 league win in Cusack Park last year, and this stinging defeat weighed heavily on the minds of the Lakesiders going into Sunday's fixture.

"They [Down] gave them a bit of clipping in Mullingar last year, and the players had some doubts in their mind going into today's game," Martin said.

"But mentally, we had them prepared."

Such preparations were all too necessary. Down have steadily improved their hurling in recent years, to the extent that in 2009, they almost knocked Antrim off their lofty perch in the Ulster senior hurling championship.

Having demolished Longford by 27 points in the first round of the Kehoe Cup, pundits fancied the Mournemen for further success in the tournament.

"Down are a good, fit, physical side, so I'm very happy with the win," the Westmeath boss continued.

"We had a slow start to the game. We trained hard on Thursday night, had a bit of a ball session on Friday night, and the lads were a bit sluggish, and took a while to warm up."

But once they did, Martin was impressed with how his charges handled their opponents, who were made to rely heavily on the output of star forward, Paul Braniff.

Martin reserved special praise for Clonkill's Andrew Mitchell, who notched up eight first half points for Westmeath, pulling them out of an early slump.

"Andrew's a terrific free-taker, and has been a staunch player for the past eleven or twelve seasons. And he's captain for the year. He drives them on, and that's what he's there for."

The Offaly man and his backroom team now look forward to an away tie against Carlow IT in Sunday's semi, where Westmeath will battle it out to face either Meath or Kildare in the Kehoe Cup final on February 14.

The Lake County's first National Hurling League Division 2 match of the Martin era takes place on the following Sunday, February 21, when they face Wexford in Mullingar.