Flanagan hails players after dramatic win

WESTMEATH manager Pat Flanagan believes his team's victory over Offaly in Division 3 of the Allianz Football League, and subsequent promotion to Division 2, is just reward for the effort and commitment of his players over the last few months. The Lake County went into last Sunday's game at Cusack Park knowing that only victory over neighbours Offaly would guarantee them promotion, and after a scintillating thriller between the midland rivals, Westmeath did enough to emerge with a 0-19 to 2-11 win. In the process, Westmeath also denied Offaly a spot in Division 2 next year, as the Faithful County were also in contention for promotion going into the game. Speaking after the game, Clara native Flanagan said: "I must say there was a point earlier in the league series when very little was going right for us, but over recent weeks the effort and commitment the lads show in training has helped us improve bit by bit, and it's fantastic to come from nowhere and to win promotion to Division 2. The most important thing for me was that we improved again (from the win over Limerick), and I thought we did that against Offaly, especially during the first half. We showed some excellent inter-play, and there were some very pleasing individual performances." "I think the performance was a further sign that we're going in the right direction, and you also have to remember we have a large number of young and inexperienced lads who have come into the team and really taken to National League football. That's very encouraging for Westmeath." The Lake County enjoyed rich pickings in attack, particularly in the first half when they hit 0-12, with Paul Greville and Dessie Dolan leading the way from the inside-forward line. Dolan hit six points, and Greville five, while 18 of Westmeath's 19 points came from open play, a very satisfying statistic for Flanagan. "I think it's great to see all our forwards scoring, and when you take into consideration we had Denis Corroon chipping in with two points, it's all very encouraging. There's a bit more confidence there now. We've started moving the ball better in the last few games," said Flanagan. Having sealed promotion by finishing top of Division 3, Westmeath now go into a divisional decider against second placed Louth at Croke Park on Saturday, April 23 (7pm). The match will be preceded by the meeting of Roscommon and Longford in the Division 4 final (5pm). Flanagan said Westmeath will do everything they can to win the divisional decider, but added that the main objective at the outset of the campaign was to gain promotion. "Of course we want to win every game, and the league decider against Louth will be no different," said Flanagan. The meeting with Louth will bring back memories of the clash between the teams in last year's Leinster championship semi-final. Flanagan also scoffed at the suggestion that Westmeath will find the going very tough in next year's Division 2, and could have been better off staying put in Division 3. He said: "I don't agree with that train of thought. I've always maintained that you should aspire to play at the very highest level available to you, and I think it will be good for our younger players. They need to be challenged and we'll look forward to competing in a very strong Division 2." Next year's Division 2 will consist of Galway, Monaghan (both of whom were relegated from Division 1 last weekend), Derry, Tyrone, Meath and Kildare, as well as Louth and Westmeath. Meanwhile, it's expected Denis Glennon will be fit for the Division 3 final, after having to be replaced through injury in last weekend's win over Offaly. Glennon picked up an ankle knock early in proceedings, but managed to soldier on until the 26th minute. Flanagan said he doesn't expect the injury to keep Glennon sidelined for too long, but was more concerned by an ankle injury picked up by Francis Boyle. The Westmeath manager also confirmed there's no hope of injured duo David Duffy and Michael Ennis returning for the divisional final.