Self-belief the key for 'delighted' Flanagan as valiant Westmeath escape the drop

Before a ball was kicked in Division 2 of this year's Allianz FL, Westmeath were widely tipped as relegation candidates. And when they suffered a 0-17 to 0-5 defeat to Meath, there were many who said the Lake County would go down without amassing a single league point in a division containing some notable sharks. Therefore, Pat Flanagan had just cause to be hugely satisfied with last Sunday's 1-15 to 0-10 victory over Derry - which saw Westmeath secure Division 2 status with six points. "I'm delighted for the players, they've put in some effort over the course of the year. We've lost a lot of players from last year. There's a lot of fellas here who hadn't played National League football in the past and it's brilliant for them to step up. They took criticism early on but they've turned it around now," said the Westmeath manager. By the 30th minute of last Sunday's contest, Westmeath trailed by 0-1 to 0-8, albeit playing against the wind. They outscored their opponents for the remainder by 1-14 to 0-2. How did Flanagan explain such a dramatic turnaround? "I'm not sure it was that terribly dramatic for the simple reason that we kicked five more wides than they had in the first half, so we were making the chances. It was a difficult wind to play against." Flanagan stressed the need for "composure" and "self-belief" at half-time - ingredients which he feels the team is still building. "We were struggling to get the ball forward against the wind and they were piling players back. I knew we would get the ball in a lot quicker with the wind behind our backs. And when we did and got going, there was no stopping us." Flanagan and his selectors waited until the 46th minute to make a substitution, but both players introduced on the day - Callum McCormack and James Dolan - certainly came up trumps. McCormack scored two points while Dolan notched the only goal of the game. "Callum has done it several times this year, he did it against Galway and Monaghan as well. He's a superb young player and a lad that would do whatever you'd ask him. It's a very young squad and it's great that we stay in Division 2," remarked Flanagan. "I think I did mention that if we had the pick of everyone we had last year, plus the young fellas we've brought in, that we'd be pushing for promotion. People might have a bit of a smirk on their faces when they hear that comment, but we have to start believing in Westmeath that we have people that can play at the highest level. We have to get behind them to do that. These boys feed off all that energy, whether it's positive energy or negative energy, and bring it into their game. "At half-time, it was a bit of a struggle. The boys took a heavy defeat against Kildare two weeks ago. I honestly don't believe we have enough self-belief yet, either supporters or players; we have to work on that in the coming weeks to ensure we are at our best against Louth (in the Leinster championship)," he continued. The deployment of Paul Sharry at centre half-back raised some eyebrows earlier in the campaign, but his superb performance in the pivotal position last Sunday vindicated this bold move. "I looked at the Tyrone-Kildare match and (Peter) Harte was playing centre-back and bombing up the field the whole time. We just thought about it. Paul is one of those guys who has that sort of pace and energy to cover every blade of grass that's on the pitch," explained Flanagan. "He was unfortunate not to score a goal today. He was a bit nervous about going into centre-back at the start, but we had a good chat and settled him into it, and I thought he was exceptional out there today." Following that dismal defeat to Meath, the narrow win over Galway - when Paul Bannon's late point sealed victory - was a major turning point, Flanagan reflected. "After the Meath game, we spent the next three weeks working on our self-belief and we knew that we could win our home games. I said at the start: 'let's make Cusack Park a fortress'. We didn't do it against Meath but we certainly have done it in our last three home matches. I know we only won the Galway game by a point, but that was a massive one point. You talk about a turning point of a season; that's what turned it and gave us the self-belief to go forward." Attention now turns to the Leinster SFC opener against Louth in Navan on Sunday, May 20. "It's a long time since Westmeath beat Louth, so we'll have to be at our best on that day. We've proven they can compete at this level, so let's take it another step and get over Louth," said Flanagan. The aforementioned James Dolan and Mark McCallon were the only Garrycastle players on the Westmeath panel last Sunday. Asked if he hoped more players from the All-Ireland club finalists would now join the fold, Flanagan replied: "John Gaffey and Doron (Harte) were in the dressing room as well today. At the end of the day, we're going to be trying to do our best to get the best players Westmeath have on to the pitch." "Everybody that's been involved in the league deserves an awful lot of credit; but we can't just turn around and say we're going to bring five or ten different lads in, that's not going to happen. We have a team that's on a roll, we need to keep those and maybe add one or two to it," added the Clara native.