Westmeath's Rory Cole in action alongside Meath's Robbie Finnegan in TEG Cusack Park on Wednesday evening.

'The lads gave us everything all year' – Vinny Cox

Minor manager pays tribute to players after defeat to Meath

After being well beaten by Meath in last Wednesday’s Seamus Heaney Cup semi-final in TEG Cusack Park, Westmeath minor football manager Vinny Cox rounded off the year with some final words of thanks.

“They are a lovely bunch of lads and they gave us everything all year. I also want to thank the clubs and the parents, and particularly, Alan Leech and the county board. The way the lads were looked after was just phenomenal. They got the best opportunities to perform all year. Westmeath are really stepping up at underage in what they are providing for the players,” the losing bainisteoir told Gerry Buckley after the match.

Reflecting on the match itself, the Rosemount clubman regretted the recent glut of underage games, opining: “It is seen as a secondary competition and, unfortunately, some of the lads had to play three games in as many days. That was tough on them, but they were victims of circumstance at this time of the year. We wouldn’t expect that from any athlete. They weren’t able to perform like they did in Longford, like the team we knew we had all year. It’s nobody’s fault, matches have to be played, but we picked up two or three injuries yesterday in a schools’ game.”

Cox concluded by lauding the Royal County team: “We were 11 points down at the break, but we got some energy at half-time. We asked the lads to give us 10/15 minutes at the start of the second half and see where that got us. They did that, but they had emptied the tank. That’s not to take away from what was a very strong Meath team who were unlucky in the championship ‘proper’.”