Dolan satisfied with O’Byrne Cup victory against Wexford

Westmeath football manager Dessie Dolan was satisfied with “a good display” in last Saturday’s comfortable win over Wexford, and with the opportunity to give more young players a chance to impress.

However, the injury sustained by defender Jack Smith was a dampener on the day and Dolan admitted it was “a sickener” following the O’Byrne Cup encounter.

“It’s a sickener to be honest. David Giles was getting ready to come on and Jack just ran up the pitch. The pitch is lovely here in The Downs but it’s a bit heavy. Jack played his second game of the week and I suppose it’s a lesson for me as a manager - the two games caught up with him. It is disappointing early in the season but these things happen,” Dolan said.

Dolan and his management team fielded a much stronger team that in the opening round against Louth, but Tubberclair’s Matthew Whittaker made his debut while a number of young players were given a chance to shine off the bench.

“We’re trying to give lads opportunities to play for Westmeath. It has been a good exercise this week to see other players from around the county,” Dessie said.

Dessie’s cousin James Dolan again showed his penchant for goals by raising the game’s only green flag. Indeed, a few minutes before the goal, a shot from Dolan looked very close to being over the line after crashing off the crossbar.

“He’d tell you it was over the line anyway - he wouldn’t be short of confidence! It was a great move for the goal. James timed his run well and showed great awareness and experience. The run that Jamie Gonoud made set the whole thing up, and it’s those kind of unselfish runs that you need from a team. It was good to see James pop up with a goal,” said the manager.

Shane Dempsey, a player with plenty of Westmeath experience , has returned to the inter-county fold this year. “Shane has come in with a great attitude. He has really impressed in the training trials. He has made a big sacrifice to stay around and to try and get on the panel. He has been showing extremely well in training and I think he offers something to the team,” said Dolan.

Westmeath were due to play Kildare in Kinnegad tonight (Wednesday), but the game now won’t go ahead with the Lilywhites having informed Leinster GAA that they can’t fulfil the fixture.

With Louth having secured a semi-final place in the O’Byrne Cup by virtue of their win in Newbridge last Saturday, nothing tangible would have been at stake in the Westmeath v Kildare match.

Dolan viewed the Kildare fixture as another opportunity to prepare for the first round of the Allianz Football League against Cavan on Sunday, January 29, and there is likely to be some disappointment among Westmeath fans that the game won’t take place.

“All this is looking towards the Cavan game on the 29th; I suppose that’s the main focus,” said Dolan. “The boys who played against Louth were training this morning in the Wolfhound gym and they’re all working really hard. The exercise then will be to pick a panel which won’t be easy. The young lads who came off the bench did really well and held their own. It’s a tough job I have at the minute.”

The late Colm Murray

Sporting matters were very much put into perspective early last week with the tragic death of popular Coralstown/Kinnegad footballer Colm Murray following a road traffic collision.

A minute’s silence was observed before last Saturday’s game game in memory of Colm, whose death at the age of the 20 shocked the entire county. And in the aftermath of the match, Dolan’s thoughts were very much with the Murray family.

“It’s shocking sad. I know he scored two points against Garrycastle in last year’s championship. I met his dad and we were talking about that. The GAA family goes far and wide. We saw that in Kinnegad this week, there was a massive effort by the club to support the family,” said Dolan.

“I think that’s what the GAA is all about. We’re all a big family at the end of the day.

“We’re all feeling for the Murray family, it’s been a very tough week, and we’ll try to support them as best we can,” the Westmeath manager added.

Three Coralstown/Kinnegad colleagues of Colm’s - Josh Gahan, Brían Cooney and David Giles - were introduced as subs in last Saturday’s game. Players from the club were not involved in the previous game against Louth as a mark of respect to Colm.