Fortune hits out at fixture congestion after derby defeat

Westmeath senior hurling manager Joe Fortune has blasted the fixtures congestion which saw the county's U20 team forced to play a Leinster championship knockout game less than 24 hours after the Joe McDonagh Cup clash against Offaly.

Despite his obvious disappointment over the defeat to Offaly, Fortune was pleased with the improvement on the below par display against Kerry and he had no complaints over the outcome.

"A huge improvement on where we were last week. Whatever it was, we just didn't play well last week (versus Kerry), we didn't show the endeavour, the heart and the fight that we have done for the three years I've been here. Last week was a massive disappointment but I have to give credit to both teams today," said Fortune afterwards.

"A lot of things went for us and against us. They lost a man in the first minute and we lost Darragh Egerton after 15 or 20 minutes. We're massively disappointed with the result.

"We had huge ambitions to get back to the Liam MacCarthy Cup straight away. There is an opportunity to get six points and we'd probably need more than that to get there (to the McDonagh Cup final).

"I asked them to restore that bit of pride in themselves and they did. That game ebbed and flowed. You have to give credit to Offaly; in the last few minutes, they got that goal and that was the real sucker punch. Killian (Doyle) had a couple of chances from 21-yard frees. Look, today does hurt but we have to move on; that's sport. We have three games left we have to go up to Ballycran (to play Down next Saturday) and I have to recharge the batteries,” he continued.

Although “massively disappointed and hurt” over the result, Fortune said "there was very little else we could have done today and I think the better team in the last few minutes won it”.

"I think it's hard to look at it properly when they game is just finished. But I wanted them to show this week that they cared. I said last week that I take the brunt of it (for the display at home to Kerry). There were a couple of things written this week that I wasn't overly happy with.

"Today there were two proud hurling counties and they went to battle and Offaly came out on top. The endeavour of our lads was far better but it's still (probably) not good enough to go further."

Indeed, Fortune is all too aware that the odds are stacked against his side; only once has a team reached the McDonagh Cup final, having lost their first two games.

"We realised that it was a huge game for both teams today, Johnny Kelly (Offaly manager) the same. Is there a chance still there? Yes, but you're depending on other people. We have three games to play and you're depending on someone having a massive result against the big two.”

Fortune then turned his intention to the issue of two important games in the space of two days. Westmeath U20 duo David O'Reilly and David Williams started the senior match, with two more (Peter Clarke and Conor Gaffney) introduced as substitutes, a day before the U20 defeat against Dublin.

"I have a huge problem with how congested this thing is for players, not for me; my job is to manage the team. I don't think it's right what is happening; I don't think the congestion is right,” said the Westmeath manager.

Fortune said the U20 players in his side were left in an invidious position with big championship games on successive days.

“It’s okay for some of the other counties not to play certain players. I can’t afford to do it; it’s for no other reason except that I want the best team to represent Westmeath.

“The lads spoke to me during the week; they want to play senior for Westmeath and they want to play for the U20s. If I could have taken them off earlier, I would have. What are we doing putting on two games within 14 or 15 hours of each other?”

“I would have loved not to play the U20s,” continued Fortune, pointing to their “big game” the next day, but added that “the quality and endeavour they brought to the game was huge”.

“I feel for the U20 players and for Kevin O’Brien (U20 manager) because you want your players as much as possible,” said the Wexford native.

Asked for his view of Darragh Egerton’s yellow card, leading to his dismissal as he had received a black card earlier, Fortune said “if you hit the helmet at all, you’re going to give the referee a decision (to make)” and, overall, he felt referee Brian Keon “did a good job” on the day.

“I think Darragh is probably one of the best defenders in the country, not just in Westmeath. Losing him was massive. We also lost Robbie Greville after 20 minutes, a huge player for us as well. We lost Cormac Boyle, he was stabilising us around the middle, but Offaly lost players too.

“Egerton is such a massive player for us and he’s inconsolable in there. We spoke all week about playing on the edge and making sure to bring that edge that we didn’t bring against Kerry, but the reality is we came up short in the last few minutes,” said Fortune.

Asked about the way Offaly opened up his side defensively at times, Fortune pointed to their “serious pace around the middle of the field”, adding that Westmeath sub Peter Clarke “made a huge difference as regards pace around the middle”.

As to injury concerns, Fortune revealed that Robbie Greville went off due to a hamstring injury, while Cormac Boyle looks doubtful for the Down match. Charlie McCormack went off with “a dead leg” and regular defender Johnny Bermingham was “very sick” on the morning of the game and was replaced as a result.

“You couldn’t write the script for the last two weeks. But they (the players) will respond again as they have to; there are three games left and they are a proud group,” Fortune added.