The Downs crowned Westmeath champions with 'extra special' win
By Gerry Buckley
After last Sunday’s gripping victory in the Flanagan Cup decider, The Downs manager Dermot Power traced the club’s 11th Westmeath senior title all the way back to their galling loss to St Loman’s, Mullingar 12 months ago.
“We started this journey in December. We came from a position of hurt having lost last year’s final on penalties in a replay. That went very deep with us and we had to build on that," said Power.
"Over the course of the year, we didn’t really have to spend much time thinking about where we wanted to be. Getting through the group stages, getting to the semi-final and final – there were all blocks on the way. But that hurt and hunger never left us,” he continued after his side's 4-12 to 1-15 win over Coralstown/Kinnegad.
He sportingly lauded the losing finalists, saying: “Coralstown/Kinnegad are a serious outfit. When we played them in the first round, it was a relatively easy win for us, but we knew the players they had to come back with. We expected that level that they brought today.
"We’re just delighted with the result. There’s something extra special about winning a game like that in those conditions where you have to dig deep. It was a 17-year gap when we won in 2022, and we didn’t do very well the next year. This is special because of last year’s result.”
He was asked about the four goals the new champions had scored, and he agreed they were vital. “People always say, ‘goals will win you matches’, and they did today with four different scorers.” Ironically, at this stage, the mercurial Luke Loughlin walked by and he was jovially reminded that he hadn’t got one of the goals to great laughter all round!
As for the upcoming Leinster club championship, in which The Downs face Offaly champions Tullamore on Sunday, November 16, Power said: "We’ll deal with that later in the week. We’ll enjoy the moment for what it is and we’ll look forward to whatever stage we are on next.”
Coralstown/Kinnegad manager Jack Cooney was forthright and magnanimous when he spoke to the local media. He stated at the outset: “Our lads showed a huge honesty. The effort was excellent today. It was brilliant right down to the final whistle. We’re not a million miles away. We’ve been consistent over the last number of years and this is our second county final in three years. We’ve proven that we can fight our way into these positions, and now we just need to learn how to win these games. Maybe one comes before the other.”
The former Westmeath bainisteoir continued: “The Downs’ goals were momentum-killers for us. We’d bounce back and get the scoreboard ticking for us, and then they’d hit us with another sucker punch. I think they scored 3-3 from turnovers. We know how much The Downs hurt teams on turnovers and they did it again today. We’ve only a small little bit to go, but that small little bit requires so much hard work.
"The Downs are probably three years ahead of us in terms of their development and their age profile. If we don’t lose heart and lose sight of what we’re after, today will be a massive learning for us. Our supporters were genuinely proud of the effort from the players in really woeful conditions. There’s a huge satisfaction in that.”
Reflecting on the campaign as a whole and their brush with demotion to section ‘B’, Cooney concluded: “We were pulled and dragged and stretched all over the place in the round robin, but we managed to come out on the right sight of the results. There are an awful lot of the jigsaw pieces on the table now. It’s a matter of us putting those pieces together to finish the jigsaw. We have a young team and the key in all of this is not to lose sight of the vision and the purpose. I wouldn’t be taken anything away from The Downs. They have been magnificent all year, but we hope to be back next year better and stronger.”