McHugh focused on building strong Westmeath squad

Westmeath senior football manager Mark McHugh was naturally pleased to secure his first competitive victory in charge on Wednesday night as his side overcame Louth in the O’Byrne Cup. Of more significance to the Donegal man was the number of players to stake an early claim for a place on the panel ahead of this year’s National Football League.

Westmeath are at home to Sligo on January 25 in round, with promotion from Division 3 a definite target.

“You'll always remember your first, is that what they say? We were very disappointed that the game (vs Longford) was called off at the weekend and we had planned for the last few weeks just to get a game, and it was a lovely day for it,” he remarked.

“But we regrouped and we were obviously short the college boys tonight after them playing tonight and last night. It gives chances for boys like Darragh O’Keeffe, 32 years of age, playing in his home club tonight. He was stalwart. We had Harry Niall and Kealan Connell making debuts; Eoghan Hogan came on. You had the boys like Tom Molloy coming back into the scene, TJ (Cox) coming back in; Jack Connaughton was in goals.

“That's what this competition and I suppose challenge matches are all about - finding a panel that we can take into the league. We need 26 fit men that are able to come on at any stage if somebody goes off.

"We know what the likes of the bigger boys in Westmeath can do. It's about finding the extra boys who will make the difference coming down the stretch. Because we struggled last year coming off the bench and we didn't finish games as strongly as we'd like.”

McHugh felt Westmeath were worthy winners on the evening, having been the more assertive team after the break and it sets up an O'Byrne Cup semi-final clash with neighbours Offaly on Saturday.

“I thought we controlled that second half very well and TJ (Cox) could have had a goal at one stage and then he could have passed the ball and we could have had another goal. And I thought we could have won the game by a lot more. But we controlled it, it was on our terms. It's just great to have another game and we can try other things again on Saturday.”

The 2012 All-Ireland winner was satisfied with eight different scorers on a tricky winter’s evening and he is clearly keen to develop more attacking options. He specifically mentioned Brandon Kelly (scorer of 1-1 on the night) who impressed for Milltownpass in this year’s intermediate championship, and Tubberclair’s Kealan Connell (0-1) who made his senior inter county debut.

“We back our forwards to be able to score. We don't want to be relying on any one man. Maybe last year we relied on Luke (Loughlin) a wee bit heavily. All our players can kick the ball over the bar. I watched the club championship, Brandon Kelly was immense in the club championship. He needs to believe that he can do that every day he goes out in the field. Kealan Connell kicked a lovely score in the first half, a young player from Tubberclair (intermediate champions last year). He was playing Freshers (Third Level College football) during the week as well,” observed McHugh.

“We're not going to clip videos on a Saturday about kicking a wide if it's a right shot. We're not going to highlight that. That's the shot we want to see. It doesn't matter who you are and who you're getting to put them over the bar.

"What we'll highlight is the lack of effort. Maybe if somebody doesn't sprint back to block a ball. We were blocking balls there, dying on our feet. That's easy to do: it requires nearly no skill. It just requires effort.

"I'll never give out to anybody having a shot at goals. We have eight scorers this evening - that's good. Hopefully the next day we have 9 or 10.”

Westmeath's midfield struggles have been well documented and McHugh was pleased to see Moate All Whites star Harry Niall produce an industrious performance on the evening.

"For Harry Niall, coming out and playing midfield against the Leinster champions, fair dues to him for doing that. That's invaluable," he noted.

McHugh stressed the importance of developing strength in depth for the season ahead.

"We'll prepare again for Offaly and see how that goes. We have nearly everybody we want available, which is good. It's about getting those extra wee percentages. We probably didn't finish games as well as we did last year. We need to have boys able to come off the bench and able to finish," he added.

TEG Cusack Park is set to host Saturday's Westmeath vs Offaly semi-final at 2pm, with tickets available via the following link - https://leinstergaa.ie/leinster-gaa-tickets