'We really didn’t turn up today' – Jody Murray

“I’m disappointed with the result and very disappointed with the display. We really didn’t turn up today.”

This opening post-match salvo from Westmeath U20 hurling manager Jody Murray left the media present in no doubt as what the Castlepollard man felt after a two-goal defeat at the hands of Kildare in Hawkfield last Sunday afternoon.

Defeat has left Westmeath facing Antrim in a Tier 2 competition, a blow in terms of progress. Instead of a big game against Kilkenny, it's a clash with the Saffrons at Castletown Geoghegan on Easter Saturday (2pm).

Murray continued: “They got two soft goals after we had come back into it. Once they got those two goals, that was it, game over.

"We were nine points down at half-time, but that wind was probably worth four or five points to any team. We had a few bad wides in the first half. That left us a bit much to do at half-time. We had enough of ball in the first 15 minutes of the first half when I felt we were all over them. We had a world of ball but we didn’t convert it. We let the game get away from us in the second quarter.”

Looking ahead, the losing bainisteoir added: “We have Antrim at home next Saturday. We are in a group now with Antrim, Carlow and Kerry, and there’s a final in it. Look, we really wanted to win today and play Kilkenny, but we just didn’t perform today. That’s very disappointing as a lot of work went into the team over the past 12 weeks. The preparation had been good with a great turnout at training.”

“We just have to put our heads together during the week and see what went wrong,” he concluded.