Westmeath bid to banish losing run in Leinster combat
Westmeath will be aiming to lay some ghosts to rest when they meet Longford in the opening round of the Leinster SFC on Sunday at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park (throw-in 3pm).
The Lake County men have endured some bitterly disappointing Leinster championship results over recent years. In 2023, Westmeath were unable to take advantage of a winning position against Louth, albeit this narrow defeat came against a Wee County side which went on to contest the next three Leinster finals, lifting the Delaney Cup last year.
The 2024 defeat to Wicklow - which came a week after a Division 3 league final win over Down at Croke Park - was an even bigger blow to digest.
Last year, Westmeath were defeated by Kildare despite playing some superb football in Newbridge. It was a night when an injury to midfielder Ray Connellan proved a key factor after the Athlone man had produced an outstanding first-half display.
Interestingly, Westmeath’s last victory in the Leinster SFC came against Longford in 2022, a quarter-final win at TEG Cusack Park on a scoreline of 3-13 to 0-14. A lot has changed since then and Longford, who contested the recent Division 4 league final against Carlow, will relish the tag of underdogs on Sunday.
Longford eventually lost that final at Croke Park after extra-time, but gained promotion and showed real grit to push Carlow all the way. They will bring a similar spirit on their home turf next Sunday.
Sunday’s game is Mark McHugh’s first championship assignment in charge of Westmeath and it’s a crucial test in the team’s development.
Having failed to win promotion from Division 3 after that agonising last round defeat to Wexford - who scored a goal with the last kick of the match - Westmeath must regroup and focus on the challenge of trying to overcome their midland neighbours in Sunday’s big derby clash.
In that regard, recovering from the disappointment of the league defeat in Wexford has been key to Westmeath’s preparations. Mark McHugh’s men registered 1-26 against Fermanagh, 4-21 against Limerick and 2-19 against Clare in a largely positive Division 3 campaign, but the concession of goals at vital stages always seemed to pose a problem.
“We have to look at all the goals we are conceding. We have to stop leaking goals all the time,” said McHugh following his side’s 4-21 to 3-8 victory over Limerick in the league, and that reaction could easily sum up the entire campaign. Whether they have had enough time to solve the problem remains to be seen.
McHugh was quick to put the Wexford setback behind the team and insisted Westmeath had planned for two different competitions since the start of the season. “We’ve split the year into two competitions anyway. We obviously wanted a better result out of this competition (the NFL), but ultimately it just hasn’t gone our way.”
An All-Ireland winner with Donegal, McHugh is in his first year at the helm, having taken over when Cavan’s Dermot McCabe departed at the end of last season.
“There are two more championships – the Leinster Championship gives us that opportunity to get into the All-Ireland series by getting to the final. That’s what we have to aim towards now, and there’s a lot of football to be played,” he said in the aftermath of the defeat to Wexford.
Both counties will play Division 3 football next year and, on that basis, Longford will feel they have every chance of making this a seriously competitive clash.
The winners of Sunday’s clash will face recently crowned Division 2 league champions Meath in the Leinster quarter-finals on Sunday, April 19.