'We can have no complaints' admits disappointed McKinley

Westmeath’s U20 footballers were second best, overall, to a Kildare side which showed greater intent when the teams clashed in the rescheduled Leinster U20 football quarter-final at TEG Cusack Park on Thursday evening.

On a lovely sunny evening, a strong breeze blew into the Dunnes Stores end of the ground, favouring Kildare in the first half. That was a factor, but there was no escaping the reality that Kildare brought more intensity to the table.

At one stage, the Lilywhites led by 14 points (1-12 to 0-1) and, wind or no wind, Westmeath's prospects of overturning such a deficit looked highly improbable, and so it proved. Westmeath did extremely well to cut the deficit to three points (1-16 to 2-10) in the second half, after goals from Cillian Rochford and Donnacha Maguire - allied to some fine two-pointers from Will Scahill and Matthew Thornton - but they had left themselves with the proverbial mountain to climb.

Afterwards, manager Kenny McKinley expressed his disappointment with the overall display.

“Kildare’s start gave them a great foothold and it was very frustrating for us because we attacked often enough in the early stages but didn’t get the scores. We desperately needed the goal before half-time; we pressed hard in the midfield area and did well to win the ball back, but the chance was missed,” he observed.

McKinley was in no doubt that the level of intensity Kildare showed was a key factor, while they used the ball much more effectively.

“Our players showed great character in the second half, but when we break it down, Kildare were more efficient and we can have no complaints. We had lots of possession but gave the ball away cheaply, and you can’t do that at this level,” he noted.

“They were very dominant on the breaking ball. We were in the right position several times, but instead Kildare won the ball and we were chasing them. You don’t need stats, and it doesn’t take a mathematician to realise we lost out heavily on breaking ball, which is disappointing,” he added.

Having defeated Dublin in the previous round, the manner of Thursday's defeat will hurt, but McKinley is taking heart from the big number of quality players who will be available to Westmeath in future years. Westmeath also had to cope with a big number of injuries during this campaign, which didn’t help their cause.

“There are easily nine players missing (through injury): Conor Callaghan, Tom Bourke, Aodhán Curran, Ryan Kelly, Luke Nicholson, Liam Staunton, Dara O’Connor, and Michael Moloney and Seán Byrne from the Coláiste Mhuire side. When we consider the adversity we faced, the group of players we worked with has done phenomenal,” observed McKinley.

“Westmeath has always produced good footballers, but sometimes we don’t have the resources of the bigger counties. But there are players involved here that we will see playing senior football with Westmeath - without a shadow of doubt,” he added.