'No trophies handed out' for beating Meath, warns Whittaker
Matthew Whittaker, the scorer of Westmeath’s opening goal during last Sunday’s impressive win over Meath, said the team was “quietly confident” going into the Leinster SFC quarter-final.
Prior to throw-in, the versatile wing back said that excitement was his “overriding feeling” with a place in the semi-finals at stake.
“We were in the perfect position coming into this game. We were the underdogs with little or no expectations amongst many that we would win,” the Tubberclair player said.
Whittaker said that Mark McHugh and his management team had prepared the “perfect game plan” in advance of the fixture and it paid dividends at Glenisk O’Connor Park.
“I believe that we have the ability to compete with the best teams in the country, so it was only a matter of time before we got over the line in a big game,” Whittaker remarked.
While a feeling of euphoria lingered in the post match dressing room, Whittaker was eager to stress that “no trophies were handed out” for beating Meath in a Leinster quarter-final.
“We’ll look to go again against Kildare and I am sure that Mark and the management team are already preparing a game plan for the semi-final,” Whittaker stated.
Reflecting on his first-half goal which set the tone for what was to come, Whittaker said he was “looking to offload” possession, but following a number of Meath challenges, he found himself in front of the goal and “thankfully, I was able to hit the net”.
“It was great to have that moment, but offensively we are looking strong at the moment and can hurt any team going forward,” Whittaker said.
The Tubberclair man stresses the need to improve on the team’s defensive capabilities ahead of the provincial semi-final on Sunday week, May 3, but was content that Meath failed to raise a green flag.
“We have been working on improving our defensive work over the last number of weeks, aiming to be better in that department. As a collective, every player ‘left it out’ on the pitch on Sunday. No matter how tired we were, we all stayed going and that shows the character of this team,” Whittaker added.