Westmeath ladies to have home advantage for Leinster final

Browne praises his side's resolve after fine win over Wexford

The Leinster ladies Intermediate Football Final between Westmeath and Laois has been confirmed for TEG Cusack Park on Sunday May 18.

It’s part of a double-header at Westmeath GAA Headquarters on the day, with the Junior decider involving Lough and Carlow/Longford throwing in at 2pm.

Westmeath ensured their place in the final with victory over Wexford last weekend.

Westmeath manager Frank Browne was full of praise for his players after they edged out the Slaneysiders by a single point in a pulsating semi-final in Moynihan Park, Ballynacargy. The Lake County held on for a 0-16 to 2-9 victory to book their place in the provincial decider where they will face Laois.

“It’s all about the win,” Browne said afterwards. “We were 6-4 at half-time after playing against the breeze and we thought we were in a great position. We conceded a sucker-punch goal but we were resilient. I think really what helped us was our fitness levels.”

In a game that swung dramatically in the second half, Westmeath’s physical conditioning and composure down the stretch proved crucial. “We talked about our fitness coming into the game with 10 minutes to go. And at that stage we were a point down and suddenly we just kicked on, we found the space. Wexford had to come out and come at us a little bit and that left gaps then for our power runners. Lucy McCartan, Anna Jones – our distribution of the ball into the space was absolutely exemplary.”

But it wasn’t without drama. “Being realistic about it, the goal in the last kick there kind of put our heart in our mouth. We could have had two goals - could have, should have, would have - but sure, win by a point, or win by 20, we’re still in the Leinster Final.”

The contributions of Westmeath’s attacking defenders also drew admiration from the manager. “Just amazing,” Browne said of the performance of the half-back line. “That’s coming from deep, it's very hard to defend against that. Particularly when you're leaving space behind for our players to run into.

“I thought Susanna Buckley out on the wing in the second half as well there. She was in the outlet. They put pressure on our kick-out so they identified it as a fair play to them. They worked really hard, but I thought our distribution and our scoring efficiency – I haven't seen a number on our scoring efficiency yet – but I know at half-time we were 75% so I'd imagine we're well up into the 60s there. We didn't seem to hit a lot of wides, which is something we've worked on as well.”

Reflecting on the team’s journey since their last championship outing, Browne made a striking point.

“We've been 308 days waiting for this. That’s 4,620 hours I can tell you exactly, because since Enniscorthy, when we were beaten in an All-Ireland quarter-final and we were hurt – we were badly hurt. We had a tough league campaign. But people started to doubt our character and we've always said it.

“Whatever else you doubt about these people, never doubt their character, never doubt their resilience and never doubt how much they want to wear a Westmeath jersey – and it came out today.”

Among the standout performers was Anna Jones, who nailed five frees into the wind in the first half. Her excellence, Browne said, was no accident. “What people didn’t realise, when I arrived at the pitch this morning at half-past eleven, Anna was here kicking frees. That’s why she was five out of five into the breeze in the first half. That doesn’t happen by accident and for any kind of young people listening in or whatever, that’s just sheer hard work, practice and working at it - and that’s why she’s so good.

“She’s the engine of the team and she’s the heart of the team, and other people stepped up to it as well. It’s just brilliant and we've got a chance to put a bit of silverware on the table now.”

Laois had 15 points to spare over Wicklow in the other semi-final and will be full of confidence after racking up a big score of 3-11. Mo Nerney top-scored for Laois with six points, while the three goals came from Jane Moore, Emma Lawlor and Shifra Havill.

The two midland counties will be quite familiar with each other and it makes for an intriguing final on May 18.