McHugh praises players as Westmeath 'get back on track'

By Gerry Buckley

Westmeath senior football manager Mark McHugh admitted that Sunday's clash with Fermanagh was 'a game of two halves' - but he was happy with the way his side performed overall in the 1-26 to 2-11 victory.

Indeed, he was actually satisfied with Westmeath's first-half display despite the concession of two goals which left them seven points adrift at the interval. The combination of the strong wind on the day - which favoured Westmeath in the second half - and the possibility of two-pointers under the current rules meant such a deficit was not as daunting as it might have been otherwise.

The Donegal man said: "I actually thought we played very, very well in the first half, and people might laugh at me for saying that given that we were seven points down at the break. Take away the two silly goals that we conceded and we would only have been a point down, which would have been absolutely amazing against that breeze. I felt that we controlled the game in the first half and we addressed the silly wee errors at half-time.

"We felt if we kept the scoreboard ticking over with that severe wind, we would eat into the lead pretty quickly. We did that and when we got a few points ahead, it was difficult for Fermanagh to get back into it. It was important not to rush things and take pot shots, but we didn't do that. We kicked a few one-pointers as well, to keep things ticking over. Then we just saw the game out.

"It wasn't that hard to kick two-pointers today. I think I even kicked one myself before the game," he added with a smile.

The Westmeath bainisteoir was happy with both his attack and defence, stating: "I thought Brían Cooney was fantastic today. He has had to bide his time coming off the bench. I thought, to a man, we played well today. We attacked well, but our one-on-one defending was also very good.

"We defended our goals well late on and Senan (Baker) stopped them getting a goal, but he got an injury in the process. He's in a lot of pain there now. It's disappointing for the young lad. He had a lot of trouble last year with his hamstring. Jonny (Lynam) may have picked up a knock also, but that's the nature of league football when you have games week in, week out, and you're training hard as well.

"That's why you have a squad and next week maybe two or three more people might get a chance. Lads are pushing all the time to get into the 26 (match-day squad). That makes it enjoyable for me, seeing lads bursting a gut every week at training."

He also praised his goalkeepers and the ball-winners further out the field: "Jack Connaughton pulled off a great save late on. We have two very good keepers in Jack and Jason (Daly). It is Jack's first year in the panel and he's growing in confidence all the time. His kick-outs were better today and we competed a lot better in and around the middle.

"After me giving out about them a bit last week, they definitely did the right thing today and got down over the ball better. Kieran McGeeney came out about the same thing during the week. There's not too much clean catching, but it's about winning the 'dirty ball', the 'piggery ball', as he calls it, and there's a skill in it. It was a really solid performance today and it was great to get back on track after last week."

Westmeath have six points in the bag now, but they face a tricky assignment in Portlaoise next Saturday evening (throw-in 6pm). In this regard, McHugh concluded: "Laois are fighting for their lives. We have to go down there and match their hunger and intensity. We need something out of these last few games to get where we want to - that is, back in Division 2."