'It was heart-in-mouth stuff' - Westmeath boss

Westmeath senior hurling manager Kevin O’Brien is focusing on the positives after his charges narrowly avoided being overturned by Derry at home in Division 2 of the NHL last Sunday.

The hosts had to hang on for a one-point win after two late goals from the Foylesiders, who took full advantage after Westmeath’s Rory Keyes was sent off 11 minutes into the second half.

“The sending-off kind of threw us a bit,” O’Brien said. “Derry played with a double sweeper. They nearly had a football setup, and our lads struggled. We planned for it, and we were nine or ten points up. We were very happy with the lads, but the sending-off just threw our shape, and they maybe lost a bit of composure when that happened. We tried to rejig it. But look, we were seven up going into injury time.

“When Derry got the two goals it was heart-in-mouth stuff. Thank God, Davy Williams got that goal, and he took it very well.”

Westmeath also had to thank late heroics from Castletown Geoghegan’s Seán Jackson in goal. “That’s a young lad who didn’t play in goals for his club,” O’Brien said. “He’s flying now. He’s doing really well in there and was the difference today.

“Another day we could have had three or four goals. At one stage, I looked down and they had seven at the back and we had two. It’s very hard; very frustrating for forwards. They basically closed shop for the first half. We dragged them out by shooting from distance and trying to work the ball in. But when the sending-off happened we lost our shape a bit.”

With one more game to go in the league – an away trip to Mayo – and the question of promotion out of Westmeath’s hands, O’Brien is happy with his troops’ progress in Division 2.

“We’re really testing our strength and depth now. Probably eight or nine players that people would be expecting to start are injured. With any team, whether it be Division 1, 2, 3 or 4, it’s going to really affect performance,” he explained.

“You have to admire the lads who were there, those who came on, and the lads who were doing the work,” the Clonkill clubman said, adding that most of those on the injured list – among them the vastly experienced Killian Doyle – are expected to be back for the Joe McDonagh Cup campaign.

"We just have to look at the positives from today, take the two points and move on,” he said.

In summary, O’Brien remarked: “Obviously, there’s a lot to learn from this. We can’t stand here and say we’re delighted with everything today, because we’re not.

“There’s an awful lot to learn from. We’re going to be going back to the drawing board with some of them, but we have to take what we get and move on.”