Westmeath preparing for Clones test
Westmeath face a tough away assignment against Monaghan in round three of the All-Ireland senior football championship following Monday’s draw on RTE’s Morning Ireland.
Mark McHugh’s side must make the trip to St Tiernach’s Park, Clones next weekend after their winning streak ended against Galway. Westmeath will take immense pride from their heroic display against the Tribesmen in Salthill last Sunday, but there are injuries to different players ahead of a massive game against Monaghan - Ray Connellan, Matthew Whittaker and Daniel Scahill among those facing a challenge to be fully fit.
Connellan came off in the second half after winning the throw-in on the restart, while Whittaker played 48 minutes and Scahill managed to play the entire match as he was tasked with keeping tabs on Galway talisman Shane Walsh. The knocks will certainly have taken a toll on the players and fatigue will be a factor in such a quick turnaround.
“I’m very proud of the battling qualities, and the subs who came in near the end. But we’ll learn from this and we’ll move on. As I said, it’s going to be a quick turnaround. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves today, and we’ll have 15 men ready to go on the field next week again,” remarked McHugh following the Galway defeat.
Westmeath players took the sea in Salthill after Sunday’s game and the recovery began immediately. They will be determined to keep their summer alive and it's expected that Clones will welcome another big Westmeath following, with a capacity of around 29,000 well equipped to cope with the big crowd.
The concession of three goals and the manner in which Galway breached the Westmeath defence didn’t go unnoticed by McHugh, who admitted there’s work to be done to reach the next level. Decision making also came into focus.
“Galway cut us open a few times and could have had more goals, I suppose, and it’s something we need to look at. We got back in the game in the first half, against the breeze; and we gave away the goal just before half-time which was a sucker punch. And we were in control of that play, and we either should have put it dead or even held onto the ball. Because the breeze was that strong,” he observed.
The challenge is to learn from the experience and bring it forward to next weekend’s game against the Farney County. Monaghan are serious opposition and reached this year's Ulster final where they lost out to Armagh after extra-time, on the same day as Westmeath's Leinster final triumph over Dublin.
The last competitive meeting between Monaghan and Westmeath was a Division 2 league encounter last year, when the Farney men claimed a 2-29 to 2-21 victory at St Tiernach's Park. Back in 2003, Westmeath met Monaghan in an All-Ireland qualifier at St Tiernach's Park, with the home side winning by 0-14 to 1-9.
This match came shortly after Westmeath were beaten by Meath in a Leinster SFC quarter-final replay and proved to be Luke Dempsey’s last game in charge with the late Páidí Ó Sé famously drafted in to take over later that year.
In the other Round 3 ties, Kerry take on Armagh, Mayo meet Meath and Dublin tackle Donegal.
Monaghan view
Like Westmeath, Monaghan have been giving their supporters full value for money so far in the championship, going to extra-time twice along the way. Their bid for Ulster glory eventually faded away against Armagh, but after a second-half charge fell short against Mayo, Gabriel Bannigan’s side produced their most composed 70 minutes of the season last Saturday to knock out Connacht champions Roscommon.
It was a mature performance by Monaghan, who put their first-half yips in front of the posts behind them to up their conversion rate to 73% against the breeze (0-11 from 15 shots). They have mostly produced their best football when the games have become stretched and chaotic, but they showed a different side to their play against Roscommon, dictating the pace of play and starving the visitors of possession.
Rory Beggan wasn’t among Monaghan’s ten scorers last weekend, but his pin-point kicking contributed to Mícheál McCarville and Karl Gallagher giving their team a real platform in the middle third, with the superb Conor McCarthy also proving a great outlet from kick-outs.
McCarthy kicked seven points against Westmeath last year, so they will be well aware of the threat he poses going forward, with Dessie Ward also in double figures in the SFC from the half-back line.
Stephen O’Hanlon’s role will be interesting as he is best known for driving at opponents, as he did at times against the Rossies, but he played a big part defensively by shutting down goal threat Darragh Heneghan. Ryan Wylie’s return adds so much know-how to a defence where Dylan Byrne continues to develop game by game.
Having kept a first clean sheet in league or championship since the 2025 Ulster opener against Donegal, Monaghan will be aiming to repeat that trick and stop a Westmeath outfit who have hit the net 16 times in six matches. Monaghan will hope that Stephen Mooney is fit after a clash of heads cut his day short last week, while Ryan McAnespie could come into contention again after getting a run off the bench for his 50th inter-county SFC appearance.
With Westmeath having taken their supporters on the journey with them, a big crowd is expected in Clones on Sunday. Monaghan will have to be at their best, but if they can replicate the performance levels they managed last weekend, it might just be enough to eke out an eighth appearance in the last eight of the All-Ireland SFC since 2013.
(Monaghan view courtesy of Colm Shalvey, Anglo Celt)