'We have to stick together' - McHugh

Westmeath senior football manager Mark McHugh believes the future is bright for the county after his side suffered defeat against Monaghan in the All-Ireland SFC preliminary quarter-final at Clones on Sunday.

It's just their second loss of what has been a glorious campaign that included seven games and only the county's second ever Leinster SFC success. McHugh felt the loss of midfielder Ray Connellan was a major blow on Sunday and that the tough Leinster campaign took its toll, but he is confident the players can bounce back next year.

“Towards the end of the game I think we ran out of steam. We put everything into this game. Not having Ray Connellan (was significant); he came on near the end and caught a few balls back in the middle and I think it goes to show that we had them for the whole game. It’s been a long campaign,” he observed.

“Getting bodies right and patching them up, we were probably playing with five or six injuries out there, but that’s not an excuse. Monaghan, I’m sure, were in the same boat. I felt the best team won. They were a lovely team and we were actually able to play some really good football. Good luck to them and Gabriel (Bannigan, manager) in the quarter-finals.”

The two-point frees conceded in the first half were costly, but he felt Monaghan played with renewed energy after the break.

“They did cost us and I thought some of those frees were a wee bit harsh. If you look at the games last night, there’ll be a lot more let go and I just thought maybe two of them could have been let go. But we knew the danger of Rory (Beggan) and what he possesses; it doesn’t matter how far he is out on the field. That’s on us, it was going to cost us,” he remarked.

“We were going in level at half-time and we had whatever wee bit of breeze there was in the second half, but Monaghan just came with a fierce energy at the start of that second half. Stephen O’Hanlon especially caused us problems. We tried different men on him; he was just too fast and sometimes you have to tip your hat to somebody and we had to tip our hat to Monaghan in that second half. We felt we had a great season. It doesn’t feel like that right now because we’ve lost; we don’t like losing.

“But ultimately, the Leinster campaign we have gone through probably caught up with us.”

McHugh said the style of football his side play demands a serious level of fitness and he praised the progress they have made this year.

“We had a lot of football played and I suppose the way we play is very high-energy, high-octane type football. Even in the first half we weren’t threatening to give up the field and in the second half it just caught them. After a long season and a long few weeks. Even winning Leinster and what that has meant for them, it’s something different that they’ve never experienced before, so it’s been a huge step forward for this group and for the county.

“But it’s only a step. The ceiling’s very, very high for that group of players in my view," he remarked.

“We’ve got players coming in. James Mitchell came into goals and took to it like a duck to water. Shane Ormsby around the middle, Shane Corcoran, Jack Duncan and Tadhg Baker are only out of U20.

“We have to stick together, we all have to come back next year and go to the well again. We’ve taken one step and we have to move that forward.”