Westmeath ladies face do or die battle to secure senior status
Westmeath’s lady footballers face a do-or-die game against Monaghan on Sunday as they attempt to retain senior status in the All-Ireland championship.
Sunday's TG4 All-Ireland LGFA Senior Championship relegation play-off with Monaghan will take place at 2pm in the Lann Léire GFC grounds, Dunleer, Co. Louth.
Westmeath's first lifeline expired on Sunday last when they were decisively beaten by Cavan in Kinnegad.
Westmeath manager Sean Finnegan felt that the final score of 3-12 to 1-7 in favour of the Breffni ladies was tough on his troops. “The scoreline was a bit harsh, in ways, but there was no doubt about the result," he said. "I felt we were very much in the game, but a couple of things before half-time didn’t go our way. They got a goal when we felt it shouldn’t have been a goal and then Fiona Claffey got sent off (sent to the sin bin after receiving a yellow card). We went in eight points down at half-time and we felt that was harsh. But, to be fair, they had two or three goal chances and Lauren McCormack had made great saves.”
Westmeath have competed at senior level since defeating Cavan in the 2011 All-Ireland intermediate final, after a replay. But it’s very much a case of ‘last chance saloon’ when the girls in maroon and white face up to Monaghan on Sunday, with the loser dropping down to the intermediate grade.
Speaking after the Cavan defeat, Finnegan said: “The challenge we put to them after the game is that if they want to play senior football next year they have to be up for next weekend’s game. They were very down after today’s defeat. In fairness, they are a fantastic bunch of girls. They’ve worked really hard but it’s the constant battle to try and get a win. Our first two games in the championship were against exceptional teams (Dublin and Galway), and then we went to Kerry and were narrowly beaten. It’s very difficult to get a win. And we’re going to have to win next weekend, it’s as simple as that.”
Unfortunately for Westmeath, it seems they will be down a few players for the match with the Farney ladies. Finnegan stated: “It looks like Kelly Boyce Jordan has sustained a serious knee injury, while Fiona Coyle had booked a holiday a long time ago to the USA and, naturally, was not expecting to be playing football in mid-August.. But that’s why you have a squad. We tried to get in as many girls today as possible. Scoring is our problem with Sarah Dillon out for the year. We don’t have a free-flowing scoring forward at the moment and that’s causing us problems.”
“Ironically, my first game in charge this year was against Monaghan in the league in St Loman’s. We got a win which was important at the time. They’ve had a poor season as well, but they will fancy their chances in a one-off game. They will see us as vulnerable. Anything can happen in one-off games. I’m certainly expecting a 50/50 match,” continued the Lake County boss.
Finnegan has identified Westmeath's struggle to score from open play as the stand-out issue facing the team, but he is full of praise for the hard work of the Westmeath players and insists that they will bring "massive determination" to win on Sunday.
"Up until now there was no consequences - you absorbed a loss you celebrated a win. But now the safety net is gone. If we lose against Monaghan, we are relegated. I heard some people say maybe it's about finding their level and if they should be relegated. But that's not the thinking on my team - we took on a senior side, a senior side that has worked so hard this season to be a senior team and they deserve to be a senior team," added Finnegan.