Westmeath's struggling hurlers have received a much-needed boost with the appointment of former Kilkenny selector Martin Fogarty as their new coach.

Fogarty was added to manager Brian Hanley's backroom team along with 2004 Leinster SFC medallist Alan Mangan at tonight's county board meeting in Mullingar. The Castlecomer-based schoolteacher's appointment is a major coup for the Lake County after he had been linked with a host of county managerial roles last summer following his surprise decision to step down from the Kilkenny set-up.

Fogarty joined Brian Cody's management team at the end of 2004 and played his part in the six All-Ireland titles Kilkenny have won since then, including a four-in-a-row between from 2006 to '09 and a double in 2011 and '12.

Mangan's appointment as a selector - he replaces Seamus Ennis who resigned last month - sees him link up with fellow selector Peter Leahy once again after the pair guided the Westmeath ladies footballers to an All-Ireland intermediate title in 2011. Mangan still plays hurling and football at club level and was part of the Castletown-Geoghegan team that won their first Westmeath SHC title in nine years last October.

Tonight's appointments should lift the mood in Westmeath after a bitterly disappointing Allianz League campaign which saw the midlanders struggle to retain their Division 2A status. The Lake County face a difficult trip to Ballycastle for their opening game in the new round-robin series of the Leinster SHC against Antrim on April 27.

Fogarty and Mangan will also be involved with the Westmeath U21 hurlers who will meet Carlow in the first round of the Leinster championship at the end of May. Tweet

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