Once noted for producing successful underage teams, Westmeath have endured a torrid time of it in minor football over the past decade. Of all the championship defeats the Lake County under 18s have suffered in that time, none were more depressing or worrying than last year's abysmal showing against surprise Leinster champions Longford.

What has gone wrong with minor football in Westmeath? That was the question shell-shocked supporters were asking themselves as they poured out of Cusack Park after last year's disastrous Leinster minor championship exit at the hands of Longford.
In the 10 years since the Leinster cup last crossed the bridge in Kinnegad, Westmeath have had one of the worst records of any county in minor football with Carlow, Kilkenny and Wexford the only opposition they have beaten in that time. This record is all the more surprising when the county's solid performances at under 14, 15 and 16 level are taken into account.
Westmeath's 10-year record in the Leinster minor championship makes for depressing reading. After beating Wexford in a replay in 2001, they lost to Offaly. Offaly again beat them in 2004 (after a replay), 2005 and 2008, while Dublin ended their interests in 2002 and 2006. Another first round defeat to Laois was Westmeath's lot in 2003, while Carlow, Meath and Longford were the Lake County's conquerors in 2007, 2009 and 2010 respectively.
In many ways, last year's defeat was the hardest of all to take. Only a few weeks earlier, Longford had shipped a crushing 19-point loss against Offaly in Tullamore, and while they had regrouped impressively with wins over Wexford and Carlow in the qualifier series, no one (in Westmeath at least) gave them a snowball's chance of winning at Cusack Park. But win they did and far more impressively than what the 1-6 to 0-6 scoreline suggested.
In Westmeath's defence, the system used in the Leinster minor championship has done them no favours. If teams lose in the opening round, they have another chance in the 'backdoor', but if they win in the opening round and then lose in the quarter-final, there is no second chance.
For the past five years, Westmeath won their opening games (the last three of which were against Carlow) and have then been knocked out after losing their next game. Perhaps losing their first game would have served them better in the long run as teams emerging from the qualifiers have a vital edge in terms of preparation and match practice. Last year, Westmeath only had one championship game going into the quarter-final, whereas Longford had the advantage of three games under their belt. It's clearly an unfair system and needs to be looked at by the powers-that-be.
In keeping with the trend of recent years, Moate's Ger Heavin was given a second year as manager along with selectors John Gordon (Shandonagh) and Eugene Dolan (St. Paul's) and coordinator Alan McCormack (Kilbeggan Shamrocks). After Westmeath's tame surrender to Meath in 2009, the former county star decided to enter his side in the Ulster League for the first time. The Ulster League is noted for its competitiveness and produced the All-Ireland champions of 2008 (Tyrone) and 2009 (Armagh). Meath have entered it for the past number of years, while Dublin won it last year after beating Tyrone in the final.
Minus their talisman and captain John Heslin, who was the standout performer in the Westmeath under 21's run to the Leinster final, Heavin's charges struggled in most of their games, but the expectation was that the experience would stand to them come the championship.
However, even in their 1-12 to 0-6 defeat of Carlow in the first round at a sun-drenched Dr Cullen Park, they looked less than convincing with Heslin's brilliance being the main difference between the two sides.
Played on the same day as Brendan Hackett's enforced resignation as Westmeath senior manager, the game will be remembered for a superb individual goal from the St. Loman's clubman who lorded the midfield exchanges throughout. 
Carlow opened brightly and thanks to points from full forward Colvin Kehoe and midfielder Mark Fitzgerald, were level on 0-3 with Westmeath after 15 minutes. But points from Heslin, David Fagan, Kelvin Reilly and Darren Ruane saw the Lake County take a 0-7 to 0-4 lead into the break. 
Further scores from Fagan and Reilly on the restart extended Westmeath's lead to 0-9 to 0-4 before Kehoe replied from a free for Carlow. But the visitors stepped it up once again with points from David McCormack, Heslin and Reilly which made it 0-12 to 0-5 before Heslin capped a five-star display with a superb left-footed strike into the top corner of the Carlow net. 
After a five-week break, Westmeath played host to Longford in the provincial quarter-final at Cusack Park. The home supporters were expecting another comfortable win, but what a shock they were in for as the team completely imploded against Ciaran Fox's unheralded charges.
Longford belied their underdog status with an impressive display which should have yielded a far bigger victory. Star forward Mark Hughes missed two guilt-edged goal chances in the first half and also had a goal disallowed after only three minutes. 
Westmeath, by contrast, were totally disjointed and only managed two points from play with John Heslin providing four of their scores.  
Longford looked set to pay for their first half wastefulness when two Heslin frees reduced the margin to the minimum with eight minutes remaining, but two minutes later, Hughes was brought down for a penalty and, just as he had done in the previous round against Carlow, Longford goalkeeper Paddy Collum made the long trek up the field to beat his opposite number Darren Brady and give the visitors a memorable victory. 
Longford took the game to the home side from the off and had established a 0-2 to 0-1 lead before David McCormack levelled for Westmeath. But unanswered points from Hughes, James McGivney and Darren Farrelly left the visitors 0-5 to 0-2 ahead at the break. Indeed, they would have been out of sight had Hughes not spurned two goal chances late in the half. 
It was Westmeath's turn to be wasteful in the third quarter when they shot a number of bad wides and also dropped the ball into goalkeeper Collum's hands on more than one occasion. Trevor English made it 0-6 to 0-3 before McCormack shot into the sidenetting. Hughes replied for Longford before Heslin left the minimum in it with two frees. 
But Collum's penalty made victory safe for Longford with Heslin's fourth point, which came just before he was sent off for a second bookable offence in injury-time, proving to be no more than a consolation score for the disappointing home side.
The Westmeath team which succumbed to Longford in the Leinster MFC quarter-final was: Darren Brady; Stephen Gilmore, Robbie Henshaw, Cathal McKinley; David Lynch, Davy Gavin, Jamie Gonoud; Dean McNicholas, John Heslin (captain); Darren Ruane, Kelvin Reilly, David McCormack; David Fagan, Trevor English, Jason Cully. Subs used: Enda Kincaid and John Maguire. Tweet

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