Very disappointing outcome for Westmeath.

On a different note I see they are coaching hurling in Castledaly up to u10s. Now I'm sure it's early days there but it's one for the "Can't be done etc etc" brigade to ponder and maybe rethink. Someone obviously thinks it can be done and are doing it.

Jack_Sparrow (Westmeath) - Posts: 1019 - 27/04/2024 16:45:53    2540945

Extremely poor display. The sheer amount of time we were caught in possession and made simple errors was staggering. Completely open at the back, toothless in the forwards (Bar some greats scores from Doyle & O'Reilly) and no impact from the bench.
Could be many years before we see Liam McCarthy hurling again.

dakid (Australia) - Posts: 285 - 27/04/2024 16:58:08    2540954

Dheen (Westmeath) - Posts: 802 - 27/04/2024 17:01:30    2540955

We'll need all the underage clubs we can muster based on Tullamore today. Totally indisciplined in tackling, two scoring threats in the forwards, Noel Conaty gave us hope with the penalty save but when the game was in the melting pot with fifteen mins left Offaly were hungrier and took scores well.

Claretandblue (Westmeath) - Posts: 1506 - 27/04/2024 17:11:28    2540959

Dheen (Westmeath) - Posts: 802 - 27/04/2024 17:25:47    2540964

Lost by a couple of points in the end, if the missing players were there I'd be pretty confident in a different result. Still reach the knockout round.

Dheen (Westmeath) - Posts: 802 - 27/04/2024 18:49:30    2540988

Leftpeg1 (Westmeath) - Posts: 89 - 27/04/2024 19:05:19    2540989

Very dissapointing overall, that game was in the balance but Offaly were hungrier and smarter in working the ball into a scrorable position. Over carrying, easily turned over, hospital hand passes, surely all basic skills at this level. Discipline too...
Trying to stay positive but Down away could be a banana skin. Only positive to take from today is that Laois hammered Meath and we will definitely need a win against them.

Bigjoe1 (Westmeath) - Posts: 41 - 27/04/2024 19:22:56    2540996

Have Westmeath still a chance of making McDonagh final? Obviously performances would need to improve massively but if we got three wins what results would we need to qualify? It's unlikely but is it impossible?

Claretandblue (Westmeath) - Posts: 1506 - 27/04/2024 21:09:41    2541034

preddan (Kildare) - Posts: 740 - 27/04/2024 22:16:14    2541064

Laois will go straight to the final, they are flying it.

If Kerry beat Down tomorrow, they should beat Meath aswel that will probably leave Kerry & Offaly battling for a final spot v Laois.

Same if Down win in Tralee tomorrow.

If Westmeath were to beat Laois, Down and Meath it might make things interesting.

Past hurler (None) - Posts: 744 - 27/04/2024 23:21:46    2541084

They will be lucky to stay in Joe Mcdonagh the way they are playing. The whole thing needs an overhaul and to be freshened up over the next couple of years. We had good performances in the league without the majority of the experienced players involved, and then a completely different team in the Joe Mac altogether.
The writing was on the wall before this game, that's why I was saying before it that the wise decision would be to leave the u20s with their own team for today, posters making smart remarks saying I'm "Captain Hindsight"
I was saying this well before the game. Very hard to expect O'Reilly, Williams, Gaffney and Clarke to be 100% today after yesterday. Not even a full 24 hours in between the two games.
A lot of pressure on them, hopefully McCormack, Murphy, Smith and Co can continue to keep stepping up to the plate today.

Dheen (Westmeath) - Posts: 802 - 28/04/2024 08:57:19    2541110

Could Westmeath not have have asked for a postponement of that u20 game today,this is ridiculous,some players playing 2 games in the space of 24 hours. How is a small county with a small pick expected to compete with these situations. This whole split season is destroying the smaller counties with injuries and no time to recover etc. overall a v bad weekend for Westmeath Hurling and I was hoping for so much.

preddan (Kildare) - Posts: 740 - 28/04/2024 13:55:48    2541161

A bad weekend for county hurling teams got worse with the drubbing given by Dublin under 20s in Cusack Park. The two teams were miles apart in fitness, accuracy, strength, team work. Seventeen points between the sides in no way flattered us. Dublin fired over points at will throughout the game and almost every score was from play. Luckily the ref seemed reluctant to award Dublin obvious frees. This Dublin team lost its opening two games of the championship to Offaly and Galway and yet looked like All Ireland contenders today. The argument about players playing two games in 24 hours is hard to use when two of those players were significantly our standout players this afternoon, David O' Reilly was superb in attack, he scored 1-3 from play, Conor Gaffney was also immense at corner back. Worrying times with a crucial match for the seniors next Saturday in Ballycran.

Claretandblue (Westmeath) - Posts: 1506 - 28/04/2024 15:06:55    2541170

Bigjoe1 (Westmeath) - Posts: 41 - 28/04/2024 15:52:50    2541180

jobber (Westmeath) - Posts: 1464 - 28/04/2024 16:21:51    2541189

Dublin's pace was frightening, think they had 3-4 wides from 36 shots, three points from frees, obviously their pick is a lot bigger but they looked far sharper, the fact that Dublin are not regarded as contenders for the Leinster title is a worrying aspect. Reality check needed big time.

Claretandblue (Westmeath) - Posts: 1506 - 28/04/2024 16:36:19    2541197

Two of those four players were by miles our best players, they certainly showed no ill effects by playing yesterday, the other two were our next two best, that's no excuse, least was expected was that we'd be remotely competitive considering the players at our disposal, it has been a poor week for our hurlers, reality is at senior level we've gone from 11th in the country to 15th, our match versus Meath could be a relegation match.

Claretandblue (Westmeath) - Posts: 1506 - 28/04/2024 16:46:35    2541203

Dheen (Westmeath) - Posts: 802 - 28/04/2024 18:07:17    2541223

How can you know that we have good teams at under 14 or even under 15 level? They've hardly played any matches at that age at county level. We seem to have strong teams in hurling at every age grade for last few years according to some posters here but that's not the reality at inter county under 20 level or minor. Like you I go to lots of Westmeath hurling matches and today's disappointing display was felt by all Westmeath's supporters. There was a sense beforehand that a shock result was possible or at least a very competitive game, Dublin lead by 6 points to nil after five minutes, all scored from play. Even then it seemed that we were in for a long afternoon. This Westmeath's team had hammered Derry who beat Antrim and also hammered Carlow, we looked good in both matches, however bridging the gap from those teams to the likes of Offaly, Dublin etc is incredibly difficult,

Claretandblue (Westmeath) - Posts: 1506 - 28/04/2024 20:10:01    2541276