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Westmeath Football thread

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Doesn't look good for Down after Sligo game and today? onthefortyfive (Sligo) - Posts: 27 - 07/04/2024 18:20:13 2536265 Link
Replying To dakid: "Scandalous" There's no god given right to a win. Wicklow were better. No scandal involved. 35OLT (USA) - Posts: 90 - 07/04/2024 18:29:59 2536275 Link
1 pt scored in nearly 40 mins of play is "unbelievable Ted"stuff-cant really use the wund as an excuse as Wicklow scored 1-4 against the same wind.Our players were praised and rightly so for our great league campaign and were excellant all over the park against Down last saturday-each and every one of them stood up and won with style and agression but today they never turned up except for going sideways and backways-established players just not at it Fair play to Wicklow they put in a championship performance and deserved it.Players and management should hold up their hands and admit they got it badly wrong Bruno@1 (Westmeath) - Posts: 168 - 07/04/2024 18:43:17 2536292 Link
Better team won on the day. Fair play Wicklow, full value for their win. At least all the Sam/Tailteann Cup debate is now over. Dessie has his excuse all ready last week (schedule). A very disappointing result. Meridian (Westmeath) - Posts: 601 - 07/04/2024 18:51:25 2536297 Link
Replying To 35OLT: "There's no god given right to a win. Wicklow were better. No scandal involved." I'm referring to Westmeath's performance. Which was scandalous. dakid (Australia) - Posts: 285 - 07/04/2024 19:01:15 2536312 Link
right lads where do we go from here . i left sligo 2 weeks ago and could not see this team having a chance against down we beat down and my faith was somewhat restored . today i am shattered. we win the toss and elect to play against a gale . no direction no motivation in fact nothing . i do not know where we go from here , no one stood up today . players who were hyped to the last were missing today . why did ray not start why did the bear leave the panel , maybe claret and blue can come on and explain all this to me mickcunningham (Westmeath) - Posts: 1804 - 07/04/2024 19:31:58 2536324 Link
Well at least the fixture overload problem is resolved. Very disappointing. Well done Wicklow Ban (Westmeath) - Posts: 1415 - 07/04/2024 19:52:11 2536333 Link
Replying To mickcunningham: "right lads where do we go from here . i left sligo 2 weeks ago and could not see this team having a chance against down we beat down and my faith was somewhat restored . today i am shattered. we win the toss and elect to play against a gale . no direction no motivation in fact nothing . i do not know where we go from here , no one stood up today . players who were hyped to the last were missing today . why did ray not start why did the bear leave the panel , maybe claret and blue can come on and explain all this to me" Ray was obviously injured, ciaran was on pitch but not tagged. Let's not get into conspiracy theories, better team won on the day. I wouldn't agree with everything that happened today and team selection but also very easy for me to say on social media. Overall I think dessie has done a great job but today is hurting. We were flat and looked exhausted. 8 pts down twice but did being it back to a point game. Few wayward shots and poor decision making on the day. Few weeks off now. Regroup, reset and drive on regardless of what competition we end up in. Upforthegame23 (Westmeath) - Posts: 82 - 07/04/2024 20:09:54 2536342 Link
If that match had kicked off at 3pm Westmeath would have won. The wind in first half was non existent in the second half. Westmeath must have been thinking Clare in league again where they scored 2/3 points first half, and kicked on in Second half. A bad day at the office. Good luck to Wicklow. They deserved the win. Hopefully Wicklow turn over Kildare. Maroon Heaven (Westmeath) - Posts: 34 - 07/04/2024 20:55:27 2536359 Link
Replying To Meridian: "Better team won on the day. Fair play Wicklow, full value for their win. At least all the Sam/Tailteann Cup debate is now over. Dessie has his excuse all ready last week (schedule). A very disappointing result." Still in Sam Maguire as it stands. Wmeath2 (Westmeath) - Posts: 176 - 07/04/2024 20:56:16 2536360 Link
In hindsight our league performances bar the Offaly game and the two Down games were distinctly average, Clare were denied by a referee error and Wicklow missed two sitters in Aughrim, we got promoted with a score difference of + 11, by far the lowest in all the divisions involving promotion, the Sligo display was mirrored today, lacking energy for long spells, outplayed in key areas, management have been complaining about schedule for last few weeks and undoubtedly this mindset crept in today, Wicklow were being spoken about as the fourth game in a five game saga, there's now no fifth game, posters here talking about game time for Heslin, Wallace Maguire in prep for the Kildare match was always dangerous talk, Sligo and Wexford today showed what to do to division 4 opposition, don't give them any semblance of hope, we did the opposite, the small Wicklow support grew in belief the longer it went on, massive let down after promotion, Tailteann Cup holds no promise after winning it two years ago, Kildare's chance of Sam Maguire participation increased now. Claretandblue (Westmeath) - Posts: 1501 - 07/04/2024 21:32:10 2536371 Link
Replying To Maroon Heaven: "If that match had kicked off at 3pm Westmeath would have won. The wind in first half was non existent in the second half. Westmeath must have been thinking Clare in league again where they scored 2/3 points first half, and kicked on in Second half. A bad day at the office. Good luck to Wicklow. They deserved the win. Hopefully Wicklow turn over Kildare." This was a GAA match, throw in rather than kickoff. Dessie in fairness has his excuses ready last week with five weeks on the spin. They can put their feet up next weekend B&G (Longford) - Posts: 276 - 07/04/2024 22:01:26 2536383 Link
I blame management totally why did they put out a weak team at the start Dessie must have thought it was going to be a piece of cake Heslin Harte and Dolan should have started no point bringing them on when it was too late !!! Starting players only back from injury what did he expect and forwards taking too much out of the ball instead of passing it and going backways and sideways with the ball terrible football Grandcanal (Westmeath) - Posts: 4 - 07/04/2024 23:02:37 2536400 Link
Replying To Claretandblue: "In hindsight our league performances bar the Offaly game and the two Down games were distinctly average, Clare were denied by a referee error and Wicklow missed two sitters in Aughrim, we got promoted with a score difference of + 11, by far the lowest in all the divisions involving promotion, the Sligo display was mirrored today, lacking energy for long spells, outplayed in key areas, management have been complaining about schedule for last few weeks and undoubtedly this mindset crept in today, Wicklow were being spoken about as the fourth game in a five game saga, there's now no fifth game, posters here talking about game time for Heslin, Wallace Maguire in prep for the Kildare match was always dangerous talk, Sligo and Wexford today showed what to do to division 4 opposition, don't give them any semblance of hope, we did the opposite, the small Wicklow support grew in belief the longer it went on, massive let down after promotion, Tailteann Cup holds no promise after winning it two years ago, Kildare's chance of Sam Maguire participation increased now." The team selection was quite strange. Jack Smyth played little to no minutes in the league, Conor McCormack didn't feature in the league at all and was throw in to start today. Kieran Martin went from been the go-to impact player to completely out of the picture. Senan Baker started off brightly in the league but was managed poorly in my opinion being left out of squads when his form dipped. Our two wing forwards are essentially there to fill defensive gaps and two goals in the league final won't convince me otherwise on Lynam, Stephen Smyth seems to be getting lots of starts with little in return so it really means if you tie down O Toole you will beat us. Offaly for the first 20 minutes in Tullamore destroyed us and missed a great one on one before they fell apart. Yes, promotion is great but never ever convinced in any game. We have too many players there on their athleticism rather than ability and that's caught up on us today. The fatigue thing is really overplayed also, it's only April for god sake and a panel of 30+ players to choose from. TigerWoods90 (Westmeath) - Posts: 142 - 07/04/2024 23:06:00 2536402 Link
Agree with Claretandblue. Very average performances in league aside from a few exceptions. Quality of attacking play has been poor. Too much emphasis on retaining possession in middle third of field with no real end product. Aside from that, we have a limited G.A.A. player base to pick from considering the county population and the county also trying to compete in hurling at the top level. Rugby is gaining traction at grassroots level and a strong tradition of soccer in both major towns. All of this impacts on the quality and quantity of players feeding into the system. We need to reevaluate what we want to be "great at" versus "also-rans" across too many sports. Headtheball1 (Louth) - Posts: 66 - 07/04/2024 23:27:40 2536412 Link
Let the lads back to club for a few weeks to refresh the minds. Atleast 6-8 weeks until we play again let them play two rounds of the club league . Hopefully it is in the All Ireland Series. Will need Wicklow or Louth to beat Kildare and hope that either Down or Fermanagh don't beat Armagh. Dessie's main goal this year was to get out of Div 3 he done that even though we struggled. I see a lot of comments on social media calling Dessie out, hes the best ever player to put on the Westmeath Jersey people should show him some respect. Temple56 (Westmeath) - Posts: 390 - 07/04/2024 23:33:33 2536414 Link
Dessie's greatness as a player not being debated Temple. he's no longer playing, people entitled to criticise his record as a manager, ultimately it's championship that counts and that's five successive championship defeats, albeit three in the round robin stages last year to strong opponents. Today's display mirrors Louth one this time last year, our game plan has not developed for the modern game, we're always hard to beat, those five championship defeats have all been by 3 points or less but teams also know that scoring 14-15 points will give great chance of beating us, Oisin McConville would have taken 2-9 before game today, we defend pretty well usually but we are playing 8-9 defenders in our side, without Heslin and O' Toole man marked we struggle to break 15 points. Even in the league final Sam McC was our chief scorer with four scores from wing back. Claretandblue (Westmeath) - Posts: 1501 - 08/04/2024 01:17:03 2536429 Link
Replying To Temple56: "Let the lads back to club for a few weeks to refresh the minds. Atleast 6-8 weeks until we play again let them play two rounds of the club league . Hopefully it is in the All Ireland Series. Will need Wicklow or Louth to beat Kildare and hope that either Down or Fermanagh don't beat Armagh. Dessie's main goal this year was to get out of Div 3 he done that even though we struggled. I see a lot of comments on social media calling Dessie out, hes the best ever player to put on the Westmeath Jersey people should show him some respect." Very Weird to have a main Goal being the league especially after last year, The league was the first Goal the stepping stone to the main goal the championship, playing div 2 should help your championship next year but thats no good to us now. Sorry now Temple56 but him being our best player ever has nothin to do with anything, hes the manager and is responsible for the result, if people didnt give out and have there say i would argue that's showing no respect. Hes the manager and he has to live by his decisions and he got it wrong and we move forward and the team have only one way not to redeem themselves, if its sam maguire we need to get a win from somewhere, if its Tailteainn we need to win it as we will be the topped ranked side. PowellJohn3 (Westmeath) - Posts: 33 - 08/04/2024 08:39:19 2536446 Link
Replying To Claretandblue: "It's in our own hands, if we beat Kildare presuming we beat Wicklow we are guaranteed as it's unlikely Antrim or Down will reach Ulster final" Some people in this world delude themselves and then lash out when reality strikes. jobber (Westmeath) - Posts: 1458 - 08/04/2024 09:25:03 2536460 Link
Replying To Claretandblue: "Dessie's greatness as a player not being debated Temple. he's no longer playing, people entitled to criticise his record as a manager, ultimately it's championship that counts and that's five successive championship defeats, albeit three in the round robin stages last year to strong opponents. Today's display mirrors Louth one this time last year, our game plan has not developed for the modern game, we're always hard to beat, those five championship defeats have all been by 3 points or less but teams also know that scoring 14-15 points will give great chance of beating us, Oisin McConville would have taken 2-9 before game today, we defend pretty well usually but we are playing 8-9 defenders in our side, without Heslin and O' Toole man marked we struggle to break 15 points. Even in the league final Sam McC was our chief scorer with four scores from wing back." Agree with most of what you said but we actually had a very good draw with Tyrone and Heslin missed a last second free to win that one, just correcting the record. dec (None) - Posts: 270 - 08/04/2024 09:36:04 2536461 Link