Niall O'Brien has moved to assure Westmeath hurling fans that he remains very much part of Brian Hanley's squad after his Twitter account seemed to suggest otherwise earlier this week.

Followers of the Castletown-Geoghegan clubman's account (@NiallOBrien13) were shocked to read Tweets which suggested that he had quit the Westmeath hurling panel. But unknown to his Twitter followers or to O'Brien himself, someone had mischievously hacked his account.

"I'm raging over it," the teenage sharpshooter told the Westmeath Topic.

"Somebody hacked into my account on Monday and I knew nothing about it until someone in college showed it to me on their iPhone. The first chance I got, I deleted the Tweets and changed my password. I've no doubt that someone in college did it as some kind of a prank.

"All that I can say is that I'm still very much on the Westmeath panel and hope to have plenty more years in me," added Niall, who is a first year Arts student in NUIG.

Westmeath supporters were first alarmed when the following Tweet appeared on O'Brien's account: "Dropping myself from the Westmeath senior hurling set-up due to club football commitments. Best of luck to the lads."

Another Tweet soon followed: "Best wishes also go to the management team. They deserve something good." It didn't end there with a third Tweet going on to say that a "full statement would be released soon" on why Niall had apparently quit the county panel, and how he had reached "a mutual agreement to depart" with the management team.

O'Brien's non-appearance for Westmeath in their National Hurling League Division 2A victory over Wicklow in Arklow the previous day had led many to believe that there may be some truth to the Tweets. But he stressed that the reason why he didn't line out against the Garden County was due to a hamstring injury.

"People were adding two and two together and getting five!" he jokingly remarked.

"I had a slight hamstring twinge and didn't want to chance it on such a cold day. I hope to be back for next Sunday's game against Kildare. We know from last year's Leinster U21 championship that they cannot be taken for granted. They are a big, strong team who won't be easily overcome." Tweet

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