“If you look closely, you can pinpoint the exact moment his heart breaks in two.” A line from The Simpsons of all things but horribly apt for anyone of a Westmeath persuasion in TEG Cusack Park on Sunday afternoon when Shane Walsh got his fingertips to Ray Connellan’s cross-field pass.
At ten apiece and time ticking, the sight of the Kilkerrin man flying forward towards Jason Daly with nobody in sight was crushing. For sixty-six minutes Dessie Dolan had got it tactically right against Galway. Playing against a team of exceptional physical ability, we had done so well to cut them off at the pass multiple times. Equally, we kept parity or better for the vast majority in the attacking fronts.