John Shaw. Darren McCormack. Andrew Mitchell. Cormac Boyle. Four winning captains from Christy Ring or Joe McDonagh Cup finals for Westmeath, beginning with that famous inaugural swashbuckling day in 2005 when Killian Cosgrove (my old classmate in St Finian’s College) notched that score to seal the win and allow John Shaw to accept the trophy from the grandchildren of the Cork hero, Christy Ring.
Fast forward through three more victories (with a scoring average in winning finals standing at almost 26 points) and we find ourselves reeling from weekends of desperately contrasting emotions. It has been a rollercoaster.
