By Paul O’Donovan
On Friday last at lunchtime news broke that Westmeath senior hurling manager Joe Fortune had stepped down from his position as manager. Westmeath had finished their hurling this year by beating Laois 2-26 to 0-16 in a dead rubber of a game played in TEG Cusack Park on Saturday 25 May.
Westmeath finished fourth of a six-team group where they were not alone expected to finish in the top two and reach the Joe McDonagh Cup final, but also to win it. It didn’t happen. From the moment Westmeath suffered a shock defeat at home to Kerry in their first round game, it all went downhill from there. The team never really recovered from that.
