A superb second-half display gave Westmeath a five-point victory over Kerry at Austin Stack Park, Tralee last Saturday and manager, Michael Ryan was thrilled with the resilience shown by his team.
“Being honest, we tried a lot of things in the second half and they came off. The tide was with us at the time. A lot of fellows hit form and we hit some great points,” he enthused, following the Lake County’s 1-18 to 1-13 victory, their second in successive weekends against Division 1B opposition. Ryan said his players were determined to take the spoils.
“We felt at half time that we hadn’t done ourselves justice, that our first touch had let us down in the first half. We felt that if we tidied up a few things at half time that we would be OK. We needed to use the ball better. Thankfully, it came together in the second half,” said Ryan.
“We fully realised that the start of the second half was going to be crucial, that if Kerry tagged on another point or two it was going to be very difficult for us. We asked the players at half time to put in a big ten minutes. And they did just that,” he noted.
Ryan was of the opinion that Derek McNicholas’ goal in the 45th minute swung the game the way of the visitors. “Derek is that kind of a player. He wasn’t getting a good supply of the ball and again we spoke at half time about being patient, and that a chance would come. It was a really good finish and a really good goal. No better man to take it than Derek,” he said. The men in maroon and white dominated most of the last half hour, as the Kingdom challenge wilted.
TALENTED HURLERS
“We probably expected a bigger challenge from Kerry in the second half. Kerry played in Division 1B this year and we’re very disappointed not to be there next year. We’ve just beaten two Division 1B teams in a row and I think we have the players to play at that level. The system is strange, but that’s the way it is. I’m not going to get involved in the politics of it,” remarked Ryan.
The bainisteoir is very happy overall with his team’s progress. “We’ve probably only three players more than 25 years of age. We have a lot of talented hurlers and have a very young team. We’re going to keep working and keep driving. My job and the job of the management team is to get the best out of these guys because there’s a lot of talent there. I have a great backroom team, great selectors and great workers all round. We have a really good set-up. We’re working hard and there are no egos in the camp,” he said.
The former Waterford manager jovially brushed aside questions about having to face Galway, rather than Laois. “People are calling Laois an easier option for us. Laois beat us by six or seven points in that recent play-off. We were very conscious before a ball was pucked last Sunday that there were four good teams in this group and that one of them would be playing in the Christy Ring Cup next year. Whoever we play down the road doesn’t make a difference. We’re guaranteed five championship games now that we have qualified out of the group, which is great,” he enthused.
“We’re not looking past training next Wednesday night,” Ryan stated, when queried as to whether he would experiment in the dead-rubber away fixture against Carlow on May 22.
In general, he was keen to deflect the praise away from himself for Westmeath’s brace of outstanding championship wins, as he concluded: “Managers get too much credit for winning and too much stick for losing. I have the height of respect for those players. They are a fantastic group of lads who really want to play for Westmeath.”
Kerry manager, Ciaran Carey was very disappointed with the defeat and felt unforced turnovers cost his side. He said the error count was “through the roof” and this was the biggest factor in his team’s defeat.
