Sunday May 1

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship Round Robin

Westmeath v Offaly, TEG Cusack Park, Mullingar, 3pm. 

“I think this is a great system,” is Westmeath manager Michael Ryan’s verdict about the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship round robin series.

“It gives everybody three games. Whatever two teams come through will be well prepared for a quarter-final.”

That is certainly the case so this weekend’s two matches can be classed in the crucial category with Ryan relishing the challenge of facing Offaly at Cusack Park, Mullingar.  “The winners will be in a very good position, the losers will have a lot of ground to make up,” Ryan reckons. “Our second game is away to Kerry, that’s going to be very difficult.

“We’re at home in Cusack Park (on Sunday), it’s our only home game and it’s a huge test. Westmeath haven’t beaten Offaly in the championship for 40 years. That doesn’t bother me one bit because the longer you go on a run, the more likely it is to end.

“It’s a massive, massive game, a huge test, a fantastic challenge and one we’re really looking forward to.”

Having claimed Allianz Hurling League Division 2A glory Westmeath subsequently missed out on promotion to Division 1B when losing a play/off against Laois.

Westmeath didn’t concede a goal in seven League fixtures.  “Last year we conceded five goals in the League final, three goals in five or six minutes. We did a lot of work on that.

“That’s all very well to say you’re conceding no goal but every three points is a goal and we conceded 23 points against Laois. That’s eight goals. It’s a big help, our backs are pretty good, but we’ve got to get more scores and create more goal chances ourselves.”

Valuable lessons were learned in defeat against Laois.  “I thought we had a great chance of winning it. What I learned was that you have to play for the full 73 or 74 minutes.

“In the second half we had a bad patch, we missed a few good chances, two good goal chances and missed a few frees.

Hopefully we’ll have improved that, we’ve done a lot of work on it over the last two weeks, but the big thing I’ve learned is that you have to take your chances.”

Now Offaly are next on the agenda for Westmeath, and Ryan expects a demanding assignment.  “What I know of Offaly is first of all they’ll be confident, their first touch will be very good, they’ll be very cute, they’ll use the ball well and if we make mistakes, they’ll punish us.

“For us, we’ll have to produce the best performance this team has ever had. Forget the fact the game is in Cusack Park, that’s probably worth a point or two, but we’ve got to really perform and it will probably take a few subs coming off the bench, if we’re to win it. But it’s a great opportunity as well.

“I would see this as being absolutely a 50-50 game, it’s going to be down to performance on the day.

“I know it’s a cliché that people get tired of hearing, but when you look up at the scoreboard next Sunday before the ball is thrown in, there will be a whole series of zeroes up there.

“Everybody’s equal until somebody proves otherwise. If we don’t perform to our very best, we’ll be left behind, but if we do and hit our best form and everybody plays well and we work really hard, we’re in with a really good chance.”