Westmeath hurling manager Michael Ryan.
By Cian O’Connell
In the competitive environs of the Joe McDonagh Cup Michael Ryan’s Westmeath have stitched an impressive four match winning sequence together to earn a place in next month’s Croke Park decider.
It will be a fitting reward for Ryan, who has enjoyed an encouraging stint with the improving midlanders so last Saturday’s triumph over Antrim at TEG Cusack Park in Mullingar provided another feel good story.
A thrilling match showcased Westmeath’s improvement, but the locals still had to deal with a blistering Antrim rally which yielded 1-6 without reply.
During that 20 minute scoreless stint Westmeath's eight point advantage was turned into a one-point deficit, but Ryan was pleased with how they responded to that adversity.
“When you are up against a really good team - this team played in a higher division of hurling in the National League - they are coming down from a lofty place, they are always going to have a spell in the game,” Ryan reflected.
“What decides games is how you deal with that. Could we limit what they did? We did our best to limit it, we had a certain amount of success in that. Having said that when the game was there to be won in the last five or six minutes these players did as they did down in Kerry.
“They got the last three scores of the match to win it and they did the very same thing down in Kerry. That is what it is all about, but there are lessons to be learned. We will prepare properly, take it on board, and hopefully rectify a few things. Overall I'm so proud of those lads.”
That grit and determination has been illustrated throughout the past month by Westmeath’s cocktail of young and old. “Absolutely, we have a very young team with a couple of the old stagers thrown in,” Ryan laughs.
“We have a very young team, we are improving all the time, but there is still room for plenty more improvement.”
That process has been assisted considerably by the Joe McDonagh Cup which has offered plenty of thrills and spills in the past month. Ryan is delighted to be involved in the inaugural tournament.
Westmeath continue to make steady progress under Michael Ryan.
“Joe McDonagh is a man I knew very well, he was down in our club a couple of times,” Ryan says. “I met him several times, he was a real gentleman, and I think the standard has been quite high, it has been very, very good.
“It is a great competition from the point of view that we are now guaranteed another three Championship games. Westmeath and somebody else will play seven Championship games this year. That has to be good.”
While Westmeath’s passage to the final has been secured the midlanders face Carlow, another developing team under Colm Bonnar, at Netwatch Cullen Park on Saturday.
“I think out of respect to every team in it everybody deserves a fair crack of the whip,” Ryan admits. “We will be going to Carlow trying to win the game. We have a few injuries and Under 21 coming up so we may be short a few players so we may have to throw a few fellas in.
“Out of respect for everyone else we will be going trying to win that game. I think we have played 10 games this year, we have won nine.
“We weren't happy with our League Final (Allianz HL Division 2A) performance against Carlow, it was very disappointing. We will be going down there trying to keep the winning thing going because as far as we are concerned winning is a damn good habit.”
Ryan, who has held a number of interesting coaching and managerial roles throughout the decades, is relishing a return to GAA headquarters.
“It is 32 years since I was first in Croke Park as a manager with the Waterford Ladies in 1986, that is a long time ago now and I have been there several times since,” Ryan recalls.
“I've enjoyed every bit of it, but this is not about me or anybody else. This is about Westmeath's players and Westmeath hurling.”
Ryan has ensured Westmeath are relevant. Progress is being made, but the journey continues.
