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"Fancy Fermanagh to beat Armagh, our need is greater!
Could see a scenario where Fermanagh, Armagh and Westmeath all tied on 12 points and comes down to scoring difference."

That would work well for Westmeath as the head to head would kick in and put Westmeath ahead of Fermanagh regardless of scoring difference.

Westmeath hurlers had a great year.  The Leinster round robin series represented a great return.  Our hurlers will never compete with tier 1.  There are simply not enough people playing hurling in the county and only a handful of hurling clubs.  The results against Kerry and Offaly combined with the u21s ruining Eddie Brennan's summer meant that the hurling fraternity will reflect warmly on 2016.

The footballers reached the provincial final for the 5th time in 132 years. Admittedly they ran into the Dublin juggernaut but no shame there.  In the early rounds victory in the border skirmish with Offaly and toppling Kildare for the first time since the 60's will be viewed as good days. The football might not have been great but bragging rights in border pubs have been retained.  The Mayo performance was also heartening.  With 70 minutes on the clock we were attacking seeking an equalising goal.  It wasn't to be but it felt a lot better going home than the dismal retreat from Breffni after the Fermanagh match last year.

I'd be more than happy if we repeated this journey next year.

The whole issue with "verbals" is an unpleasant reality in the modern game.  There are numerous incidents (clearly visible but not audible) in every game.  Today was no different.  Martin had a few words to say after the whistle and there were three or four players on each side mouthing at each other throughout the game.  Border skirmishes between poor teams only serve to up the ante.  This match was very tight at the end and there were a few hairy challenges.  Regular championship fare really!!

Incredible result.  I didn't see that coming.  There's a bit of momentum growing in WH hurling. Offaly at senior level and KK at U21 are significant scalps so far this year.  Last year's minor defeat of Wexford and the recent strong senior performance against Limerick were also notable. The U21's were unfortunate to lose narrowly to Dublin U21's in 2014 and the minors had a close run against KK a few years ago.  We're becoming more difficult to beat in Mullingar which augurs well.  There is a significant amount of good work being done but an overall strategy is required to ensure this isn't a cyclical blip.

I was disappointed that the year ended in this manner.  The momentum that was generated along the way has been somewhat deflated by the nature of this defeat.  However I think that when the team and management reflect they will be quite happy with the progress made.  We've travelled a long way from the dark days of January when the last victory was a dim memory.  Three championship victories including laying the Meath ghost provides a platform on which to build.  There is now a good bond between the players and management also.
I feared the worst when I heard that Egan was sitting alongside Heslin on the sideline in the lead up to the match. We need all our resources available to perform well at this level.  The teams started nervously and we settled reasonably better than Fermanagh.  Gavin quickly got to grips with Quigley and the defence was reasonably solid.  Quigley started hitting wides and Fermanagh were rattled. Their discipline slipped for a while. O'Brien's black card might have had some merit as Martin was on the charge down the middle but McCluskey will wonder what he was doing grabbing Killian Daly and throwing him to the ground in that part of the field.  Jones will also be disappointed when he reflects on his card.  He swung a haymaker for his yellow card and it was a cheap card to incur.  Cooler heads will be required in Croker.  Westmeath managed to open a three point gap and totally failed to press home their advantage.  There was an opportunity to establish daylight but there was a major absence of composure. John Connellan was the sole forward who seemed to be in the grove.  He really impressed me once again.  Corrigan popped up and rapidly punished WH. Fermanagh were in the ascendancy when half time arrived.
Connellan's failure to re-emerge was a big blow.  Egan was clearly short of fitness and didn't have his usual spark.  WH still had two wides in the first 70 seconds of the half as they managed to get their hands on the ball quickly.  These were followed by Fermanagh taking the lead for the first time in the match as the tide began to turn.  Westmeath immediately had the opportunity to strike back when Martin put Dennis through.  A goal at this stage could have halted Fermanagh's momentum and given much needed energy to us.  I was disappointed when Glennon chose to fist it over as he bore down on the keeper.  We needed more at this stage.
From then on we faded badly.  The malaise of poor shots and weak efforts into the keeper's hand intensified.  There were seven or eight missed opportunities that normally would be dispatched with no fuss. Heslin was missed terribly.  A number of players had their least effective outing in a while and this served to drag the heart out of the team.  Fermanagh pushed on and played some nice football when the shackles were off.  Westmeath visibly fatigued.  It could have been mental as much as physical.  The number of really simple and often unforced errors would suggest this was the case.  Fermanagh showed that they have a lot of football in them and are a decent team.  The pity was that we weren't in a position to make them work harder down the stretch.
I spoke to a number of the players on the field afterwards and they were shattered.  This might not be a bad thing.  It's good to see that they really care and that they have regained a lot of pride. 
In conclusion it has to be classed as a successful year.  The team rediscovered a winning touch.  We learned how to put up big scores and also how to put together a flurry of scores on occasion.  A number of players stepped up to the plate and some established players moved further up the ladder.  Expectations are now different too.  Cribbin needs to push them back into Div 2 and seek to find a few new players next year. The injuries to key players left us under pressure so hopefully we'll lessen our dependency on Heslin in the next year or two.  The pain from this match will subside and there is definitely scope to press on.  The Dubs are still well over the horizon but we should aim to be competitive with the rest of Leinster.

Sunday was strange.  I didn't really harbour much hope that we'd actually win.  I feared that we'd ship a heavy beating if the Dubs got a run on us.  There is no other team capable of the same kind of feeding frenzy that this Dublin team can unleash on occasions.  I left afterwards with an unfamiliar feeling after a championship match.  We'd lost a provincial final but I wasn't as deflated as I anticipated.
The first few minutes seemed to settle the team and I thought that they played well for most of the first half.  The disappointment was the failure to take some available scores.  The lack of forward support left players in possession with few options.  It was apparent that the WH players were almost all second best in terms of physical strength.  Any time they went into contact it was a turnover.  A number of times we were bottled up on the sideline and players thrown around like Paidi's famous "loaf of bread".  Some of the shots were "Hail Mary" efforts due to an absence of options but some were just poor efforts that should have brought a return.  Heslin's lack of mobility from an early stage didn't help.
Once again we conceded two goals inside a minute.  Cribbin will have something to say about both of them, especially the second one.  I was heartened by the resolve shown from there to the finish.  It was a lost cause but they still threw themselves into challenges and pride was evident from every quarter.  It was a pity we didn't tag on another few points but the focus seemed to keep the concessions under control.
I'd give Tom Cribbin a fair bit of praise for pulling it together.  Dublin in Croker was far from his thoughts until very recently and this style was previously alien to our psyche. 
Gavin will have a few things to think about also.  He'll come against even better drilled defences than ours very soon and they will also possess a sharper edge up front than we could muster.  Connolly showed his class on a number of occasions.  Both Brogans showed glimpses but McManamon and Rock will probably not have increased their stock.
In conclusion I think WH will regard the Leinster campaign as a very positive one.  Three victories in the championship including the long-awaited Meath scalp leading to the final.  A reasonable showing against Dublin and football into late July.  It's not long since this team seemed incapable of manufacturing a win of any sort.  Consecutive relegations amid gloom and recrimination.
This will bring the team a long way in terms of confidence and development.  I'm not sure how elevated the eventual destination may prove but they've turned a major corner and the outlook is far brighter than I recently dared hope.  The prospect of potentially playing championship football in August is almost too good to be true.  We're in bonus territory for a while now so bring on Fermanagh.

Incredible game.  I didn't think I'd get the opportunity to feel this good at a match in Croker again.  This brought the whole 2004 vibe back.  I can rarely remember a WH team putting up scores with the rapidity that we did towards the end.  I felt we were up against it before the game and at half time I was expecting a thumping.  Hopefully this will bring the team on in leaps and bounds.  I don't expect much the next day but the match after that will be interesting.
Tom needs to focus on developing the defence over the next year or two if this team is to develop.  We've shipped big scores and that will need to be resolved if we're going to move forward.

I'm delighted for the two lads.  Connaughton has been the best keeper around for a while now and this makes up for missing out in '04.  John Keane has been superb for years and certainly deserves to add to his tally.

This seems to be a move towards picking players rather than allocating places to counties based on performance.  Think Shane Ryan was very deserving althought Wexford will be very disappointed.

Would have to be county for me - no contest.  Love seeing the club do well but as I've lived outside the county for nearly half my days and don't get back as often as I'd like, the county has become a bigger focus.   I also feel that because we have no real history or tradition of any kind of success, the Leinster title, league titles and underage All Irelands that we have recently claimed have meant an enormous amount to us.  

I always support our county champs in Leinster and have cheered on Shamrocks, Athlone, Moate, Garrycastle, the Downs, Tyrrellspass, etc but have yet to get the same thrill from a club result as the county provides.

I've always been amazed at the polarity of opinion over Jayo.  I think he's a vital part of the Dublin forward unit and they invaribly play poorer if he's absent.  He's very unselfish and extremely intelligent, both on and off the ball.  He has come in and out of fashion but if Dublin are to achieve anything close to their stated aims then Jayo will be an integral part of it.

I'm still gutted after this.  It's even worse this morning.  This was a game that was there for the taking and as a result the opportunity to have a punt at another Delaney slips away.  Fair play to the Dubs however, they stuck at it and raised their game at the end to edge home. 

John Keane was immense. The whole backline was superb and gave the Dublin forwards plenty of trouble.  Connolly impressed me from the Dublin perspective and looks to be a great prospect. 

I think that the Dubs will benefit greatly from this encounter.  They learned a lot about defensive frailties and this match was worth ten games like the Louth one.

Was pleased for Denis as this was his best showing for some time and was needed.  Dessie was excellent before some late wides blotted his performance.  Flan was a massive loss and didn't get to the pace of the game when he arrived.

It's a strange thing to say but the qualifiers don't have the same appeal this time.  Maybe I'll feel different when we head to Tipp but we've been down that route before and while we have benefitted more than most from the back door, it's the Leinster title that is the holy grail for our lads.

Ice baths have been used by track and field athletes for years.  They are excellent just after a very hard training session to aid recovery.  In terms of injury rehabilitation they are generally similar to using ice on the area. No miracle cure but no harm either.  The cryotherapy chamber in Poland has been used by athletes for years, even if the IRFU et al only cottoned on in the last few years.  It is slightly different to the ice bath and is used as a prehabilitation measure during heavy training.  It is also used by endurance athletes as recovery after gruelling events.  There is anecdotal  evidence that it's useful in treating injury.

The other issue is the level of immersion.  There is no real benefit to lowering your whole body into it.  This simply adds to discomfort and freezes tissue that, lets face it, doesn't require that kind of (mis)treatment.  It also ensures that you cannot bear to stay in long enough to get the maximum benefit.  I remember the documentary about the Dubs where ice baths were used.  There was a clip of Paul Casey shivering in the tub and someone poured water over his head.  The water over his head only served to give him a thumping headache and he would have been far better off if he was standing with the water up to his upper thighs.  This would have allowed him spend longer in the water and target his leg muscles.

As an aside I am acquainted with a multiple Olympian who put rubber gloves on the feet when entering the bath to ensure the feet were protected and allow longer exposure to the soothing effects of the ice water.

I hear the bookies have the Dubs at 2-9 and 1-5 with WH 9-2.  These are overwhelming odds.  A lot depends on how Donal and Duffy fare until Flan arrives.  We need to keep a close eye on Ryan as he runs out wide for Cluxton's pinpoint kickouts. We were cleaned out in midfield two years ago and as a result got a spanking.  Breaking ball will be crucial.  Denis also needs to keep a cool head when his inevitable goal chance arrives. If he tries to blast Cluxton into the net we'll have no joy. Place it Denis!!  I'm hoping the half backs will be as tight as ever.  Jayo cannot be allowed any space to pull the strings either. It's vital not to let the Dubs get daylight as they drive on with the crowd behind them.  The longer we keep the crowd edgy the better.  Most of the Dub fans that I meet are very confident.  Some have made comments to the tune that if they cannot overcome us without too much fuss they have no business meeting the likes of Kerry.  That may well be true but I'm hoping that there will be mass anxiety with ten minutes to go.

The Sunday Game theme is a piece by James Last.  Not sure what it's called but you should be able to find it on the net.

Any update on Flan?