An Iarmhí v Fear Manach

[Iarmhí Abú]

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.