Westmeath’s Walsh Cup campaign concluded with a 3-18 to 0-17 defeat against Galway at St Loman’s, Mullingar, on Sunday.a
Galway, all-Ireland finalists in 2015, struck three first-half goals courtesy of Jason Flynn (2 ) and Niall Burke to seize control. Despite those opening-quarter concessions, Westmeath battled impressively throughout a lively match. Manager Michael Ryan was pleased with the display following the comprehensive loss to NUIG earlier in the competition. “It was a decent performance, I thought we played reasonably well,” was Ryan’s verdict.
“I thought we should have got a few more scores, we had a good few wides. Overall, right through the field it was a big improvement on last week. That coincided with the fact that we got a few guys like Shane Power and Alan Devine back, guys who had been injured. Aonghus Clarke came back to play a few minutes too.”
The Allianz Hurling League Division 2A clash against London at Ruislip on February 14 is the match dominating Ryan’s thoughts now: “We got what we wanted out of the Walsh Cup,” Ryan admitted. “We were disappointed with last week’s performance, but we played well against DCU and a decent performance against Galway. Overall we’ve had a good look at everybody on the panel, but the Walsh Cup is the Walsh Cup.
“What really matters for us is the league that starts on February 14 over in London. That is what we really want to go for.” Meanwhile, next Sunday Emmet McDonnell’s promising Westmeath u21 footballers face Offaly at O’Connor Park in the Hastings Cup semi-final.
