Championship 4W HEad2heAD

Who: Westmeath
What: Leinster Senior Football Championship First Round
When: 3:30pm
Where: Navan

As supporters, this is what we are all about.
Be it Sunshine championship, ice cold league or die hard O’byrne cup ones, we all anticipate the taste of white hot championship action.
The., all on the day, knockout, hard ground, new ball stirs an emotion in us that brings out the passion we have for our county.
It is also there, we Judge.

You could play 50 good league games for the county and 1 bad championship match, and that is where, and how you will be remembered and judged.

Players know all this, as they are the lucky fans who get to pull on the jersey. They get the opportunity to impact the outcome whereas we don’t. however we don’t go through the sacrifice they do.

All these factors stir the emotions in the player, good players use the emotions to help them perform, where bad players crumble.

That, is what makes championship special.

Navan will be the perfect canvas for both sets of artist’s; its vast field will suit both sides to create hopefully a Leinster football masterpiece.

Such is the quality of Leinster football at the moment this game is becoming increasingly hard to call. Both sides survived the drop from Division 2 and took huge confidence off the back of it.

Since then though, momentum might have dwindled.

I would worry about the predictable nature of our team selection; the exodus of players to America will have done nothing to help the lack of competition for places, whereas Westmeath have had the opposite in squad developments, an Garrycastle contingent injection and the return of a Mullingar emigrant, John Heslin from Australia.

But still this is championship, where you go to battle side by side with your fellow comrades and the 15 starters from Louth are very settled and know each other’s game, inside out.

That unity will hopefully stand to us.

HeAD to HEad

With the absence of Dessie Finnegan (not Dolan ha), it brings us some fortune as it means we play with a more modern, versatile defensive unit, days of the big full back are long gone. Liam Shevlin typifies the modern game fast, strong runner and dynamic, who can man any defensive position, who he will pick up more than where he actually starts will be more important. Dennis Glennon usually starts out the field so although he is named 14, don’t be surprised if he plays out the field. Shevlin gives us three perfect options, 1. go with him 2. Go out centre back and let Jamie mark him or 3. Stay full back and cover.

Actually, any of one of our defenders can slot in, anywhere in our defence.

With the exception of one

Ray Finnegan/James Dolan
Pound for pound, they are both well matched, and in basketball terms both players are  swingmen for each team. They are both fluid in defence and attack. How many times have we seen Ray swing momentum for Louth and St pats with surging runs? Well, Dolan does/has the same role for Garrycastle and Westmeath. Ray has to start on him.

In that crucial area of breaking ball, where 16 players will battle for possession. Our midfield has the mobility to come out on top.

Depending on the outcome of Paddy Keenan/John Heslin
Keenan the best in Leinster and Heslin the man who would be king. A very talented player for the past few seasons now has his chance to prove his worth. He did after all leave a lucrative Aussie rules contract behind him so he could play in days like this such was his love of GAA. He has terrific hands and footpassing, shot taking accuracy but hopefully PK will make him long for a land down under.

We have selected, what I believe our best equipped forward line, they have the balance of workrate, creativity and scoring power just right.

Speaking of Scoring power the Darren Clarke/Kevin Maguire Match up is our most crucial. Kevin Maguire was Westmeaths under 21 captain this year and believe it or not played in the 2010 semi final, marking Colm Judge (remember him) quite well that day too.

Clarkey this year has been a different animal when it comes to scoring. We’ll need that hunger for scores from him tomorrow if we are to progress.

Things to expect: NO Complacency from Louth we will have learned from Carlow last year, a different Westmeath team from the league with no less than 7 new faces from that cold day in haggardstown, Fitzer sporting a pair of shorts if the sun is anyway out , Dessie Dolan in an Elvis costume telling Westmeath people ‘I’m not retired baby,I’m just having a break’ , and Our Westmeath hex to continue to 5 games won in a row (Gulp, nobody mention law of averages).