Drawn in a group with 2021 All-Ireland winners Tyrone, 2022 finalists Galway, and Armagh – who had just lost the Ulster final to Derry on penalties – they were expected to be the odd one out of the four.
And that’s exactly how it panned out. After three games, Westmeath were bottom and out of the race for Sam Maguire, though it hardly tells the full story.
First they went to Armagh and almost stormed the Athletic Grounds. A 67th-minute goal, which came after a point attempt fell kindly to Conor Turbitt, proved to be their undoing. The Westmeath Independent said it was “Westmeath’s best championship performance in several years”.
Galway were next on the list and the record books show the Tribesmen had eight points to spare in Mullingar. However, Westmeath led by a point at half-time and were level until Ray Connellan picked up a second yellow card in the 53rd minute. After that, Pádraic Joyce sensed blood and sent for Damien Comer, who scored points with his first two involvements.
They went into the final round with Tyrone still in the mix. In the end their fate, quite literally, came down to the last kick of the ball. With the teams level, John Heslin had a free to win it for Westmeath and secure passage to a preliminary quarter-final. His effort fell just wide. Westmeath were out but they had left their mark.
“I’m proud of the players they have played exceptionally well in the games and performed at a very high level,” manager Dessie Dolan said after the draw with Tyrone. “Proud of the fact that we played Galway, who were in the final last year. Maybe coming into it there was a bit of commentary that we didn’t deserve to be here as Tailteann Cup winners.
“But I think there has to be a platform for teams that win the Tailteann Cup to compete at this level. We got a taste of it. We loved it and we loved the experience of playing at this level.”
As the winners of the first running of the Tailteann Cup, they were the competition’s guinea pigs. And they have done the second-tier championship some service. First they were afforded a heroes’ welcome back to Mullingar, scenes that did wonders for the legitimacy of the competition. Given football’s long and complicated history with tiers, that couldn’t be taken for granted.
And they followed that up last year by showing Tailteann champions have the stuff to run with the bulls in the All-Ireland series.
And this weekend they go on the road again, qualifying for the All-Ireland again by virtue of their Division 3 final win over Down. Once again it’s Armagh in the Athletic Grounds. Defeat to Wicklow in Leinster isn’t the sort of form that gives confidence but they’ll likely feel they let Kieran McGeeney’s men off the hook 12 months ago.
Orchard selector Kieran McKeever acknowledged as much this week, describing the prospect of Westmeath as “difficult”.
Westmeath, forced to watch from the sidelines since losing to Wicklow on April 7, will hope Armagh’s wounds from another penalty shoot-out defeat have not yet healed. If they haven’t, Dolan’s men have shown they’ve the tools to make their mark.
