Top Hurling Stories

Westmeath’s John Shaw says the Lake County have to emulate their second half performance in the shock win over Antrim last month if they want to go one step better and knock Galway out of the Leinster GAA Hurling Championship on Sunday.

We have beaten Antrim and Carlow and we need to step up now and beat an Offaly or a Wexford. Or Galway.

John Shaw, Westmeath

Shaw, the veteran Raharney clubman, says the 0-14 to 0-12 win over the Saffrons was the best performance he has seen from a Westmeath team in his 13 seasons playing at inter-county level.

But, in an interview with GAA.ie, the 30-year-old full-forward admits the players were ‘annoyed’ with their first half performance and need to play for the full 70 minutes against Galway on Sunday or they run the risk of being heavily beaten.

Westmeath were five points down at half-time against Antrim and had a man sent off after half an hour, but Brian Hanley’s side defied the odds and came back strongly to score a sensational win.

“The second half especially was a real team performance - everyone played out of their skins,” says Shaw.

“We will be trying to emulate that against Galway. Against Galway a performance in both halves will be required. One half won’t be good enough, we’ll be out of sight really.

“Antrim’s downfall was that they had chances to put us away in the first half and they allowed us to remain in the game.”

Westmeath go into Sunday’s clash with the Tribesmen, again with home advantage at Cusack Park, Mullingar, brimming with confidence.

Last year, the underdogs went toe-to-toe with Galway for 60 minutes before fading in the closing stages, losing eventually on a 2-14 to 4-17 scoreline.

Speaking at the launch of the Etihad Skyline tour in Croke Park on Wednesday, Shaw admits he would love to be in a similar position with 10 minutes to go on Sunday, knowing that their conditioning and fitness levels have improved immeasurably in the meantime.

“With 10 minutes to go against Galway it was a draw game. If we get to that stage this year we will have a great chance because physically we are in much better shape than we were last year. There has been a big turnaround in terms of training and the attitude to training this year.

“That’s what we are aiming to try and do – to put ourselves in a position that we can win the game.

“If we get to these last 10 or 15 minutes and we are in the game anything can happen then.”

Westmeath’s story is truly a remarkable one. Last April, when Galway native Hanley was appointed as manager, he took over a side that had lost all seven of their Allianz Hurling League Division II games.

Since then, they have claimed Championship wins over Carlow and Antrim and contested a Division IIA League final, losing narrowly to the Barrowsiders.

“The manager has brought in professionalism and honesty,” says Shaw. “He’s been straight down the line from the very start. Lads have responded to it.

“He always kept telling us, ‘The hurlers are there, the hurlers are there’ but we needed to prepare ourselves a little bit better. Hopefully that’s what we’ve been doing this year and we will see the fruits of it on Sunday again.

“For example, there are only five or six players there this Sunday that played against Galway last year. That’s an overhaul. There are other players that could be there this year and for one reason or another – guys are away or couldn’t commit – couldn’t be there.

“We could be even stronger if we had everybody. There are plenty of players there and Westmeath clubs have shown that they are able to compete in the Leinster Championshp with any club team in Ireland. The talent is there.”

Shaw’s club, Raharney, are a shining example of the quality that is in Westmeath. They have won three of the last six county championships and knocked 2012 All-Ireland club finalists Coolderry out in the provincial stages of the competition in 2010.

But since he was called into the Westmeath senior panel in 2000, he has known mostly lean times, with the Lake men struggling to cement their place as regular competitors for the Liam MacCarthy Cup.

Indeed, the win over Antrim last month was just the third victory in the top tier of the championship – Dublin in 2006 and Carlow last year being the others - he has experienced in 13 years.

“The early years were our own fault,” adds Shaw, who captained the Westmeath side that won the Christy Ring Cup title in 2005. “The last five years have been a lot better and you will only get victories if you prepare a lot better. We’ve seen that now.

“I think that over the next five years Westmeath will have a lot more victories in the Leinster Championship. That’s what we are looking for – to progress.

“We have beaten Antrim and Carlow and we need to step up now and beat an Offaly or a Wexford. Or Galway.”