Kieran Martin has said a “flustered” Westmeath side got their thoughts together at half-time before staging one of the championship’s greatest ever comebacks in their 3-19 to 2-18 Leinster SFC semi-final win over Meath.
Westmeath trailed their neighbours and great rivals by eight points at the break, 2-12- to 1-07, before achieving a historic comeback to book a place in their Leinster finals with their first ever championship win over the Royals.
Martin’s 2-03 was at the heart of a stunning Westmeath display, and speaking to RTÉ Sport after the game, he made it clear he was aware of the scale of the achievement.
“We’ll take the victory as it comes,” Martin said. “They don’t come too often, especially against Meath. And the way to win it, it just caps the day completely.”
“We’re going to go as far as we can. We’re going to keep pushing" - Kieran Martin
It was a most unlikely-looking victory for long stretches of the first half; during which Westmeath were ten points down at one stage.
Martin said that inexperience had played a part in that first half, and that some Westmeath players had been affected by playing in front of a larger crowd than they were used to.
“With five minutes left in the first half, we just needed to get into to half-time to regroup,” he said. “A lot of lads were nervous, their first time playing [in Croke Park], and there wouldn’t be that bit [as regards the number in the crowd]; they wouldn’t be used to them, especially when you have the Dublin supporters coming in in the second half.
“We just needed to regroup, get ourselves together and just keep going on, pushing on. We knew if we got the first three or four points in the [second] half that we’d be well back in it, and move on from there.”
Martin admitted that Westmeath were rocked by Meath’s brace of goals with the space of two minutes in the first half, “especially after us getting the goal; we were right back into it, and [then for] them to come and get two goals, it killed the game completely.”
He said Westmeath players had become “flustered” and “started doing their own thing”, and that getting in at half-time had allowed them to “get our thoughts together”.
That all changed in the second, when Westmeath emerged a changed team, and picked Meath apart to complete the comeback.
Martin admitted his colleagues were conscious of the weight of history on their shoulders as they bid for a first championship win over their neighbours, and although he said it “wouldn’t really be in your head, it still plays that small little bit, to have that power over you”.
He said “it means the world” for Westmeath players and supporters to beat Meath, but that they will not be happy to settle for this win.
“We’re going to go as far as we can. We’re going to keep pushing. Two weeks’ time, three weeks’ time, we’ll be out again. We’re just going to settle back down, enjoy tonight, and get back to the training field Tuesday.”
On a personal level, Martin’s 2-03 was extremely impressive, but he was keen to stress the collective effort.
“It’s Westmeath on the scoreboard. It doesn’t matter if you score. The whole panel is in the Leinster final, and we just can’t wait for it.”
