By Conor McKenna
The man who guided Westmeath to a historic Under-21 hurling victory over Kilkenny has expressed his dismay at being removed from his post by the county board.
Adrian Moran will be replaced by senior manager Michael Ryan, who will oversee both teams, with the county board insisting the decision was made in the best interests of Westmeath GAA.
Moran, who led Westmeath U21s to historic victories over Laois, and most notably Kilkenny, in 2016 was gutted at the county board's decision to dismiss him and dismayed he was not granted a meeting to discuss the situation.
"Disbelief and disappointment is the feeling amongst all management as I contacted them last night," Moran told RTÉ Sport.
"We as a group felt that we had more to offer and at least deserved a meeting with the County Board as I previously requested by email to discuss possible future plans and proposals which we were excited about."
Beating Kilkenny was a magical moment for hurling in general, both in Westmeath and further afield, but it wasn’t deemed good enough to keep the job.
Moran describes how nobody even wanted the job in 2016, as having drawn the Cats in the opening round, it was seen as mission impossible.
"This is a job that nobody wanted in 2016. The feeling was that 2015 didn’t go well and it was impossible for one management team to run two squads.
"After a senior intercounty match in February 2016 it was brought to our attention that the county board had exhausted all avenues to find an U21 manager to prepare a squad to take on Kilkenny in the first round. Darren McCormack and I with the help of physio Niamh Guy,sports performance coach Denis Coen and stats man Tomas Mount took on the task of preparing a panel."
This is why we love #BGEU21 hurling! Well done @westmeath_gaa Pic from @MidlandsSport pic.twitter.com/80lpfQauoA
— BGEGAA (@BGEGAA) May 25, 2016
Moran was very frustrated at the way he was dismissed, stating how it was a complete disrespect to the management team, who dedicate their time to the team, on a purely voluntary basis and spoke of how the memories of overcoming Kilkenny and Laois for the first time ever, will stay with him forever.
"We built a very strong ,united positive Panel which we are Proud of. The Joyful memories of defeating Kilkenny and Laois in Championship will live with us forever.
"We feel it is total lack of respect to Westmeath men volunteering their time for the betterment of Westmeath Hurling."
County Board chairman Sean Sheridan has defended the decision.
"After reviewing the situation between football and hurling, we felt the one management team between senior and U21 was the best going forward in the interests of Westmeath GAA," he told RTÉ Sport.
