{"id":457597,"date":"2026-05-20T01:43:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T01:43:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/457597\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T01:43:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T01:43:28","slug":"westmeaths-breaking-ball-nous-and-raw-leadership-proved-too-much-for-dublin-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/457597\/","title":{"rendered":"Westmeath\u2019s breaking-ball nous and raw leadership proved too much for Dublin \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Westmeath landed the Delaney Cup<\/a> for the first time since 2004 with a gameplan that came from Mark McHugh and his coaching team, but which needed to be executed by real leadership on the field. <\/p>\n

Last week, this column was complimentary of Roscommon\u2019s ability<\/a> to get short kickouts away, but this was largely down to a poor Galway defensive set-up for kickouts. In last Sunday\u2019s Leinster final, Westmeath perfectly executed a kickout defence that was the foundation for their win \u2013 a win which, truth be told, should have been more comfortable. <\/p>\n

On their road to the Leinster final, Westmeath<\/a> had shown considerable tactical nous on opposition kickouts and this continued with a well-executed plan. There was excellent spacing in their forwards to ensure they were covering the short and ready to be back under breaking ball. <\/p>\n

The execution of this plan was made considerably easier following the unfortunate injury picked up by Dublin<\/a>\u2019s Peadar \u00d3 Cofaigh Byrne in the 15th minute. He was the target for five early kickouts in that opening quarter-hour and Dublin secured four of them (two clean catches by the Cuala man and two breaking balls, all from long kicks). <\/p>\n

The biggest upshot from his early exit was clear: Westmeath were able to gamble that bit further out onto the breaks, while still covering off the shorts, as Dublin seemed averse to going short. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe Westmeath set-up for breaking ball against Dublin \"TheThe numbers show how Dublin suffered after they lost Peadar \u00d3 Cofaigh Byrne. <\/p>\n

It is interesting to note it took until the 25th minute for this absence to be felt. Dublin dominated the 10 minutes after \u00d3 Cofaigh Byrne\u2019s exit, outscoring the Lake County 0-5 to 0-0. However, Dublin\u2019s troubles arrived when they had the ball on the tee. <\/p>\n

This was when \u00d3 Cofaigh Byrne\u2019s absence started to really show, as the Dublin kickout retention figures above show. \u00c9amonn Fitzmaurice, The Sunday Game co-commentator, identified the Sky Blues\u2019 lack of short options for goalkeeper Evan Comerford, saying: \u201cDublin don\u2019t look like they\u2019ve done a huge pile of work on short kickouts, so don\u2019t think they\u2019re going to start it now.\u201d <\/p>\n

Fitzmaurice delivered that piece of insight as Dublin\u2019s first kickout in extra-time went out over the sideline. The Dublin defenders\u2019 lack of willingness to make runs, in order to get short kicks off, was glaring. They remained static on the arc.<\/p>\n

\"StaticStatic defenders meant Evan Comerford was left with no short-kick options. <\/p>\n

Dublin got joy from Killian McGinnis for a short period at the start of the second half, as he won two long kicks. However, Westmeath quickly adjusted to this option. They had him double-marked for the 45th minute kickout, as Sam McCartan got out underneath the break and set up Matty Whittaker for a huge two-pointer. <\/p>\n

\"WestmeathWestmeath adjusted their plan and when Killian McGinnis became the next kickout target, he was double marked. <\/p>\n

In the closing 10 minutes of normal time, Westmeath won the final four Dublin kickouts, but they failed to punish them. This gave the Dubs a reprieve as the game went to extra time. The leadership shown by a number of Westmeath men was impressive to watch. <\/p>\n

\"Westmeath'sWestmeath’s spacing on the press allowed them to rule out short balls but be ready to contest the breaks. \"WestmeathWestmeath players were ready to attack isolated Dublin catchers. <\/p>\n

Senan Baker<\/p>\n

In sharp contrast to Dublin\u2019s inability to go short and get hands on ball, Westmeath showed real bravery as Jason Daly got his short kickout off to Tadhg Baker, when Westmeath were a point down with less than 90 seconds left on the clock. <\/p>\n

\"AsAs the clock ran down, Jason Daly executed a brave short kickout. <\/p>\n

Sixteen seconds later, Senan Baker slotted the ball over the bar under no pressure from Charlie McMorrow, to level the game at 0-22 each. The Caulry man scored this point off his left, his fourth following his introduction in the 43rd minute. He scored two off his right and two off his left, which was a fine display of bilaterality by the DCU Sigerson Cup winner. I mention this as it would have pleased PhD researcher Karol Dillon, who is promoting the importance of bilaterality in Gaelic football. One of these scores was a beautifully executed backdoor cut by Baker in the 56th minute as Sam McCartan assisted. <\/p>\n

\"PerfectlyPerfectly executed backdoor cut led to a score by Senan Baker for Westmeath. <\/p>\n

Sam McCartan<\/p>\n

Sam McCartan was a force of nature, driving Westmeath forward as the game was in the melting pot. He took the final quarter and extra-time by the scruff of the neck, with brave and aggressive plays. He scored an excellent point in extra-time and showed real quality with an ambitious crossfield sideline in the 72nd minute. <\/p>\n

McCartan continued to step up despite two clutch wides in normal time. When Dublin got their first score of extra-time, it was McCartan who stood up to get Westmeath on the ball and out. He ran hard into the corner of the arc between Hill 16 and the Cusack Stand to get hands on ball in the 83rd minute, which was calmly worked in their defensive third. This was alongside constantly winning breaking ball all day.<\/p>\n

\"Westmeath'sWestmeath’s Sam McCartan provides an option for a short kickout in the second half of extra-time. <\/p>\n

Tadhg Baker <\/p>\n

That 83rd-minute kickout was calmly worked out until the powerhouse Tadhg Baker made a lung-busting run straight up the middle of the field. He carried the ball more than 70 yards, driving past several Dublin players, before offloading to help set up a John Heslin two-pointer. <\/p>\n

\"TadhgTadhg Baker was still carrying the ball powerfully in extra-time. <\/p>\n

This was to be Tadhg Baker\u2019s last impact, as he had to go off seconds later. No more to give for his county. He had been involved in another inspiring play in the 76th minute as he made a huge turnover on Ciar\u00e1n Kilkenny in front of the Westmeath goal. This led to the fortuitous Br\u00edan Cooney goal as he attempted the two-pointer. Interestingly, in this play Heslin got the ball off Baker and was at the end of the move as he assisted Cooney with a deft handpass, which was followed by a well executed screen on the Dublin defender. This gave Westmeath an unassailable seven-point lead at that point, 1-26 to 0-22.<\/p>\n

\"TadhgTadhg Baker strips possession from Ciar\u00e1n Kilkenny and John Heslin collects the break. \"JohnJohn Heslin is involved in the move at the other end of the pitch leading to Westmeath’s first goal. <\/p>\n

In a post-game interview with RT\u00c9 Radio One, Senan Baker talked about playing football in the garden with his younger brother and tearing lumps out of one another. Tadhg is etched in the mould of his father, Clare\u2019s Ollie Baker, in his combative style. I\u2019d imagine there was no shying away from the physical exchanges from the younger sibling. <\/p>\n

Captain Ronan Wallace also talked candidly post-game of the gameplan around the Dublin kickouts and looking to force them long, \u201cThey are probably lacking on long kickouts,\u201d he said. \u201cWe addressed that during the week and we just said if we can nullify the shorts, we\u2019ll break the ball and just get under breaks\u201d. <\/p>\n

They did this in spades. Allied to an unfortunate injury to Dublin\u2019s best kickout option and so many of the Westmeath players standing up to take responsibility, it was vital in the direction of the game \u2013 and ultimately, the result. <\/p>\n

Paul O\u2019Brien is a performance analyst with The Performance Process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Westmeath landed the Delaney Cup for the first time since 2004 with a gameplan that came from Mark…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":457598,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2179,110979,189603,42,43,40,38,41,39,74467],"class_list":["post-457597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-dublin-gaa","tag-football-championship","tag-gaa-match-analysis","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-westmeath-gaa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}