{"id":459238,"date":"2026-05-21T00:33:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T00:33:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/459238\/"},"modified":"2026-05-21T00:33:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T00:33:12","slug":"spillane-lambasts-dublin-fans-over-massive-issue-in-westmeath-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/459238\/","title":{"rendered":"Spillane Lambasts Dublin Fans Over Massive Issue In Westmeath Loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

As if another reminder was needed, Sunday’s Leinster final loss to Westmeath was an example of just how far Dublin have fallen over the last couple of seasons.<\/p>\n

The Dubs were throughly outplayed for the vast majority of the game, especially in extra-time. It was apparent that one team on the day was fitter, hungrier, and simply more talented.<\/p>\n

It is not a scenario that many could have envisaged just a couple of seasons ago.<\/p>\n

READ ALSO:\u00a0GAA Power Rankings Feature Some Big Swings After Stunning Provincial Finals<\/a><\/p>\n

READ ALSO:\u00a0Paul Galvin Rubbishes Narrative About Three Dublin Stars After Westmeath Loss<\/a><\/p>\n

Pat Spillane Highlights Dublin Fan Issue vs Westmeath<\/p>\n

Dublin have struggled in many facets of the game this season, but their lack of firepower in attack was evident in the loss to Westmeath. They failed to score a goal in the game, while their issues with two-pointers have also been well discussed.<\/p>\n

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Speaking on the Indo GAA Podcast<\/a>, Pat Spillane gave a startling two-pointer stat to show just how poor Dublin were in that particular area during Sunday’s game.<\/p>\n

Goals win matches. Westmeath got two, Dublin got nothing. You have the importance of two-pointers, Westmeath got three two-pointers.<\/p>\n

You look at Dublin with two-pointers. One of their achilles heals last season was their inability to go for two-pointers. We thought in the league was a bit of a change.<\/p>\n

When was the first time that a Dublin player had a shot at a two-pointer from play? The 79th minute. The ninth minute of extra-time…<\/p>\n

They did score a two-pointer from play, it was in the 88th minute…<\/p>\n

They scored one two-pointer against Louth, they scored three two-pointers against Wicklow (with the aid of a significant wind). They scored no goals in their last two matches.<\/p>\n

It was not just the action on the pitch that was jarring from a Dublin perspective.<\/p>\n

A crowd of just under 37,000 was in Croke Park for the game, but it seemed as though up to two-thirds of those fans hailed from Westmeath. The midlanders certainly provided the majority of the atmosphere on the day.<\/p>\n

Crowds for Leinster finals involving Dublin have steadily declined over the last decade or so. However, this was perhaps the most worrying example of the waning interest among Dubs supporters.<\/p>\n

Spillane would go on to hammer the fans from the capital for their poor support in this fixture.<\/p>\n

Once upon a time Croke Park was their fortress. They have played five league and championship games there this year and have won one…<\/p>\n

What a joke that crowd in Croke Park was. What an embarrassment for the Dubs. They rocked up with 40,000 or 50,000 to all their big games in their heyday.<\/p>\n

It’s when you’re down or slipping, that’s when you need your supporters. Those fair weather supporters, they’re gone.<\/p>\n

Westmeath, a small county, outnumbered them. I’d say there 20,000-plus from Westmeath, only 10,000 or 12,000 from Dublin.<\/p>\n

It is unlikely that many Dublin supporters will be back onside as a result of this latest performance, with Westmeath looking a much superior outfit on the day.<\/p>\n

You get the sense it could be a long way back for the Dubs in their bid to compete for another All-Ireland title.<\/p>\n

SEE ALSO:\u00a0Darragh \u00d3 S\u00e9 Suggests Just Four Counties Have A Chance To Win 2026 All-Ireland<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As if another reminder was needed, Sunday’s Leinster final loss to Westmeath was an example of just how…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459239,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[615,61,60,112],"class_list":["post-459238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-dublin","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459238","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=459238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}