GRIND TO A HALT..
KIERAN MARTIN says Westmeath will borrow from the Dublin playbook as they seek to steal the Dubs’ Leinster crown.
Jack Cooney’s side face Laois in Tullamore on Sunday and a win will put them within one game the provincial decider in Croke Park.
And, after League final glory in Division 3 – against Laois – following O’byrne Cup success at the start of the year, skipper Martin believes Westmeath have learned a lesson from the Dubs going into this summer.
“Our first goal is to beat Laois and then whatever happens after that, we’re going out to win every game,” the 29-yearold declared.
“You have to hope we can beat Dublin (if the sides meet in the provincial decider).
“They could have a bad day, you never know.
“They’re just so good, when they’re not playing well, at grinding out wins – and I find with us this year, that’s the one thing we did very well.
“When we weren’t playing very well, we still ground out a win by a point or two and we just kept pushing on.
“Jack and the lads have brought huge belief into the team.
“The little bits make a big difference when you come to the end. It’s working on small things.
“Like, in the Offaly game (in the League), we were eight points down in the second half and we just kept grinding.
“And once we got going, you could see the lads starting to build and build and we got that point at the end to win it.
“You can see the lads are always focusing on that.
“The last 15 or 20 minutes are the most important part of the game, and we’re just working to be in the game at that stage and push on because, in the first half, you can’t win a game but you can lose it.
“So it’s a matter of being in the game at the right time and pushing on from there.”
Martin is confident it will be a different story this weekend to last year’s Leinster exit at the hands of Laois at O’connor Park.
“The way things happened last year, it just kind of fell apart. A few lads went to America, we were struggling with injuries – John Heslin (inset) was out injured, Tommy Mcdaniel was flying and had that bad injury in the club championship.”
Martin is painfully aware that Westmeath have had a tendency to play really well in one game, then fail to follow up with a similar performance the next.
“The one thing we brought up at the start of the year is we would just like to stay more consistent,” he added.
“The lads have brought that into training, that when we arrive to every training it has to be at 100 per cent more intensity and just getting everything right, that you’re there in plenty of time.
“If you’re training consistently, you’re going to play consistently.”