A BITTER SWEET DAY FOR DESSIE

DIVISION 3 FINAL

Westmeath Down 0-13

2-10

BY PAUL KEANE

DESSIE DOLAN says it’s “absolutely ridiculous” that his Westmeath team could still end up playing in the Tailteann Cup.

Two goals from midfielder Jonathan Lynam and a Sam Mccartan tour de force helped the Lake County secure the NFL Division 3 title (above).

It has boosted their league ranking and given them a fighting chance of competing for the Sam Maguire Cup again.

But there are still no guarantees for the 2022 Tailteann Cup winners who could yet end up in the second tier again if they don’t reach their provincial final.

Boss Dolan believes ‘lop-sided’ provincial championships in Connacht and Munster are a big problem as minnow teams can get a soft draw to their provincial final.

Dolan said: “There was commentary that the Division 3 [winning] team should be given priority and I totally agree with that and it’s not just because we won the Division 3 title.

“I do think if you are in the Connacht Championship and you get on the right side of the draw, and you are in a provincial championship (final), that seems absolutely ridiculous to me.

“Similarly in the

Munster Championship, Cork and Kerry are on one side of the draw.

That seems ridiculous in two small provinces. It is an anomaly and maybe it will be fixed and certainly it would give great importance to Division 3 and the opportunity to get into the All-ireland series would be a massive thing for the competition.”

Westmeath will open their Championship account with a tie against Wicklow next Sunday in Portlaoise. If they win that Round 1 encounter, they will meet Kildare the following weekend, their fifth consecutive weekend of action.

There would still be a semi-final tie to win after that before Sam Maguire Cup qualification would be guaranteed as their league ranking may not yet be high enough.

Down are in an even more difficult situation with regards the Championship as they will probably need to beat Antrim, on April 13, and then Armagh or

Fermanagh to avoid a third season in the Tailteann

Cup.

Down manager Conor Laverty pointed to their big Round 7 win over Clare who finished third in Division 3 but who are tipped to reach the

Munster final.

Laverty said: “Probably a wee bit of a flaw in the system when you are beating teams in the League and they can still get into the Sam Maguire series.”

WESTMEATH: J Daly; D Scahill, C Drumm, J Gonoud; S Mccartan (0-4, 0-2 45), J Dolan, D Lynch (0-1); R Connellan, J Lynam (2-0); A Mccormack, R O’toole, C Dillon (0-1); L Loughlin (0-1, 1f), S Smith, R Forde (0-3, 1f). Subs: S Baker for Smith 45, L Dolan for Loughlin 50, M Whittaker for Dillon 54, N Harte for Gonoud 60, J Heslin for

Forde 71.

DOWN: J O’hare; R Mcevoy, P Fegan, P Laverty; F Mcelroy, D Magill, C Doherty; P Havern (0-7, 7f), J Flynn; M Rooney (0-1), L Kerr (0-3), D Guinness; J Guinness, O Murdock (0-1), J Mcgovern. Subs: O Savage (0-1) for Mcgovern 39, S Annett for J Guinness 44, C

Francis for Mcelroy 54, B O’hagan for Rooney 61, R Mason for Flynn 66.

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