HESLIN: WE ARE GOING TO WIN
JOHN HESLIN wants to ignore Westmeath’s shocking record against Meath — it’s all about the future for the St Loman’s man. More than 127 years of Leinster Championship football has never seen a Westmeath victory over Meath, but Heslin is intent on finally overturning that embarrassing statistic. ‘For me it doesn’t matter who I’m playing. You’re going to Croke Park and playing a Leinster semi-final whatever happened in the past is history,’ said the 22-year-old. ‘I don’t dwell on history because then you’d be going in with a narrow mindset. This is a new team with a new frame of mind and we’re going to win. There is no other way about it.’ Victories over Louth and Wexford mean Westmeath already have their best provincial return in the last seven seasons, but at this stage only a Leinster final place will mask the disappointment of relegation to Division 3. Despite those early-season setbacks, though, Heslin feels positive about Westmeath’s chances, especially with the confident, buoyant squad Tom Cribbin has moulded. ‘We got the win, which was great, that’s two wins on the bounce now and you cant argue with that. We’re just looking forward to the next day now. But it’s not only the wins. We have a good atmosphere in the dressing room with the players and everyone gets on really well. ‘It’s like a club team. You come in and you look forward to training, there is a great buzz in it. We have kind of gone out with the aim of improving every day we go out. Be it training or a game we look to learn from it. ‘We were by no means happy with that performance [against Wexford], there is no such thing as that. But the pressure was on and the lads stood up as a unit. We’ll need to up it again to win a Leinster semi-final.’