Heslin makes the headlines as Lake focus on promotion
JOHN HESLIN opened up plenty of debate about the health and welfare of everybody connected with inter-county squads amid Covid-19 when taking to Twitter last week, but the Westmeath star also made headlines on the pitch as the action recommenced in Cusack Park on Saturday.
The St Loman’s attacker was in irresistible form, kicking eight points, including four from play, as Westmeath left themselves in with a fighting chance of securing promotion to the League’s top tier when they collide with Kildare next Saturday.
Heslin moved to clarify his comments on social media following their comprehensive defeat of Laois and insisted that he was “just asking the question” after pondering “when does the ‘inter-county return badly needed in these grim days’ commentary end?” as cases continue to soar.
“My girlfriend is a nurse in A&E working with positive cases this week and then I’m going out training with lads that might be a teacher in school, 30 kids, two parents, I don’t need to do the multiplication but you can see how quickly something could spread,” Heslin told the Irish Independent.
“The question needed to be asked but I’m delighted to play, I want to play next weekend and I’ll be there training on Tuesday night, hopefully fingers crossed. The precautions were put in place, I’d to get tested this week and luckily it was back negative.
“When you’re in that position I think people will see that suddenly, it’s a little bit different than they think. It’s okay to be standing on the sideline or at home watching it saying ‘them lads should be training’ but the cases have gone up so naturally enough, you’re taking a risk.”
Heslin (pictured below) lauded the “serious precautions” in place at the Mullingar venue with both teams exiting and entering their dressing rooms wearing face masks and he feels that it must be “ensured that the player is not the last thing in the equation” given the potential health implications.
“The first thing I was asked to do at the very start of the pandemic was to put out a message by the HSE to be a leader as an inter-county player and say what we need to do ‘keep our distance, wash our hands and that’.
Delighted
“It’s gone a little bit different from that and we are facing a little bit of a battle as a nation so look, I’m delighted to be playing football and if it brings a bit of excitement to people, that’s great,” Heslin added.
Lake boss Jack Cooney echoed Heslin’s sentiments when admitting that “everyone is getting a little bit tight” about the rising cases but he has no fears about any of his contingent and believes that they want to “carry on and play for Westmeath”.
“The pressure is probably building a little bit and everyone is getting a little bit tight about it. All the players in there will be happy to carry on and play for Westmeath but we have a big, big responsibility and it’s challenging that we prepare them in a very, very safe environment,” Cooney said.
“A lot of players are very happy but they want to make sure that not only the players and the immediate group, but that their friends and families are protected and considered and not at risk as a result of inter-county football going ahead.”
With Heslin “on fire” between the white lines, Cooney was left beaming following a polished display as they made light of the seven-month break between competitive games and dismantled Laois in the opening quarter to race into a 0-7 to 0-0 lead.
Mike Quirke’s Laois, who lost the spine of their defence with Mark Timmons and Colm Begley ruled out before throw-in, had no answer to Westmeath’s pace with Kieran Martin and former
AFL star Ray Connellan also on song. Laois were forced to wait until Gary Walsh’s 31st-minute point before they finally got off the mark from play, although it was brief respite from a dominant Westmeath showing as they strode forward in numbers to go in seven ahead at the break, 0-12 to 0-5. Quirke’s frustrations over a “really disappointing performance” saw him sent to the stand just after the resumption and Westmeath raced further ahead by the hour mark with points from Lorcan Dolan, Ronan O’Toole and defender James Dolan, 0-16 to 0-8. It was game, set and match when defender Jamie Gonoud found himself at the end of a sweeping team move to palm to the net and while Walsh fired over five late frees, it was far too late in a disjointed display on just their “fifth time
being together since lockdown”.
Quirke acknowledged they have to defeat Fermanagh next week “to make sure we aren’t anywhere near relegation” while he also feels that the GAA must minimise travel over the coming months. “The GAA should say we are staying away from all these counties that have high-incident rates of this virus to alleviate the travel issues we are talking about,” he said.
SCORERS – Westmeath: J Heslin 0-8 (4f), J Gonoud 1-0, R O’Toole 0-3, R Connellan, L Dolan (2m) 0-2 each, K Martin, J Dolan, B Kelly 0-1 each. Laois: G Walsh 0-6 (5f), M Barry, N Corbet (2f) 0-2 each, E O’Carroll (f), D Whelan, D O’Reilly 0-1 each.
WESTMEATH – J Daly 8; B Sayeh 6, K Maguire 7, J Smith 7; J Gonoud 7, R Wallace 8, J Dolan 7; P Holloway 7, S Duncan 7; R Connellan 8, J Heslin 8, K Martin 7; L Dolan 7, L Loughlin 7, R O’Toole 7. Subs: B Kelly 7 for L Dolan (66), D Lynch for Holloway (69), C McCormack for Loughlin (73) and A McGivney for Martin (73).
LAOIS – N Corbet 7; T Collins 6, D Booth 6, R Pigott 6; A Farrell 6, E Buggie 6, S O’Flynn 6; K Lillis 6, J O’Loughlin 7; G Dillon 5, M Barry 6, B Byrne 6; D Whelan 6, E O’Carroll 5, G Walsh 8. Subs: D O’Reilly 7 for Dillon (half-time), R Munnelly 6 for Barry (46), E Lowry 6 for Byrne (51), M Keogh 6 for Whelan (60) and B Daly 6 for O’Carroll (64).
REF – P Maguire (Longford).