Westmeath’s Joe McDonagh cup winner Tommy Gallagher has his eyes set on winning further silverware with the Lake County this weekend as he prepares to swap the pitch for the sideline.
The no nonsense defender was a pivotal part of Westmeath’s maiden Joe McDonagh cup win as he produced a heroic performance at the back to keep Kerry at bay.
Gallagher is set to swap the pitch for the sideline on Friday evening as he hangs up his hurl momentarily as he attempts to lead Waterford to victory against Offaly Green in the Under 17 development hurling series as the defender takes his first steps in a coaching capacity.
He will be joined in the dugout by good friend and teammate Noel Conaty, Allan Devine and David Cornally as the quartet prepare to steer the next generation in the right direction.
However, Gallagher knows that they will be in for a tough night on Friday but admits it would be the perfect tonic for the county.
"It would be huge for Westmeath if we could win a second cup over the course of a week,” says Westmeath Senior defender Gallagher.
“I think the younger lads we have on this team, and they are aged 15 and 16, will have seen us play in Croke Park last weekend and before that take on big teams like Tipp and Limerick in the league, and they might aspire to that too.
“From that point of view the Celtic challenge has allowed us to give inter-county exposure to many lads. We played Kildare and used 29 players in that first game and obviously lads are going to benefit from that.
“We have 36 on our panel and we got to use 31 over the course of the campaign so far. It’s been great up to this point and to win at the weekend would be even better.”
Spurred on by success he hints that Westmeath will not be there to make up the numbers in terms of the Leinster Championship in the years ahead.
“As a hurler in Westmeath, you want to play against the best teams and everyone wants to play in the Leinster Championship. It’s great to be up there but we want to stay there now," he admits.
“Counties have been up and down and we want to get some consistency and help promote hurling across the county. Again, with the young lads seeing us play it will help the game spread.”
The Irish Mirror will have full coverage of the game via their live blog.
