Dolan doubtful but as eager as ever

PANIC SHOULD be sweeping through Westmeath. Dessie Dolan remains a doubt for the championship opener against Longford this Sunday in Pearse Park. A Dolan injury scare is always a worry for Westmeath supporters.

Dolan has a recurring hamstring problem but a desire to play some role in beating Dublin in the Division Two final, meant he beseeched manager Tomás Ó Flatharta to use him. Within minutes of his manager relenting, he felt that familiar dart of pain.

"I shouldn't have come on the pitch. Tomás was right. I just looked at him for the whole game, pretty much saying 'please put me on' and it was probably a foolish thing to do because I wasn't right. I wasn't bad in the warm-up but if you are not 100 per cent in inter-county football you have no business being there."

In the recent aftermath of the GAA medical commission stating the need for players to see out their full period of recovery, Dolan provides us with another perspective. A dose of reality.

"If a physio's telling me I can't play, you are going (laughing) 'Yeah, good man, physio'. Technically I can't but adrenaline will get me through. That's the same for an awful lot of Gaelic players. It's just foolish thinking we can do what we can't. Paul Galvin, I heard there, was getting injections last year to play and it is having an effect on him now. Everyone is just mad to play. I'd love to play against Longford."

This is a dangerous fixture for Westmeath. They are Division Two champions and widely expected to dismiss Longford, despite the trip into enemy territory and a semi-lame star turn.

There have been pockets of quality Westmeath performances these past four years (the Gary Dolan-inspired victory over Galway two years back) but only recently have they regained a level of consistency comparable to 2004.

Dolan points to young bloods Dermot Bannon, Kieran Gavin and Frank Boyle mixing effectively with the likes of Denis Glennon and Martin Flanagan. "We'd like to get a run like that again, but in the championship. We can't always be talking about 2004. Life goes on unfortunately."

It certainly does and Westmeath have learned to move with it. The hunger has returned. "Well, that's it. We'd like to think we have a couple of new players coming through that make a difference. We'd swap the league for a good run in the championship - no doubt about it. You play football for the championship, which is totally different than the league. Winning in the championship would mean a hell of a lot more to us. We haven't won a game since 2004 (in Leinster).

"At the same time, playing Longford in Pearse Park, it's going to set us up nicely. Longford are a very good team. They are after winning a couple of games at the end of the league. They are a bit more confident and in Pearse Park they are very good."

Longford caught their neighbours on the hop last year in Pearse Park, though Westmeath turned the tables when they met later in the qualifiers.

Dolan will be togged, for sure. Presuming he doesn't make it, the pleading stares in Ó Flatharta's direction could start around the 15-minute mark. Such levels of enthusiasm intermingled with his talent are simply God-given. Injury can't hide him.