Ó Flatharta steps in as O'Connell steps out

Managerial moves: Westmeath football received mixed news yesterday in that Tomás Ó Flatharta has agreed to take over their vacant football management position, while long-serving midfielder Rory O'Connell has retired.

Ó Flatharta acted as a selector with Páidí Ó Sé over the past two years and, having accepted the offer to take over the position, will be the only name going before the county board for ratification in two weeks' time.

According to county board secretary Paddy Collins, who was also a selector with Ó Sé over the past two years, Ó Flatharta's name does need to be ratified, but that would now be a formality. In the meantime, though, the county was resigned to the fact that they'll be looking ahead without the services of O'Connell, a 12-year servant to the county who in 2001 became Westmeath's first ever All Star winner.

"Rory has given an extraordinary service to Westmeath football," said Collins. "He has definitely been one of the best midfielders I have seen in Westmeath in the past 40 years, if not the best. It's up to the new management to see if they can change his mind, but I'd heard that this decision was coming, and so it wasn't a huge surprise. He's given something like 12 years' service to the county which is absolutely huge for any player."

Though only 30, O'Connell feels he has given Westmeath his best, and felt coming into this season that it would be his last year. "You play for so long and then the appetite goes," he said. "You're struggling more, especially with fitness. After games you can feel it catching up on you, you feel yourself getting older. And I didn't want to be hanging on."

O'Connell was involved in the controversial High Court injunction so that he could play a final role in last year's historic Leinster campaign, which saw Westmeath win their first senior provincial title. This year, however, the team failed to reach those heights, losing to Kildare in the Leinster quarter-final, and then to Clare in the qualifiers - after which Ó Sé announced he was stepping down.

It was back in 2001 O'Connell earned Westmeath their first ever All Star; selected at midfield alongside Galway's Kevin Walsh. It remains to be seen if Ó Flatharta will attempt to coax him out of retirement.

Collins, meanwhile, is still unsure about his future role with the county football team, and whether or not he would be back with Ó Flatharta next year: "It's not something I've even given any thought to at this stage," he said. "But the way we work it is the new manager will be given the right to chose his own selectors, and that will be the case here."