Mark McHugh and his Westmeath team’s 2026 campaign came to an end on Sunday following a six-point defeat to Monaghan at St Tiernach’s Park in Clones.
This was a finely balanced affair for large parts and the Leinster champions were on level terms with the Ulster finalists at the break, with Brandon Kelly and Matthew Whittaker landing majors.
The contest remained close as it approached the final quarter but a 52th minute goal from Jack McCarron helped the Farney men to book their place in the last eight of the competition.
Speaking to GAA+ after the match, the Kilcar native expressed that his side may have run out of steam but stated that they were beaten by the better team on the day.
“Towards the end there, I think we ran out of a bit of steam. We put everything into this game. Not having Ray (Connellan), I think he even came on at the end and caught a few balls around the middle.
“It goes to show that if we had him for the whole game it might’ve been a different story. But we’ve no complaints, we were beaten by the better team today.
“It’s been a long campaign and the week break was difficult, getting the bodies right, patching them up and probably playing with five or six injuries out there.
“That’s not an excuse, Monaghan I’m sure are in the same boat out there. Fair play to them and I wish them all the best. They’re a lovely team to watch and they play good football so best of luck to Gabriel in the quarter-final next week.”