Casey, Williams and co ruthlessly rout Wicklow

When you’re hot favourites to a win a game, you had better win it and win it well, and that’s exactly what Westmeath’s minor hurlers did against Wicklow in their Leinster MHC opener in Mullingar on Saturday afternoon.

After a quarter of an hour of hurling at TEG Cusack Park, it was plain to see that this was a mismatch, and one that assumed epic proportions as the game progressed to its inevitable conclusion.

With a visit to Meath up next, Westmeath will certainly have tougher outings in this competition, and perhaps the most encouraging takeaway from this 48-point cruise – apart from the ruthlessness, skill and confidence on show – was that the Maroons never eased off the gas pedal, even after the introduction of five subs.

If anything, they upped the ante, with subs Luke Meyler and Oisín McCauley contributing three of Westmeath’s eight goals – four of which came in a three-minute second half spell that heaped yet more misery on the already embattled visitors.

In truth, this was target practice for Ian Corrigan’s charges, and a satisfying day on the range for all involved. All six of Westmeath’s starting forwards made the scoresheet, among a total of 11 scorers. Of the final tally of 8-27, some 8-19 of that came from open play, and the Maroons registered only a couple of wides.

At the other end, the Lake County were equally ruthless, with a watertight defence keeping Wicklow to a single point from play. In the second half, the visitors only got within their final third on a couple of occasions, and never looked like adding to their first-half tally of three points. So confident were Westmeath in defence that superb wing backs Ben McNamee and Darragh Kenny were often free to act as ancillary forwards.

At half-time Westmeath were in complete control, leading by 3-12 to 0-3. Within seven minutes, the writing was on the wall. Pádraig Casey – one of a six-strong St Oliver Plunkett’s contingent in the starting XV – opened the scoring, before the excellent Ryan Williams (0-2), Cormac McKeogh and Dylan Corrigan found their range. Shortly before Corrigan’s score, Casey latched onto a lofty pass and found the net with a deft flick.

Westmeath led 1-5 to nil, and shellshocked Wicklow settled for a period, with Willie Cash (a free) and Jack Gregan (a magnificent long-range score) opening their account. Moments later however, Westmeath midfielder Cody Ward connected with a long ball and drove a powerful shot to the roof of the Wicklow net.

This killed off the game as a contest, and although Cash responded with a free, Westmeath went on to post an unanswered 1-7 courtesy of dead ball expert Kian Loughlin (0-3f), the imperious Williams (0-3, taking his first-half tally to 0-5 from play), Corrigan and a second goal from Casey who, on 21 minutes, shot low to the net after a fine move involving McNamee, Corrigan and McKeogh.

After the restart, an unchanged Westmeath emerged with a strong breeze on their backs, one of many ominous signs for Wicklow. Unfortunately for the Garden County, as the home bench emptied, there was no let-up.

With ten minutes to go, Westmeath led 4-21 to 0-3, with Loughlin (0-5, four from frees), Williams (0-2), Casey and Eoin Meehan obliging. Meanwhile, on 34 minutes, Loughlin set Cormac McKeogh clear of the Wicklow defence, and the Raharney man rifled the sliotar to the net for a fourth goal.

Wicklow couldn’t make a dent, and from the 51st minute their heads really began to drop when they shipped four goals in the space of three calamitous minutes. The fifth Westmeath major came from sub Luke Meyler, who was brilliantly teed up by Casey after an earlier shot from Ben McNamee was parried by Wicklow ‘keeper Keith Lawless. Indeed, without Lawless, the tally of goals conceded by the visitors might have been greater.

Then, on 53 minutes, Cormac McKeogh notched his second goal on the rebound after a mishit free by Casey, and in the following minute, Oisín McCauley (a fortuitous long-range effort) and Meyler (on the rebound from a saved Dylan Corrigan shot) raised further green flags to make it 8-21 to 0-3.

Poor Wicklow still had to endure another seven minutes from that point, and Westmeath closed out the game without any drop in intensity, and with scores from Meehan, McCauley, McNamee (all from distance), Darragh Kenny (a long-range free), Casey (a free) and Corrigan.

Scorers – Westmeath: P Casey 2-3 (0-1f), K Loughlin 0-8 (7f), R Williams 0-7, C McKeogh 2-1, L Meyler 2-0, O McCauley 1-1, D Corrigan 0-3, C Ward 1-0, E Meehan 0-2, D Kenny (f) and B McNamee 0-1 each. Wicklow: W Cash 0-2f, J Gregan 0-1.

Westmeath: Cathal Óg Fagan; Ted Aherne, Mikey Weir, Aaron Flanagan; Ben McNamee, Seán Hayes, Darragh Kenny (capt.); Cody Ward, Finn Higgins; Dylan Corrigan, Pádraig Casey, Eoin Meehan; Kian Loughlin, Cormac McKeogh, Ryan Williams. Subs used: Oisín McCauley for Ward (38), Dara Mulligan for Aherne (38), Cian Fleming for Higgins (44), Dillon Burke for Williams (47), Luke Meyler for Loughlin (50).

Wicklow: Keith Lawless; Seán Byrne, Donnacha Murphy, Sé Killoran; Cillian Goff, Jack Gregan, Marc O’Shea; Adam Lifely, Senan Croke (joint capt.); Jack O’Leary, Luke Cotter, Chris O’Toole; Josh Byrne, Willie Cash (joint capt.), Finian Hughes. Subs used: Noah Hayes for Croke (28), Darragh Leacy for J Byrne (h-t).

Ref: Seán Michael Maher (Offaly).

Man of the match: Pádraig Casey (Westmeath): Ryan Williams, Kian Loughlin, Cormac McKeogh, Cody Ward, Ben McNamee, Darragh Kenny, Ted Aherne and Finn Higgins all impressed in different sectors. However, Casey was not only scorer-in-chief for Westmeath but creator-in-chief, having a hand in a number of goals apart from his own brace.