Westmeath end league campaign with heavy defeat to Limerick

Limerick 4-15 Westmeath 1-6

Westmeath finished their campaign in Division 1B of the Very Camogie League with an 18-point defeat to Limerick in Adare on Saturday.

Padraic Connaughton’s charges were second best throughout and were heavily reliant on the scoring prowess of midfielder Caoimhe McCrossan. She scored all but one point of Westmeath’s 1-5 total.

Westmeath’s fate was pretty much decided before the ball was thrown in against a Limerick side that were second from bottom. Limerick won the toss and opted to play with the advantage of a gale in the opening half hour and took advantage with the form of the outstanding Caoimhe Costelloe vital for Joe Quaid’s outfit.

Playing on her home ground, Costelloe finished the game with 1-9 and the Limerick captain signalled her intentions with a free after two minutes. Full-forward Laura Southern followed up with a cracking point from play and two further Costelloe frees saw Limerick lead 0-4 to 0-0 with eight minutes on the clock. Costelloe landed her fourth of the half before McCrossan got Westmeath on the board with a free from 40 metres.

The breeze made Westmeath’s task difficult as the dominance that Limerick had in their half back line laid the platform for a dominant opening half. Costelloe continued her excellent form with a well-taken score from the left wing with McCrossan adding a second before Limerick got their first goal. A Ciara Neenan effort from long range escaped the grasp of Westmeath netminder Anna Weir and the ball spilled into the net. That goal put Limerick 1-6 to 0-2 clear after 20 minutes.

Southern landed her second point and then Costelloe fired in a second goal for the home side. The Limerick captain was picked out by a quick free from Sophie O’Callaghan and sent a powerful shot into the bottom right hand corner of Weir’s net.

Costelloe continued her scoring impact with a ’45 before Weir pulled off an excellent save to deny Lizanna Boylan a third Limerick goal. Ailbhe Larkin pointed from the rebound. Stephanie Woulfe got in on the act for the home side just before the break with a fine point and Westmeath had Weir to thank once again after another superb save from Woulfe. Limerick went in with a 2-10 to 0-2 advantage at the break.

Despite the advantage of the conditions in the second half, Westmeath continued to struggle. Woulfe landed two early second half points with McCrossan adding two of her own.

Westmeath then found the back of the net from a penalty after Julie McLoughlin was fouled on her way to goal. McCrossan fired the resultant penalty into the top left hand corner to give a bit of a lift to the Westmeath faithful.

However, it was only a brief moment of relief as Limerick finished the game with a flourish after emptying their bench. Boylan got their third goal on 53 minutes after she ghosted through the Westmeath defence after taking a pass from Orlaith Kelleher and slotted the ball past the reach of Weir.

Kelleher got in on the act moments later when a tired Westmeath defence opened the door once again and the nippy corner-forward got to the ball just before Weir and diverted a ground shot to the net. The final score of the contest fittingly went to the imperious Costelloe - a well-struck free into the breeze that sealed an emphatic victory for Limerick.

Scorers – Limerick: C Costelloe 1-9 (0-6f, 2 ’45s); C Neenan, L Boylan and O Kelleher 1-0 each; S Woulfe 0-3; L Southern 0-2; A Larkin 0-1. Westmeath: C McCrossan 1-5 (1-0pen, 0-5f); O Kelleghan 0-1.

Limerick: Sarah Gillane; Emily O’Halloran, Muireann Creamer, Teresa Dore; Ciara O’Riordan, Sophie O’Callaghan, Karen Cunningham; Shauna Cunningham, Ailbhe Larkin; Ciara Neenan, Caoimhe Costelloe, Lizanna Boylan; Orlaith Kelleher, Laura Southern, Stephanie Woulfe. Subs: Cliodhna Ryan for K Cunningham (45 mins), Poppy Giltenane for Boylan (55), Kate O’Connor for Neenan (55), Donna Kenny for Southern (55), Lisa English for S Cunningham (56).

Westmeath: Anna Weir; Emily McCabe, Dearbhail McLoughlin, Mary Geraghty; Claire Gaffney, Kate Whyte, Roisin Scally; Caoimhe McCrossan, Laura Doherty; Aoife O’Malley, Hannah Core, Katie Coleman, Aine Newman, Julie McLoughlin, Meadbh McLoughlin. Subs: Katie Penrose for Geraghty (23 mins), Olivia Kelleghan for Doherty (52), Ciara Corcoran for Whyte (56), Rebecca O’Neill for J McLoughlin (56).

Referee: Justin Heffernan (Wexford).