Westmeath fail to sparke against Louth

Electric Ireland Leinster MFC - Round 2

Louth 2-13 Westmeath 0-7

Westmeath suffered a second successive defeat in the Leinster Minor Football Championship at DEFY Páirc Mhuire, Ardee on Wednesday evening as Louth proved too strong.

Defeated by Dublin the first day, Louth obviously learned a great deal and produced a dominant display, leading by 1-5 to 0-4 at half-time, having played against the wind on a wet, cold evening.

Corner forward Adam Gillespie was the star of the show with 1-5 in total and his ninth-minute goal ensured the Wee County were in control at the break.

Westmeath battled but they struggled to match Louth's physicality and lacked a player of Gillespie's quality, although Kealan Connell was quite effective at full forward when they managed to get the ball inside.

The visitors had two goal opportunities well blocked down in the 36th and 45th minutes. Midfielder James Mitchell was firstly denied before Connell's effort rebounded and in truth, without a goal, the Lake County had little hope in the dreadful conditions.

The Westmeath attack struggled and just two scores from play over the course of the game underlines, perhaps, the core issue. Gillespie dictated things; Westmeath lacked a marquee player in attack. The visitors scored one point from play in the second half - Connell curling over a lovely score with the left boot after 41 minutes.

Ryan Kelly had kicked a splendid point from play after six minutes, but it was not the precursor to brighter times. Westmeath kept the gap to four points up to the 43rd minute at which stage Louth's Robbie Matthews pounced for his side's second goal, following a strong run by Pearse Grimes Murphy.

Gillespie then notched a terrific point from play and converted frees from Connell and substitute Paul Keegan were all Westmeath could muster in response.

The Lake County must now prepare for an away game against Dublin on Wednesday, April 26.

SCORERS - Louth: A Gillespie 1-5 (0-3 frees), R Matthews 1-0, C McGinty and L Brannigan 0-2 each, P Grimes Murphy, S Flynn, C McKeown and R Shevlin 0-1 each. Westmeath: J Mitchell and K Connell (1 free) 0-2 each, R Kelly, D O'Connor and P Keegan (free) 0-1 each.

Westmeath: Luke Nicholson; Aidan Maguire, Cian Whitney, Jack Murtagh; Conor Leech, Aodhan Curran, Neale Pierson; James Mitchell, Daire O'Connor; Callum Rigney, Ryan Kelly, Tommy Farrell; Conor Daly, Kealan Connell, Shane Cully. Subs: Matty Thornton for Farrell (21), John Casey for O'Connor (h-t), David Carter for Daly (49), Oisín O'Hara for Rigney (54), Paul Keegan for Connell (56).

Louth: Cian O'Donoghue; Cian Farrell, Ciaran McGinty, Keelin Martin; Josh Taaffe, Padraig Tinnelly, Cormac McKeown; Conor McGinty, Lorcan Buckley; Sean Flynn, Dylan Shevlin, Pearse Grimes Murphy; Adam Gillespie, Robbie Matthews, Shane Lennon. Subs: Ryan Shevlin for D Shevlin (37), Liam Brannigan for Matthews (48), Cormac McArdle for Taaffe (53), Paddy McHugh for Flynn (57), Evan McCluskey for Gillespie (60).

REF - Dan Stynes (Dublin).