On his return to the Westmeath ranks, Denis Glennon chipped in with seven points in the victory over Clare in Ennis.

Flanagan off to good start as Glennon returns

Published: Thu 13 May 2010, 10:00 AM

SF Challenge -- Westmeath 1-19, Clare 1-13 -- Pat Flanagan's reign as Westmeath football manager got off to a winning start in Ennis last Saturday when his side ran out six-point winners over Clare in a senior football challenge.The returning Denis Glennon finished with a personal tally of 0-7, with four of those points coming from frees. Under-21 star Conor Lynam also caught the eye by bagging 1-3 from play, while veteran Martin Flanagan hit 0-3, including 0-1 from a 45.After a disastrous NFL campaign which culminated in relegation to Division 3, this victory will certainly be welcomed by Westmeath who are planning to play further challenge matches against Mayo and Dublin before facing either Carlow or Wicklow in the Leinster SFC quarter-final on June 6.Michael McDermott's Clare side had the better of the first-half exchanges and took a 0-9 to 0-5 lead into the break, but the visitors were a different team in the second half with Glennon, Lynam, Flanagan and another under-21 player Ger Egan all finding the target.Westmeath will find out their Leinster quarter-final opponents this Sunday (barring a draw after extra-time), when Wicklow face Carlow in Portlaoise at 3.30pm.Westmeath team and scorers: Gary Connaughton; Francis Boyle, Donal O'Donoghue, John Gaffey (0-1); Doran Harte, Kieran Martin, Michael Ennis; David Duffy, Paul Sharry; Fergal Wilson, Conor Lynam (1-3), Paul Bannon (0-1); Ian Coffey (0-1), Martin Flanagan (0-3, 1 '45') Denis Glennon 0-7 (4f). Subs used: Ger Egan (0-2), Lorcan Smyth, Gary Glennon, James Durkan, Daniel McDermott (0-1), Alan Fennell, Kevin McGuire, Gary Flanagan.