Westmeath minor hurlers undone by Offaly goals

Offaly 2-15, Westmeath 1-13

Despite forging ahead by a point in the early stages of the second half, a spirited Westmeath side had to give second best to a better balanced Offaly team in the Leinster Minor Hurling Championship at The Faithful Fields, Kilcormac on Saturday.

Eoin Meehan’s point gave the Lake County a slender lead 90 seconds after the restart, but Offaly outscored the visitors by 2-7 to 1-4 in the remainder of the half to take a deserved victory. A very competitive encounter was finely balanced when Cormac McKeogh scored a wonderful goal for Westmeath after 42 minutes, but Offaly found an instant reply and were ahead by 2-11 to 1-11 entering the final quarter of this intriguing contest.

Westmeath managed just two points in the final 15 minutes while the home side notched four and that is a measure of just how tight it was between the two leading teams in Group 1 of this Tier 2 competition. Westmeath will now face Kildare who were second in Group 2 in a preliminary quarter-final, with the significant thing from Saturday’s result leaving them facing a trip away, most likely to Hawkfield next weekend.

This was very evenly poised at the break, the sides level on 0-8 apiece and had Westmeath been more clinical they would have been in front. They never really built on Ryan Williams’ outrageous point in the opening 35 seconds as Offaly wrestled back the lead on six different occasions.

Kian Loughlin (free) and Cormac McKeogh, who shot a fine point in the 12th minute, kept Westmeath in touch and McKeogh set up Williams for a quality point to level the match on 13 minutes. It was terrific skill by the Lough Lene Gaels hurler, keeping the sliotar on the hurl' and striking over a sublime point on the run. Offaly’s Brian Guinan looked a real threat and Killian Wynne’s free-taking was good as they eventually forged ahead by two points, 0-6 to 0-4. A couple of Loughlin frees brought Westmeath on level terms and it was tit for tat in the remainder of the half - Dillon Burke’s point from play (after Cody Ward’s delivery) being one of the better Westmeath scores in terms of its approach.

In general Offaly were difficult to break down and Andrew Hogan held the centre very strongly as Westmeath struggled to come to terms with the homes side’s defensive plan. It was a good test of their credentials as the home side dropped a sweeper back and Westmeath were left to solve the puzzle.

Intensity

The tempo of the match increased significantly after the break and Eoin Meehan got the opening point for Westmeath after two Williams efforts were off target. However, Offaly replied with a quality strike from wing back Michael Dooley, the Kinnity player showing his class.

Offaly got 1-2 in the next six minutes - the goal coming when Odhrán Fletcher won the ball well in the air and flicked a pass inside for Killian Wynne, who forced it over the line from close range. The Westmeath ‘keeper Cathal Óg Fagan was unlucky.

A soft free for Ward, converted by Loughlin, was the Lake County’s only reply and there were signs they were starting to feel the intensity, but they lacked nothing in terms of grit. Their reward came when they won the ball back and Loughlin sent McKeogh clear for the Raharney man to strike a low shot past Matt Watkins in the Offaly goal: 1-11 to 1-10 after 42 minutes.

In a flash, Offaly had their second major, the puck-out going long and Guinan making the break before Conor Egan forced a save from Fagan. In the follow-up, Egan made no mistake and that gave the home side a four-point lead again.

Loughlin converted a routine free and Dylan Corrigan scored a splendid point from play as Westmeath’s industry was rewarded, but that was as close as they got. Offaly shot two points per substitute Macdara Mitchell and Fletcher, whose effort was adjudged to have been marginally inside the upright when the umpires conferred. McKeogh’s 58th minute point was Westmeath’s final score of the day, while Fletcher hit a quality point from play before converting an injury-time free.

Given that Westmeath manager Ian Corrigan was without Daire Kenny, Padraig Casey and Aaron Flanagan he will be pleased with how well his side competed, but the challenge now is to build on this and edge out Kildare in the next outing, something Westmeath are capable of doing.

Scorers - Offaly: K Wynne 1-6 (0-6 frees), C Egan 1-1, O Fletcher 0-3 (1 free), B Guinan 0-2, A Hogan (free), M Dooley, M Mitchell 0-1 each.

Westmeath: C McKeogh 1-2, K Loughlin 0-5 (frees), R Williams 0-2, E Meehan 0-2, D Burke and D Corrigan 0-1 each.

OFFALY: Matt Watkins; Conor Berry, Joey McLoughney, Cian Kinnarney; Oisin Carroll, Andrew Hogan, Michael Dooley; Luke Bracken, James O'Sullivan; Brian Guinan, Killian Wynne, Eamon Maher; Odhran Fletcher, Conor Egan, James Hennessy. Subs: Macdara Mitchell for C Kinnarney (47 mins), Morgan Feenane for J Hennessy (51), James Sampson for K Wynne (56), Sean Carey for C Egan (61).

WESTMEATH: Cathal Óg Fagan; Oisín McCauley, Mikey Weir, Dara Mulligan; Ben McNamee, Sean Hayes, Cian Fleming; Cody Ward, Finn Higgins; Cormac McKeogh, Dylan Corrigan, Eoin Meehan; Kian Loughlin, Dillon Burke, Ryan Williams. Subs: Marc Davis for D Burke (43 mins), Setanta Gavigan for C Ward (53).

Ref: Dean Alford (Dublin).

In a nutshell

Man of The Match

Andrew Hogan (Offaly): The team captain looked strong and competent in his role at centre back and generally mopped up any threat that came his way. Brian Guinan, Michael Dooley, Conor Egan and Odhrán Fletcher had their moments.

For Westmeath, Cormac McKeogh was excellent, but they didn’t have enough consistently good performances over the 60 minutes and that’s what it would have taken to win here.

Score of the match

Cormac McKeogh’s goal gets the nod, coming after Kian Loughlin’s pass put him in space and he did the rest with a quality low strike that gave the Offaly ‘keeper little chance.

Both Ryan Williams points in the first half showed outstanding skill and accuracy - the first from an almost impossible angle and the second a sublime strike off the hurl’.

Turning point

Less than 30 seconds after Westmeath got their goal, Offaly swooped for their second major through Conor Egan and that was crucial to the outcome.

What might have been

Westmeath almost got in for a second goal on 54 minutes when Cormac McKeogh sent the ball high into the danger area where Eoin Meehan was lurking with intent. Offaly ‘keeper Matt Watkins managed to save and the danger was cleared.

Match officials

There was no major controversy and from that perspective, the officials can be pleased. The decision to change a line ball to a free that led to Offaly’s eighth point in the 28th minute was contentious, though. The linesman and referee could have been stronger in terms of getting the players back rather than awarding a free, which almost certainly becomes a score in hurling. Offaly had a line ball in their half and there was no chance of them scoring from it, but advancing the ball to an in-field position and changing it to a free was unnecessary and open to debate.

The yellow card for Michael Dooley was unnecessary: he had just scored a terrific point and jostled his opponent rather innocuously. The linesman should have let him know he was noted, but no more action was required. The protests of the Offaly mentors midway through the second half were quite ridiculous and the linesman could have taken a firmer hand.

Stats watch

Wides - Westmeath 10 (7 in first half); Offaly 7 (2 in first half).

Yellow cards - Westmeath (Cody Ward, Mikey Weir, Setanta Gavigan); Offaly 2 (Michael Dooley, Joey McLoughney).

Red cards - none.

Entertainment value

The level of entertainment was good for Tier 2 and the game was in the balance for a long time, but whether the overall quality is good enough to threaten the Tier 1 opposition remains to be seen.

Next up

Westmeath will travel to Hawkfield, Kildare to take on the Lilywhites on Saturday May 4 at 4pm.