Dublin drubbing adds to woes

The scoreline says it all. Westmeath"s senior footballers were absolutely annihilated by Dublin last Sunday, in their final match of a generally appalling Division One campaign in this year"s NFL, leaving disconsolate maroon and white-clad fans in pessimistic mood leaving Parnell Park, albeit a full two months from the Leinster championship. The statistically-minded were racking their brains in the closing stages of last Sunday"s drubbing by the Dubs, with memories flooding back of the annus horribilis that was 1990. In February of that year, Galway walloped Westmeath in Ballinasloe by 7-17 to 1-2. Come December, near-neighbours Offaly left Moate after crushing the home side by 2-25 to 0-1. However, they were almost accepted as being dark days for Westmeath football. Given the enormous strides made in the last decade and a half, nobody - biased or unbiased - expected the Lake County to be again mauled by another county team. But mauled they were in Donnycarney and, even allowing for the mounting injuries to key personnel, it will take some transformation to make Tomás Ó Flatharta"s charges into a side capable of making a remotely serious challenge for provincial honours come the summer. While neither of Westmeath"s potential championship opponents, Longford and Wicklow, will be pleased with their respective league campaigns - both will be plying their trade in Division Four in 2010 - the quarter-final on June 14 looks a real banana skin for the maroon and whites at this juncture. Pat Gilroy"s troops were in dire need of a brace of league points and a morale-boosting performance in summer-like conditions in front of a tiny proportion of their summer "fan" base last Sunday against an already-relegated visiting side. And they duly delivered both, but they will scarcely have encountered such feeble opposition. The metropolitans will play in the top flight again next year, whereas Westmeath (accompanied by Donegal) will drop a division. Frankly, similar efforts to the last seven games (the opening two thirds of the Galway encounter and the second half of the Tyrone match apart) will not be nearly good enough to survive in a competitive Division Two in 2010. However, that"s for another day. This was a nightmare Westmeath performance from start to finish and Dublin went ahead after 23 seconds, Blaine Kelly pointing neatly after beanpole full-forward Mark Davoren knocked down Ciaran Whelan"s high ball. In the third minute, Alan Brogan opened his account with a lovely point. David Duffy fielded the ensuing kick out superbly, but the still-promising Shandonagh man eventually faded into virtual anonymity. A clearly fired-up Dublin then paid for their early intensity when Kevin Bonner was dismissed on a yellow card for an overly-robust challenge on Derek Heavin. Niall Kilcoyne soon got the visitors on the scoreboard, the young midfielder rounding off what was to prove a rare flowing move with a well-taken point. However, this was just a brief respite for the maroon and whites and Dublin tacked on four more unanswered points between the sixth and 11th minutes. Mark Davoren availed of good work by David Henry for the first of these. Sandwiched between a well-taken brace by Blaine Kelly, a far more tuned-in sky blue and navy side manufactured another point for Alan Brogan from a quickly-taken free. A Dublin goal looked inevitable and it duly arrived in the 14th minute. Impressive substitute Pat Burke picked out Conal Keaney and the corner-forward gave Westmeath"s second-choice (but top-class) goalkeeper Cathal Mullin no chance from 15 metres. Within a minute, another surging run out of defence by David Henry set up Keaney for a fine point. Already, the home fans were thinking that the more relevant action from their perspective would be taking place in Maghera, where Derry"s subsequent defeat of Donegal sent the latter through the relegation trap door. In truth, despite his missing more than he actually scored, Denis Glennon was Westmeath"s only serious attacking threat and the Tyrrellspass maestro fisted over a point and set up club-mate Keith Scally for another point in a mini-revival by the losers. Cathal Mullin then proved his undoubted worth with a terrific full-length save from a goalbound effort from Ciaran Whelan, at the expense of a "45" which was converted by Conal Keaney. Meanwhile, Westmeath"s slender resources were depleted further when Kieran Gavin had to retire with concussion, with the versatile Michael Ennis retreating to man the square. Such are the anomalies of the "blood sub" rule that Gavin"s "temporary" replacement, Thomas McDaniel remained on the pitch for the remainder of the game. Denis Glennon found the range again in the 22nd minute, after good work from Niall Kilcoyne and Conrad Reilly. However, another glut of Dublin scores ensued. Two more points from Blaine Kelly started the rot, the first from play and the second from a tap-over free, awarded when Alan Brogan"s "goal" was disallowed, after Doran Harte had blatantly pulled the Dublin skipper"s jersey, for which he was yellow-carded. Conal Keaney was giving Francis Boyle a torrid time and the dual star landed three points in quick succession (the third from a free) to put his side 12 points ahead on the half-hour mark. Westmeath were given a lifeline in the 32nd minute when the referee adjudged that Ciaran Whelan"s foul on Conor Lynam had taken place inside the large parallelogram (in truth, it looked outside). However, the Lake County"s dreadful record from the spot continued with Denis Glennon"s poorly-struck kick easily saved with his legs by Stephen Cluxton and Keith Scally adding insult to injury with a bad wide from the rebound. In the last minute of normal time, Mark Davoren shot a fine point for the Dubs. Added-time brought further misery for the very small contingent of travelling fans. Barry Cahill"s long delivery was caught and instantly flicked to the in-rushing Paul Flynn, who duly rifled it past Cathal Mullin. A fine point from Conal Keaney left Dublin ahead by 2-15 to 0-4 at the break, a scoreline even the most pessimistic Westmeath fan en route to Dublin that morning could not have envisaged. A ruthless Dublin outfit were in no mood for profligacy and, shortly after the restart, Alan Brogan increased their lead with a neat point. A reflection of how outclassed Westmeath were at this point came when wing-back Barry Cahill sauntered upfield virtually unchallenged but his fisted effort came back off the upright. A decent Westmeath move ended with another good score for Denis Glennon in the third minute. Conor Lynam"s frustration saw him penalised for indiscipline which made Blaine Kelly"s potentially tricky free eminently scoreable and the corner-forward slotted the ball over from the ground. Lynam soon made amends when he started a patient move which ended with substitute Paul Bannon kicking a good point. Ciaran Whelan was now operating at full-forward for the winners and his intuitive flick set up Conal Keaney for another Dublin goal opportunity, but again Cathal Mullin proved up to the challenge with a wonderful save at the expense of a point. With a quarter of an hour elapsed, a mishit "45" by substitute Willie Murtagh found its way to Denis Glennon and the former All-Star nominee swivelled well and slotted over a fine point. A Barry Cahill/Paul Flynn one-two ended with the former kicking Dublin"s 19th point, with Denis Glennon replying from a converted close-range free. Dublin were all out to impress their fans and another goal arrived in the 19th minute, Ciaran Whelan almost clumsily rolling the ball past Cathal Mullin from a few metres out, after a dummy from Tomás Quinn. An all-too-rare Westmeath goal chance was spurned at the other end, when John Smyth and Paul Kelly combined to put Anthony Clinton through but the Mullingar Shamrocks man blazed his shot off the woodwork from a tight angle. Thomas McDaniel chipped in with a neat point in the 223rd minute, but the metropolitans were still a whopping 19 points to the good. With ten minutes remaining, Alan Brogan set up overlapping centre half-back Ger Brennan, who blasted a shot which flew over via the crossbar. Alan Brogan followed up with his fourth point from play, before goal number four arrived in the 29th minute, Mark Vaughan teeing up his Kilmacud Crokes team-mate Darren Magee and the midfielder blasted the ball to the top corner of the net. Denis Glennon rounded off his side"s scoring from a close-range free. However, Dublin were not finished yet and Pat Burke got the goal his fine display merited in the 31st minute, with Cathal Mullin again powerless. Westmeath had a "point" disallowed for a "square ball" offence, but another unchallenged effort from Barry Cahill sealed Dublin"s massive win in the dying moments. A wild kick skywards from John Smyth (who, in fairness, had worked tirelessly throughout) was an appropriate finale for an outclassed, outfought and out-thought Westmeath team at the end of a thoroughly miserable experience for all associated with Gaelic football in the Lake County. Pat Gilroy (whose post-match amenability and pleasantness to the press, irrespective of the result, is in sharp contrast to his predecessor) will be especially pleased with the displays of relative newcomers in attack, Mark Davoren, Blaine Kelly and Pat Burke. So where do Westmeath go from here? John Keane was often inspirational in an overrun defence. Further forward, Denis Glennon still managed four points from play (and two frees) despite constant close-marking from a posse of Dublin defenders. The barracking the Tyrrellspass man got from less-than-sporting home "fans" was uncalled for and there would not be a single Dubliner who knows his football who would not love to have Glennon wearing an Arnott"s jersey when they face their old nemesis Meath in Croke Park on June 7. The aforementioned hammerings in 1990 precipitated the formation of the original Westmeath Football Supporters Group. Everybody who dug deep in these recessionary times to hand over €100 to the latter group for the annual Patrons Draw last week will be looking for a return on their investment in the championship campaign. An entire county is hoping for an absolutely massive transformation in championship performances after this dreadful league campaign. However, aspirations for a belated annus mirabilis seem extremely far-fetched. DUBLIN: Stephen Cluxton; David Henry, Denis Bastic, Alan Hubbard; Paul Griffin, Ger Brennan (0-1), Barry Cahill (0-2); Ciaran Whelan (1-0), Darren Magee (1-0); Alan Brogan (0-4), Kevin Bonner, Paul Flynn (1-0); Conal Keaney (1-7, 0-1 "45", 0-1f), Mark Davoren (0-2), Blaine Kelly (0-6, 3f). Subs: Pat Burke (1-0) for Bonner (yellow card, 5 mins); Bryan Cullen for Griffin (h-t); Ross McConnell for Davoren (48); Tomás Quinn for Kelly (53); Mark Vaughan for Keaney (55). WESTMEATH: Cathal Mullin; Francis Boyle, Kieran Gavin, John Keane; Alan Claffey, Derek Heavin, Doran Harte; Niall Kilcoyne (0-1), David Duffy; Michael Ennis, Conrad Reilly, John Smyth; Conor Lynam, Denis Glennon (0-6, 2f), Keith Scally (0-1). Subs: Thomas McDaniel (0-1) for Gavin ("blood" sub, 3 mins); Willie Murtagh for Harte (yellow card, 24); Paul Bannon (0-1) for Ennis (injured, h-t); David Kilmartin for Kilcoyne (45); Anthony Clinton (for Scally, 53), Paul Kelly for Scally (53); Joe Clarke for Lynam (55). REFEREE: Gearóid Ó Conámha (Galway).