Great Westmeath display almost eliminates Tyrone

Westmeath 0-18 Tyrone 0-18

By Gerry Buckley

So near and yet so far! Westmeath’s senior footballers came within inches of pulling off what would have been their biggest championship win in nearly two decades last Sunday, Dessie Dolan’s troops again more than justifying their inclusion in the Sam Maguire Cup by deservedly drawing with the competition winners from two years ago in very pleasant conditions in Kingspan Breffni Park.

In a nutshell, a last-gasp miss from a difficult free by John Heslin enabled Tyrone to hang on for a share of the spoils which just kept them in the championship race after what was a very entertaining game. There is no doubt but that the Lake County side was the unluckiest team of the 16 who played out 24 games over the past month, and a return of one point does scant justice to a three-match campaign which proved that the men in maroon and white - albeit, unfortunately, some of whom are now in the veteran category - can mix it with the best in the land.

GREAT OPPORTUNITY

With the sizeable Dublin contingent in the crowd in Cavan exiting after their demolition of Sligo, it was left to Westmeath and Tyrone fans to generate a championship atmosphere, and the underdogs almost got off to a sensational start, overlapping centre half back Ronan Wallace spurning a glorious goal chance after 30 seconds when he was bottled up close to goal, and his colleague Ronan O’Toole likewise seconds later.

The hard-working Sam McCartan put the underdogs ahead in the second minute with a fine team score. Darragh Canavan equalised from a fourth-minute free. Luke Loughlin, who went on to be a constant threat to the Tyrone rearguard, superbly nudged his side in front, but Canavan again levelled from a free. Canavan’s third point, and first from play, edged the 2021 All-Ireland champions ahead for the first time in the 12th minute, shortly after a lengthy run goalward by Heslin had come to nothing. A brace of Heslin frees put Westmeath ahead again with 21 minutes played, the second coming shortly after the game’s first wide – Tyrone were the culprits.

Canavan and Heslin traded points from frees before Conn Kilpatrick was denied what looked a certain goal by a great save from Jason Daly in the 28th minute. Canavan pointed from play to tie up the scoring at 0-5 each before skipper Pádraig Hampsey scuffed a great goal opportunity on the half-hour mark. A great free from the ground by Loughlin was quickly cancelled out by Joe Oguz from play. Peter Harte and Loughlin swapped points from left-footed frees, and there was still time for McCartan, with the last kick of the half, to nudge the Lake County in front by 0-8 to 0-7 at the interval.

FORTUNATE

Ruairí Canavan joined his brother on the scoresheet when he equalised just 90 seconds after the resumption of play. Westmeath failed to capitalise on two half-chances of goals – the second falling to Conor Dillon after Niall Morgan had spilled possession. Heslin and Darragh Canavan converted frees at either end, before a fisted point from Ruairí Canavan and a Darragh Canavan free opened up the first two-point lead of the contest (0-11 to 0-9) in the 48th minute.

Heslin was wide from a 50-metre free, but Loughlin halved the deficit with aplomb from play. Darragh Canavan (open play) and Heslin (a free) exchanged points, but the Red Hand County’s lead was extended to four points (0-15 to 0-11) courtesy of scores from Darragh Canavan (a free), Kilpatrick and sub Kieran McGeary (both from play). Given their vast experience, it now looked like Tyrone would go on to win with a bit to spare.

However, Westmeath continued to plug away manfully, with midfielder Ray Connellan among those very influential in leading the way. Heslin reduced the deficit from a free before impressive full back and captain Kevin Maguire appeared fortunate not to be black-carded for a potential goal-saving foul on Kilpatrick – the Caulry man received a yellow – and Darragh Canavan converted the resultant free.

Sub Senan Baker and the lively O’Toole both opened their accounts to keep Westmeath firmly in contention. A point exchange between Brian Kennedy and Heslin (his first from play) followed. Ruairí Canavan slotted over a free, but sub Kieran Martin kicked over a booming score in the 70th minute to leave Westmeath two in arrears ahead of a minimum of four minutes’ injury-time. A Heslin free and a fine score from Connellan levelled the contest. Then came Heslin’s missed free from a very acute angle as the ball drifted very narrowly wide much to the relief of Brian Dooher and Feargal Logan, and all involved with the Tyrone team, who will need to greatly improve if they are to be serious contenders in the weeks ahead.

Scorers - Westmeath: J Heslin 0-8 (7f), L Loughlin 0-4 (2f), S McCartan 0-2, R Connellan, R O'Toole, S Baker, K Martin 0-1 each.

Tyrone: D Canavan 0-10 (6f), R Canavan 0-3 (1f), P Harte (f), B Kennedy, C Kilpatrick, J Oguz, K McGeary 0-1 each.

Westmeath: Jason Daly; Jack Smith, Kevin Maguire, James Dolan; Sam McCartan, Ronan Wallace, Conor Dillon; Jonathan Lynam, Ray Connellan; Andy McCormack, Ronan O'Toole, David Lynch; Luke Loughlin, John Heslin, Lorcan Dolan. Subs used: Stephen Smith for L Dolan (43), Senan Baker for Dillon (46), Jamie Gonoud for J Smith (56), Kieran Martin for Maguire (66).

Tyrone: Niall Morgan; Michael McKernan, Ronan McNamee, Pádraig Hampsey; Cormac Quinn, Michael O’Neill, Peter Harte; Brian Kennedy, Conn Kilpatrick; Conor Meyler, Joe Oguz, Ruairí Canavan; Aidan Clarke, Mattie Donnelly, Darragh Canavan. Subs used: Kieran McGeary for Oguz (42), Frank Burns for McNamee (52), Niall Devlin for Donnelly (64), Niall Kelly for Clarke (66), Seán O’Donnell for Harte (70).

Ref: Noel Mooney (Cavan).

Footnote. A minute’s silence was observed in memory of Cavan native and long-time Athlone-based businessman, Sean White, prior to the throw-in. Unfortunately, his name was mispronounced at the time, albeit this was later rectified.