New-look Westmeath side lose narrowly in Longford

Dioralyte O’Byrne Cup Senior Football Tournament

Longford 0-9 Westmeath 0-7

Gerry Buckley

With Dessie Dolan opting to field a squad of 27 players with virtually no senior inter-county experience between them, it was no surprise that Westmeath’s opening game in 2024 resulted in a defeat to a more experienced Longford outfit in cold but pleasant conditions at a reasonably well-attended Glennon Bros Pearse Park on Saturday afternoon.

Paddy Christie’s troops were worthy winners in a game which featured many of the ills of modern Gaelic football, but the young visiting side acquitted themselves well and could have snatched an unexpected win in the end. With no Philly McGuinness Cup this year, U20 manger Damien Gavin was prominent in the Westmeath dugout, with many of his expected team on competitive duty ahead of their daunting Leinster campaign.

Adam Neary missed a scoreable ‘mark’ for the men in maroon and white in the third minute, and within a minute Darren Gallagher slotted the opening score of a generally forgettable contest from a free taken from the ground. Eoghan McCabe equalized in style some five minutes later at the end of a fine move.

Westmeath took the lead for the first – and only – time in the match when Kevin O’Sullivan kicked a fine ‘mark’ from 35 metres, either side of which McCabe and Neary were almost in for potential goal chances at the end of clever passes from Ciaran Nolan (who did well overall) and O’Sullivan respectively.

Dylan Farrell equalized in the 20th minute after Jack Connaughton had initially done very well to keep out a Cathal McCabe shot. A Bryn Peters lob came back off the crossbar in the 24th minute, but the blue and gold-clad pounced for a hat-trick of unanswered points by the 29th minute via Patrick Fox (whose shot hopped over Connaughton, who was blinded by the sun), Gallagher (a free), and Daniel Mimnagh (a fisted score).

O’Sullivan availed of fine play by Tadhg Baker and Neary to double his account on the half-hour mark. Nolan did superbly to block a goalbound piledriver from Ryan Moffatt before Shane Corcoran halved the deficit with a great angled shot. Daniel Reynolds seemed unlucky not be awarded a late free close to the Westmeath goalmouth, but his side still led by 0-5 to 0-4 at the interval.

Gallagher (a free) and Westmeath captain Shane Allen traded points on the change of ends. A dominant Longford then pulled away somewhat with unanswered points from Mimnagh, Gallagher (a fine ‘45’ from a difficult angle), and Reynolds (a fisted effort in the 53rd minute). However, much of the winners’ shooting was poor and this kept Westmeath in contention.

Indeed, Longford failed to score in the final quarter and this allowed Westmeath to close the gap with a brace of quickfire scores from Eoghan McCabe (a free) and Danny McCartan in the 65th minute. However, a late Westmeath ‘45’ came to nothing and they were unable to get in for a last-gasp goal, the ball almost falling kindly for sub Jason Macken with time almost up.

Scorers- Longford: D Gallagher 0-4 (3f, 1'45'), D Mimnagh 0-2, P Fox, Daniel Reynolds, Dylan Farrell 0-1 each.

Westmeath: K O'Sullivan (1m), E McCabe (1f) 0-2 each, S Allen, D McCartan, S Corcoran 0-1 each.

Longford: Micheál Hughes; Barry O’Farrell, Oisín O’Toole, Darragh Finlass; Ruairí Harkin, Patrick Fox, Jordan Shiels; Darren Gallagher, Ryan Moffatt; Daniel Reynolds, Daniel Mimnagh, Dylan Farrell; Jayson Matthews, Bryn Peters, Cathal McCabe. Subs used: Dessie Reynolds for Shiels (41), Dáire Duggan for Fox (inj., 57), Diarmuid Farrell for Finlass (inj., 59), Dylan Lynch for Gallagher (66), Ronan Kavanagh for Dessie Reynolds (inj., 70+1).

Westmeath: Jack Connaughton; Adam Keane, Charlie Drumm, Ciaran Nolan; Daragh Lowry, Shane Allen, Tadhg Baker; Eoghan McCabe, Dylan Murtagh; Brían Cooney, Danny McCartan, Kevin O’Sullivan; Adam Neary, Shane Corcoran, Liam Daly. Subs used: Jason Macken for Cooney (h-t), Shane Hanley for Neary (41), Jack Duncan for Corcoran (52), Darragh Hall for Lowry (57), Jack Mulvihill for Baker (66), Padraig Carton for Hanley (inj., 70+1).

Ref: Kevin Williamson (Offaly).

EXAMINER’S EYE ON THE GAME

Man of the match

Darren Gallagher (Longford). One of several experienced players on the home side, the Granard man was prominent throughout in open play in addition to converting four placed balls.

Key moment

Longford’s scoring burst early in the second half gave them some breathing space.

Next up

Westmeath now have a home game in the O’Byrne Shield against Louth next Saturday.