Battling Westmeath hurlers give mighty Limerick a scare

Limerick 1-20, Westmeath 0-17

Westmeath hurlers gave mighty Limerick a genuine scare before the quadruple All-Ireland champions pulled away to record a flattering six-point victory at TEG Cusack Park today (Sunday).

With 56 minutes on the clock in this Allianz Hurling League Division 1B game, the sides were level 0-14 each and a sensational result could not be ruled out at this stage.

Westmeath's performance was all the more remarkable considering such key figures from recent years as Aonghus Clarke, Killian Doyle and Niall O'Brien were not involved. In addition, it came off the back of a 31-point hammering from Galway in the opening round.

With Westmeath displaying admirable spirit against their vaunted opponents, the teams went in at half-time level at 0-9 apiece. That said, Westmeath were backed by a strong breeze in the opening half and the Treaty men were expected to take command in the second period.

Ultimately, they did enough to secure victory but they needed a 63rd-minute goal from Donnacha Ó Dálaigh to shake off the plucky hosts. Ó Dálaigh fired to the Westmeath net after being set up by Tom Morrissey.

Westmeath freetaker David Williams finished as the game's top scorer with ten points (nine frees), though the Lough Lene Gaels player was dismissed on two yellow cards in added time.

Westmeath's other points came from Niall Mitchell, Joey Boyle, Shane McGovern, Ciaran Doyle and David O'Reilly, who was making his first start at this level.

Defensive star Tommy Doyle was introduced as an early substitute for Westmeath after Cormac Boyle picked up an injury. Though the injury to Boyle was unfortunate, Doyle's return to the maroon and white colours was a welcome sight for Westmeath fans.

Limerick were far from full strength on the day, but their starting team still contained such stars as Diarmaid Byrnes, Barry Nash, Darragh O'Donovan, Tom Morrissey and Seamus Flanagan, while the powerful Gearoid Hegarty was introduced off the bench during the second half.

The All-Ireland champions were uncharacteristically wasteful and sluggish on the day, but Joe Fortune's charges still deserve considerable credit for giving them plenty of problems for long spells.

Scorers - Limerick: D Ó Dálaigh 1-4; M Houlihan 0-4 (2 frees); D Reidy and T Morrissey (1f) 0-2 each; D O'Donovan, C O'Neill, S Flanagan, G Mulcahy, C Boylan, G Hegarty, P O'Donovan and M Quinlan 0-1 each. Westmeath: D Williams 0-10 (9f); N Mitchell and J Boyle 0-2 each; S McGovern, C Doyle and D O'Reilly 0-1 each.

Limerick: David McCarthy; Barry Nash, Emmet McEvoy, Aaron Costelloe; Diarmaid Byrnes, David Reidy, Darragh Langan; Barry Murphy, Darragh O'Donovan; Micheál Houlihan, Cathal O'Neill, Tom Morrissey; Donnacha Ó Dálaigh, Seamus Flanagan, Graeme Mulcahy. Subs used: Gearoid Hegarty for O’Neill (51 mins), Conor Boylan for Houlihan (51), Mark Quinlan for Langan (57), Patrick O’Donovan for Mulcahy (60), Ronan Connolly for D O’Donovan (64).

Westmeath: Noel Conaty; Darragh Egerton, Johnny Bermingham, Conor Gaffney; Jack Gillen, Kevin Regan, Cormac Boyle; Michael Daly, Shane McGovern; Owen McCabe, Darragh Clinton, David O'Reilly; Niall Mitchell, Eoin Keyes, David Williams. Subs used: Tommy Doyle for Boyle (inj., 3 mins), Peter Clarke for Daly (24), Joey Boyle for McCabe (48), Ciaran Doyle for Clinton (60), Mark Cunningham for Keyes (66).

Referee: Colum Cunning (Antrim).