Wasteful Westmeath exit championship with loss to Meath

EirGrid Leinster Under-20 Football Championship

Meath 0-18 Westmeath 2-5

By Gerry Buckley

While there is no denying that Meath (18 scores) were very worthy winners against Westmeath (seven scores) in last night’s Leinster U20 championship game in the Donaghmore Ashbourne ground, Damien Gavin’s charges could have been very competitive had they availed of a number of goal chances in addition to the two which they took.

Indeed, the first of the latter category came with less than 20 seconds on the clock, but it proved to be a false dawn as Meath rattled over 11 unanswered points – many of them of a high quality – to all but seal the deal by half-time.

While the maroon and white-clad outfit admirably never threw in the towel, they seldom looked like putting their hosts under serious pressure despite having the aid of a useful wind on the change of ends.

A year on from the same two sides clashing in the same competition on a near-unplayable surface, there was no such issue on this occasion on the resplendent complex. As stated, Westmeath got off to a dream start with no Meath man touching the ball until goalie Oisín McDermott had to take a kick-out following Jack Duncan’s clinical strike after 19 seconds’ play.

Either side of the impressive Jamie Murphy opening Meath’s account, Brían Cooney and Shane Corcoran both shot weakly into the grateful arms of McDermott. The young men in green and gold went on to more or less totally dominate proceedings for the remainder of the first moiety, during which they shot a whopping ten points without reply. Worryingly, many of them were scored under no discernible pressure from an opponent.

The white flags were shared between Murphy (four – including two frees), Rian Stafford (two), and one each from Jack Kinlough, Brian O’Halloran, Rian McDonnell, and Cian Commons.

Prior to Murphy’s splendid second free, Westmeath spurned a lifeline when a rasping shot by Corcoran came back off the underside of the crossbar in the 27th minute. A weak effort at a fisted point from Eoin Bracken ended the first half action, with wind-assisted Meath well ahead by 0-11 to 1-0.

Cooney (a low-trajectory shot) and Murphy (a free) traded early points on the change of ends. Skipper Cooney slotted over a free before Ronan Murray’s well-struck goal attempt came back off the post.

Commons and Cooney (a free) soon swapped points, as did Stafford and Cooney (both frees). Killian Smyth’s fisted point had Meath ahead by 0-15 to 1-4 at the end of the third quarter. Commons soloed impressively goalward in the 46th minute but he was narrowly wide with a goal as his target.

Some three minutes later, a delivery by the hard-working Daragh Lowry led to the Lake County’s second goal, scored with aplomb by Tadhg Baker. Commons responded with a classy point.

The losers had ample possession at this juncture but some wayward shooting was often the outcome. Corcoran might have goaled in the 55th minute, but McDermott advanced smartly off his line to deny the St Malachy’s man. Sub Hughie Corcoran and Stafford rounded off the winners’ tally with a neat point apiece. Westmeath sub Matthew Thornton fired over a superb consolation point with the last kick of the match.

Scorers – Meath: J Murphy 0-6 (3f), R Stafford 0-4 (1f), C Commons 0-3, R McConnell, J Kinlough, B O’Halloran, K Smyth, H Corcoran 0-1 each. Westmeath: B Cooney 0-4 (3f), J Duncan, T Baker 1-0 each, M Thornton 0-1.

Meath: Oisín McDermott; Brian O’Halloran, Sean O’Hare, Séimí Byrne; Eamon Cunningham, John O’Regan, Killian Smyth; Jack Kinlough, Charlie O’Connor; Rian Stafford, John Harkin, Conor Duke; Jamie Murphy, Cian Commons, Rian McConnell. Subs used: Tadhg Martyn for O’Connor (47 mins), Conor Ennis for Byrne (50), Hughie Corcoran for Harkin (50), John Mannion for Smyth (50), David Curtis for Stafford (59).

Westmeath: Senan O’Driscoll; Adam Keane, Cormac Monaghan, Seanaí Bracken; Liam Daly, Jason Macken, Daragh Lowry; Tadhg Baker, Shane Ormsby; Jack Duncan, Brían Cooney, Eoin Bracken; Ronan Murray, Shane Hanley, Shane Corcoran. Subs used: Tiarnán O’Donovan for E Bracken (38 mins), Rory Cole for Duncan (47), Dylan Franzoni for S Bracken (55), Matthew Thornton for Murray (55).

Referee: Colm McCullough (Louth).

Man of the match: Cian Commons (Meath). A toss-up really between a triumvirate of outstanding Meath forwards all of whom scored three points from play, with the powerful full forward just edging out Rian Stafford (a nephew of former Royal great Brian Stafford) and Jamie Murphy.

Key moment: Had Shane Corcoran’s thunderbolt been a foot lower in the 27th minute, the visitors would have had a lot more to play for on the change of ends.

Talking point: As was very much the case a week earlier against Dublin in Kinnegad, Westmeath’s opponents seemed well ahead in the strength and conditioning stakes.

Match stats: Wides - Meath 10 (first half, 6) Westmeath 11 (3). Yellow cards - Meath 0; Westmeath 2 – S Ormsby, L Daly.

Referee watch: Colm McCullough had a solid hour-plus in charge of the whistle.

Next up: Westmeath exit the championship ‘proper’ but are eligible to participate in a provincial tier two competition, while Meath face age-old rivals Dublin next week to decide top spot in group 3.