Frustration as Westmeath taste narrow defeat in six-goal thriller

Cork 3-18, Westmeath 3-17

by Stephen Barry

Westmeath played their part in a six-goal thriller but came out on the wrong side of the result by the narrowest of margins at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday.

Dermot McCabe’s men simply couldn’t get to grips with Cork full-forward Chris Óg Jones, who bagged 3-4, with his third goal in the 67th minute the vital score.

The visitors also scored heavily and Ronan Wallace’s goal a minute later made it a nervy finish but Cork held possession until the hooter.

Remarkably, Westmeath have averaged almost 24 points per game but remain winless from their three outings.

Back-to-back home derbies against McCabe’s native Cavan this Sunday and Meath the following weekend will now be decisive in the battle to avoid relegation.

The manager will take heart from a series of outstanding displays from some rising stars.

Matthew Whittaker, who wore number 12 but started at wing-back, scored one goal, assisted the other two, created a third chance, and was denied a further goal by Cork netminder Patrick Doyle. Indeed, Doyle contributed double saves in either half to prevent further green flags.

The McCartan brothers, Danny (0-6) and Sam (1-3), lined out in the wing-forward berths and combined for four two-pointers. Danny kicked three of those, off both left and right, with two assisted by elder sibling Sam.

Experienced captain Wallace also played an instrumental role in two goals as he finished with 1-1 to his name.

In a wide-open contest, both teams registered just one point each from a free with everything else scored from play.

Dermot McCabe made two changes to his named team with Enda Gaffney and Stephen Smith replaced by corner-forwards Brandon Kelly and Lorcan Dolan, who ended with 0-1 and 0-3 respectively.

The Rebels raised fewer flags than Westmeath in the first half but thanks to a trio of two-pointers, they led 1-10 to 1-9 at half-time.

Brian O’Driscoll landed an early double as they raced into a 0-4 to 0-0 lead. It should’ve been more only for Paul Walsh to blaze a one-on-one goal chance wide.

Westmeath punished that miss in the ninth minute when netting one of their own. Wallace’s powerful surge opened up the defence and Brían Cooney laid off for a Whittaker shot which just evaded Doyle’s grasp.

Goalkeeper Conor McCormack then soloed unopposed from halfway to the opposition 21 before the ball went through the hands of Luke Loughlin to Robbie Forde for the leveller.

A remarkable sliding block on the goalline from Jamie Gonoud kept the sides all square. From a Mark Cronin long-range attempt that rebounded off the post, Seán McDonnell seemed destined to score only for the Tyrrellspass defender to deflect his effort around the upright.

Cork got their first goal in the 14th minute after Seán Walsh won an opposition kickout with McDonnell squaring for Jones to slide in for the finish.

Gonoud, Wallace, and Sam McCartan combined for the latter to kick a tidy point off his left before O’Driscoll and a Cronin free moved Cork four clear.

Luke Loughlin entered as the best two-point marksman in the League but was closely tagged by All-Star nominee Daniel O’Mahony and his only score came from a 22nd-minute free followed by Dolan’s opener.

The hosts jumped into a six-point lead with back-to-back two-pointers from McDonnell and Eoghan McSweeney for a lead of 1-10 to 1-4.

They wouldn’t score again for the remaining eight minutes of the half as Westmeath reeled off the final five points.

While limited on the scoresheet, Loughlin’s turn of pace unlocked the defence for a Dolan score and he forced the turnover for the next by shouldering Seán Walsh over the sideline. That ended with Gonoud raiding forward to send Kelly clear and he chose to handpass over rather than go for goal.

Loughlin secured another turnover by the sideline which led to the only two-pointer kicked against the breeze, landed by Danny McCartan.

Conor Dillon released Wallace to bring the gap back to the minimum and Westmeath should have even led by the break. Doyle produced a superb double save to stop Cooney poking home a Sam McCartan shot dropped short before regaining his feet to deny Whittaker’s rebound.

Cork stretched three ahead with points from Jones and Colm O’Callaghan but Westmeath would soon establish their first lead. First, Kevin O’Sullivan’s surge enabled Dolan to swing over his third point. Then, in the 41st minute, Sam McCartan played a brilliant one-two with Whittaker as both players identified the space behind the Cork cover. The Tubberclair hotshot skinned his marker to provide the return pass for McCartan to roll the ball into the net.

When his brother Danny landed his second two-pointer, the scoreboard read 2-12 to 1-12. The sides trade the lead a couple more times in quick succession. Jones struck 1-1 with the goal from a quick passing move edging Cork back ahead by the minimum with 18 minutes to play.

From the next attack, the McCartans combined for Danny to launch his third two-pointer with the outside of his boot and Westmeath were ahead again.

Jones equalised before Doyle produced more heroics to keep the Lake men out. Whittaker again did the creative work for substitute Stephen Smith to sting the keeper’s palms before Kieran Martin’s follow-up was blocked by a defender.

Sam McCartan arrowed over the visitors’ fourth two-pointer in the 59th minute but that 2-16 to 2-14 advantage would be their last lead.

Cork responded with the next three points from McDonnell, O’Driscoll, and Cathail O’Mahony, although Dillon came forward to level for a fourth time with five minutes remaining on the clock.

Then came Cork’s decisive move. After an O’Callaghan point, Tommy Walsh supplied Jones’ hat-trick goal as music suddenly and bizarrely blared over the public address.

They had to wait three more anxious minutes for the hooter to ring out as Westmeath came straight back into it with Whittaker lofting across the square for Wallace to palm in.

In the end, Cork had more of their veterans returning from injury in time for this fixture as they rolled Brian Hurley, Ian Maguire, and Ruairí Deane off the bench.

With Westmeath still down bodies around midfield, the hosts had more big men to call on as they dominated many kickouts.

SCORERS – Cork: C Óg Jones 3-4; B O’Driscoll 0-4 (1 2pt); S McDonnell 0-3 (1 2pt); C O’Callaghan, E McSweeney (2pt), M Cronin (1f) 0-2 each; C O’Mahony 0-1. Westmeath: S McCartan 1-3 (1 2pt); D McCartan 0-6 (3 2pt); R Wallace 1-1; M Whittaker 1-0; L Dolan 0-3; C Dillon, L Loughlin (f), R Forde, B Kelly 0-1 each.

CORK: Patrick Doyle; Maurice Shanley, Daniel O’Mahony, Neil Lordan; Tommy Walsh, Rory Maguire, Matty Taylor; Seán Walsh, Colm O’Callaghan; Paul Walsh, Eoghan McSweeney, Brian O’Driscoll; Mark Cronin, Chris Óg Jones, Seán McDonnell. Subs: Seán Brady for Shanley (inj., 32mins), Ruairí Deane for P Walsh (42), Ian Maguire for S Walsh (43), Brian Hurley for McSweeney (46), Cathail O’Mahony for McDonnell (61).

WESTMEATH: Conor McCormack; Jamie Gonoud, Conor Dillon, Charlie Drumm; Matthew Whittaker, Jack Geoghegan, Ronan Wallace; Kevin O’Sullivan, Robbie Forde; Danny McCartan, Brían Cooney, Sam McCartan; Brandon Kelly, Luke Loughlin, Lorcan Dolan. Subs: Stephen Smith for Kelly (47 mins), Kieran Martin for Cooney (52), Enda Gaffney for Forde (55), Andrew Kilmartin for Dolan (61), Daniel Scahill for O’Sullivan (67).

REFEREE: Brendan Griffin (Kerry).