Down defeat confirms relegation for luckless Westmeath
Down 1-26 Westmeath 0-28
Another thrilling rollercoaster of a game, another narrow and extremely unlucky defeat for Westmeath. However, the difference on Saturday night was this defeat to Down at Páirc Esler sealed Westmeath's fate, confirming their relegation to Division 3 of the Allianz Football League.
The ill luck that has dogged Westmeath throughout this league campaign continued in Newry on Saturday night.
With Westmeath clinging on to a one-point lead in the last couple of minutes, Down's Ryan McEvoy was very fortunate not to be penalised for steps inside his own half. A free would have given Westmeath a decent chance of going two points up; instead, play was allowed to continue and the ensuing passage of play led to a two-pointer from the outstanding Pat Havern.
Now trailing by a point, Westmeath refused to yield and Robbie Forde's sixth point levelled matters in the 70th minute. A draw was surely the least Westmeath deserved for their valiant efforts, but there was still time for Down substitute Adam Crimmins to fist over the winner with the last touch of the game.
As both sets of fans drew their breaths, an agonising defeat confirmed demotion for Westmeath. For their part, Down have ensured their fight for survival will go down to the final day next Sunday when they face Monaghan.
Westmeath needed a win to keep their slim hopes of survival alive, but even a share of the spoils to end the losing run would have been welcomed by the handful of travelling fans who made the long journey north.
In addition to being on that wrong side of that aforementioned contentious decision, Westmeath again had injury blows to contend with. Kevin O'Sullivan (though listed to start) and Lorcan Dolan were unable to play any part, while Fionn O'Hara and Jack Geoghegan were forced off with injuries.
Such has been Westmeath's misfortune during this league campaign that Dermot McCabe must feel that rather than running over merely one black cat, he must be responsible for the demise of an entire litter of feline creatures.
Westmeath's previous visit to Newry saw them eliminated from the 2024 All-Ireland SFC by virtue of a defeat to Derry. Only five of the players who started that game last June also did so on Saturday night - a stark reminder of the challenges McCabe and his backroom team have faced in terms of player turnover.
Westmeath again produced passages of superb football, underlined by a scoring return of 0-28. Yet the Lake men were once again too easy to score against, albeit the new rules and the way Brendan Cawley adjudicated on attempts to tackle made things exceedingly difficult for defenders.
Another key factor in the outcome was the impact of the Dows subs. Shay Millar (0-3) and Adam Crimmins (0-2) scored five points between them; in contrast, Westmeath got no score from a sub, though it’s worth remembering that four of the five introduced are mainly defenders.
Scorers - Down: P Havern 0-13 (3 2pt, 1 2ptf, 3f); J McGeough 1-1; S Millar 0-3; A Crimmins, M Rooney, O Murdock 0-2 each; R McEvoy, J Guinness, D Guinness 0-1 each. Westmeath: L Loughlin 0-9 (1 2pt, 1 2ptf, 4f); R Forde (1f), B Cooney (2 2pts) 0-6 each; M Whittaker, D McCartan, R Wallace 0-2 each; S McCartan 0-1.
Down: Ronan Burns; Peter Fegan, Pierce Laverty, Ceilum Doherty; Ruairí McCormack, Daniel Guinness, Patrick McCarthy; Miceal Rooney, Ryan McEvoy; Aaron McClements, Odhran Murdock, James Guinness; Donal Scullion, Pat Havern, John McGeough. Subs used: Adam Crimmins for Scullion (h-t), Danny Magill for McCormack (44 mins), Eugene Branagan for J Guinness (44), Shay Millar for McGeough (51), Caolan Mooney for McClements (60).
Westmeath: Conor McCormack; Jamie Gonoud, Jack Geoghegan, Conor Dillon; Matthew Whittaker, Sam McCartan, Ronan Wallace; Ray Connellan, Fionn O'Hara; Robbie Forde, Danny McCartan, Brían Cooney; Brandon Kelly, Luke Loughlin, Stephen Smith. Subs used: Joe Moran for O’Hara (inj., 28 mins); Enda Gaffney for Smith (h-t); David Giles for Geoghegan (inj., 37); Kieran Martin for Kelly (51); Nigel Harte for Gaffney (68).
Referee: Brendan Cawley (Kildare).
*See more in this week's paper.