Third victory for Westmeath Minotaurs
The Westmeath Minotaurs have made it three wins on the bounce to open their 2025 AFI Division 1 campaign after a 34-18 victory away from home over a competitive Cill Dara Crusaders squad.
With both teams coming into Saturday’s game undefeated, the top spot in the standings was up for grabs in warm, sunny conditions that favoured both teams’ abilities to move the ball through the air.
The Minotaurs started hot, with Niall Corcoran recovering a fumble on Cill Dara’s first possession to set Westmeath’s offense up with great field position. RB Rafa Monteiro, who carved the Crusaders defence up in the run game for more 100 yards by the day’s end, punched in the first of Westmeath’s five touchdowns after some punishing runs.
Westmeath would continue to pile on the pressure throughout the first quarter and into the second, highlighted by a David Walsh field goal block to keep the Crusaders scoreless, and QB Sean McCormack and rookie receiver Chris Gilbert connecting on a 25 yard touchdown pass to push the lead to 14-0.
The run game continued to be a huge gainer for the Minotaurs offence going into the third quarter, with Westmeath’s opening drive of the second half racking up 48 rushing yards, capped off by a 2 yard sneak up the middle by McCormack to extend the lead to 21-0.
The Crusaders began to come into the game a bit, with a breakaway run putting six points on the board for the hosts. The momentum wouldn’t long last for the Crusaders, however, as McCormack threw his second touchdown pass of the day on a 21-yard pass play to rookie receiver Jack Walsh, who expertly bounced off and dodged tackles on his way to the end-zone. The fourth quarter saw the game get put away as the Crusaders tried to claw back. The Minotaurs offense yet again got themselves down the field, getting into scoring range again for McCormack to throw his third passing touchdown of the game, this time to returning receiver Shaun Dalton who walked in for a 25-yard score after screaming open down the left sideline.
The Crusaders scored twice towards the end of the game, but a great performance in all three phases of the game by Westmeath – including 360 scrimmage yards by the offence, six forced turnovers by the defence and a special teams turnover – sees Westmeath atop Division 1. A long away trip to Armoy, Antrim, on Sunday April 13 awaits before the Easter break, with the Minotaurs eager to outlast the Causeway Giants for a fourth victory.