Minor footballers to face Carlow after Kildare defeat
Kildare 0-22, Westmeath 1-13
Westmeath’s minor footballers fell to a six-point defeat against Kildare in Cedral St Conleth’s Park last Thursday evening but remained in the Leinster championship thanks to Meath’s narrow win over Longford. Despite the loss, Westmeath now progress to a preliminary quarter-final away to Carlow.
Kildare looked the sharper outfit throughout and produced a flurry of quality points, topping their competitive group in the process. Westmeath made a bright start, leading 0-3 to 0-1 early on through scores from Dean Kelly, Will Scahill and Sean Whittaker, but Kildare soon took charge, stringing together six unanswered points to go four clear, 0-7 to 0-3.
Scahill’s goal in the 29th minute, after Ross Tully’s shot came back off the crossbar, gave Westmeath hope, but Kildare added a two-point free just before the break to go in 0-12 to 1-5 ahead. A dominant third quarter saw the Lilywhites stretch their advantage to ten points with scores from Ollie Deller, Rory Thompson, Charlie Doran and Cillian Long.
Westmeath responded with four points in a row - Kelly’s improvised effort and three from Scahill - to close the gap, but another Gleeson point for Kildare pushed them further clear. Stephen McWade’s late point and a Scahill free gave Westmeath a glimmer of hope, reducing the deficit to three with five minutes left.
Kildare finished strongly with late scores from Hugh Martin, Pauric Carty and Long to seal the win. Ross Tully was unlucky to drag a late goal chance wide for Westmeath, who battled gamely to the end.
The full-time whistle brought a tense wait for news from Newtownforbes, but relief followed as Meath’s victory over Longford ensured Westmeath’s passage to the next round.
Scorers - Kildare: H Martin 0-5, P Carty 0-4 (1 2ptf, 1f), R Thompson 0-3 (1f), C Long, TJ Donoghue, O Deller, S Gleeson 0-2 each, N McAndrew, C Doran 0-1 each.
Westmeath: W Scahill 1-7 (2 2ptf, 3f), D Kelly 0-3, S Whittaker 0-2 (1‘45’), S McWade 0-1.
KILDARE: Jamie Wall; Dan Sargent, Niall McAndrew, Senan Gallagher; Charlie Cullen, Sean Gleeson, TJ Donoghue; Calum Keaveny, Ollie Deller; Rian Curran, Hugh Martin, Mark Travers; Pauric Carty, Rory Thompson, Charlie Doran. Subs used: Cillian Long for Curran (37), Robbie Milham for Keaveny (39), Nathan Dunne for Gleeson (56), Conor McBrien for Deller (60+1), Aran Martin for McAndrew (60+3).
WESTMEATH: John Paul; Anthony King Carroll, Eoin Donohue, Ross Tully; Conor Casey, Oisín McCauley, Seán Byrne; Cian Fleming, Rory McCaul; Finn Higgins, Dillon Burke, Jack Duignan; Dean Kelly, Will Scahill, Sean Whittaker. Subs used: Conor Cleary for Duignan (h-t), Michael Fry for McCaul (44), Sean Keegan for McCauley (51), Stephen McWade for Higgins (51), Aaron Connaire for Whittaker (56).
Ref: Dan Stynes (Dublin).
(See next week's printed edition for Gerry Buckley's full match report, plus photos).