Westmeath minor ladies have no answer as dominant Tipp march on

Despite a never-say-die performance from start to finish, Westmeath's minor side was decisively beaten by a much stronger Tipperary outfit in the Ladies Football All-Ireland 'B' championship semi-final on Wednesday evening last. The Premier girls took a grip on proceedings from an early stage and led by nine points at the interval. A third goal within two minutes of the restart effectively put paid to the Lake County's slim chances of a comeback. By the time the very hard-working Maud Anne Foley scored a cracking goal in the third last minute of normal time, the Tipp team had well and truly secured their place in the decider. On a very pleasant evening for football, the winners had a greater share of supporters at the superbly-appointed venue and their vociferous management team never allowed the girls to take their feet off the accelerator, despite the gallant efforts of the young ladies in maroon and white. Ironically, Westmeath opened the scoring with just 30 seconds on the clock, full-forward Ciara Scally rounding off a fine move with a well-taken point. The girls in blue and gold were soon level, Leanne Barrett (who was to play a storming role) tapping over a close-range free. Both goalkeepers were then called into action and neither disappointed. Indeed, despite the large score conceded by the losers, Christine Warburton had a fine game between the Westmeath sticks. In the 11th minute, Tipperary took a lead they never looked remotely like relinquishing when Aisling O'Connor took Samantha Lambert's astute pass and buried the ball in the Westmeath net. Midway through the half, the winners tacked on three rapid-fire scores - Leanne Barrett, Eimear Moyles and Kelly Hackett all pointing, in each case benefiting from quickly-taken frees. A mini-rally by Dermot Brady's girls yielded two points in the 21st and 25th minutes from Ciara Scally (after a fine passing movement) and Maud Anne Foley (at the end of move which the Coralstown/Kinnegad girl had started herself). However, the Tipp girls finished the first moiety very strongly. A fabulous solo point from Leanne Barrett was soon followed by a fine left-footed point from Ann Marie O'Gorman, before the latter girl smashed home her side's second goal, with exactly half an hour elapsed. In injury-time, Sarah Dolan almost got in for a Westmeath score, but the Garrycastle girl was dispossessed near the winner's goalmouth. At the break, the scoreboard read: Tipperary 2-6 Westmeath 0-3. The Premier County girls started the second half as they ended the first and they nabbed their third goal with just over a minute gone, Leanne Barrett taking a pass from her sister Emma and burying the ball past Christine Warburton. The winners almost scored a fourth goal in the next passage of play, Ann Marie O'Gorman screwing the ball wide when a score looked certain. Tipperary suffered a minor blow in the sixth minute, the latter player being sin-binned after a dangerous tackle on Westmeath substitute Patricia Igoe. Maud Anne Foley was untypically off-target with a scoreable free and a dangerous cross from Sarah Dolan was well dealt with by the Tipp defence, as Westmeath went in desperate search of badly-needed scores. A one-two between Aoife Brady and Ciara Scally saw the Tyrrellspass girl score her third point of the hour in the 12th minute, but Tipperary then took over completely for another barrage of scores. A lovely finish from Cliona O'Dwyer made if 3-7 to 0-4 for Tipp, who went on to add an unanswered 2-1 in a four-minute spell midway through the half. Aisling O'Connor deftly rolled the ball under the advancing Christine Warburton for her second goal and the corner-forward followed up with a point in the 16th minute. Not to be outdone, Leanne Barrett then raised her second green flag of the contest, for the softest of the winners' five goals. Westmeath's Lorraine Duncan was sin-binned in the 18th minute and further Tipp points ensued from the boots of Emma Barrett, the returned Ann Marie O'Gorman and substitute Lorraine O'Shea. Sarah Dolan missed a routine free for the losers but the goal her side's efforts deserved came in the 28th minute, Maud Anne Foley's low drive nestling in the Tipp net. In the closing minutes, Tipperary rounded off match scoring with points from Ann Marie O'Gorman and Cliona O'Dwyer. To their great credit, the Westmeath players never threw in the towel, but last-gasp efforts from Ciara Blundell, Shauna Butterly and Aoife Brady yielded no tangible reward, with Tipperary qualifying for the All-Ireland final by a 21-point margin. TIPPERARY: Jennifer Russell; Rachel Kenneally, Aoife Casey, Caoimhe Bowles; Eimear Moyles (0-1), Samantha Lambert, Maeve Hackett; Cliona O'Dwyer (0-2), Kelly Hackett (0-1); Emma Barrett (0-1), Ann Marie O'Gorman (1-3), Shauna Ryan; Ann Marie Fahy, Leanne Barrett (2-3, 0-1f), Aisling O'Connor (2-1). Subs: Lorraine O'Shea (0-1) for Fahy (38 mins), Orla Walsh (for L. Barrett, 50 mins), Ena Meagher (for O'Connor, 52 mins), Aisling Stakelum (for Ryan, 58 mins). WESTMEATH: Christine Warburton; Aimee Duncan, Lorraine Duncan, Emma Rafferty; Kelly Boyce, Aoife Brady, Lisa Fitzpatrick; Shauna Butterly, Maud Anne Foley (1-1); Niamh Farrell, Gillian Corbett, Sarah Dolan; Louise Kelly, Ciara Scally (0-3), Tianna Watts. Subs: Patricia Igoe (for Kelly, 15 mins), Ciara Blundell (for Corbett, 28 mins), Vanessa O'Brien (for Farrell, 44 mins), Sarah Keegan (for A. Duncan, 52 mins), Megan Pendred (for Rafferty, 53 mins). REFEREE: Mel Kenny (Mayo).