Westmeath challenge swept aside by hungry Galway

Walsh Cup senior hurling: Galway 3-28, Westmeath 0-20

Galway’s Evan Niland hit 17 points as Westmeath’s senior hurlers went down to a Walsh Cup defeat by the same margin at the hands of the understrength Tribesmen at Ballinasloe today.

All Star nominee Killian Doyle was his usual accurate best for the Lake County, who battled manfully and were arguably better than the final scoreline suggested.

However, with plenty of eager hurlers competing for places, Henry Shefflin-managed Galway had scorers all over the field and amply demonstrated their strength in depth going into 2023.

Westmeath competed well during the first half, with a goal from Galway’s Martin McManus separating the sides at the break (1-11 to 0-11). However, the Westerners had seven scorers in the first half, which would climb to ten by the final whistle.

The Lake County were still in with a shout until the 46th minute, with a second goal from McManus putting nine points between the sides (2-16 to 0-13), as Niland continued to show deadly accuracy from placed balls.

Joe Fortune will be encouraged by the fact that debutants Mark Cunningham (Ringtown), Rian Holding (Clonkill) and Jack Gallagher (Castletown Geoghegan) all made the scoresheet, showing that the Maroons have some depth of their own.

However, there was only going to be one winner in Ballinasloe, and a late goal from Galway sub Mark Kennedy sealed a fine win.

Scorers – Galway: E Niland 0-17 (14f, 2 ’65s’), M McManus 2-1, D O’Shea 0-3, M Kennedy 1-0, A Tuohy 0-2, G McInerney, S Linnane, J Cooney, C Whelan and D McLoughlin 0-1 each. Westmeath: K Doyle 0-12 (10f, 1 ’65’), N O’Brien 0-2, M Cunningham, S McGovern, J Boyle, E Keyes, R Holding and J Gallagher 0-1 each.

Galway: Darach Fahy; Jack Fitzpatrick, Gearóid McInerney, Eoin Lawless; Shane Ryan, Adrian Tuohy, TJ Brennan; Ronan Murphy, Sean Linnane; John Cooney, Conor Whelan, Donal O’Shea; Evan Niland, Martin McManus, Declan McLoughlin. Subs used: Tiernan Killeen for Ryan (45), Mark Kennedy for Whelan (49), Sean O’Hanlon for Lawless (59), Kevin Hanney for Cooney (61).

Westmeath: Noel Conaty; Darragh Egerton, Conor Shaw, Jack Galvin; Kevin Regan, Shane Clavin, Peadar Scally; Mark Cunningham, Shane McGovern; Niall O’Brien, Killian Doyle, Joey Boyle; Shane Williams, Niall Mitchell, David Williams. Subs used: Aaron Craig for Scally (h-t), Rian Holding for Galvin (46), Eoin Keyes for D Williams (47), Peter Clarke for S Williams (49), Plunkett Maxwell for Cunningham (55), Eamon Cunneen for McGovern (60), Eoin Daly for Boyle (60), David Devine for Doyle (63), Conor Gaffney for Egerton (63), Jack Gallagher for O’Brien (65).

Ref: Richie Fitzsimons (Offaly).