Heroic Westmeath draw with Tyrone but still bow out

All-Ireland SFC Group 2 Round 3: Westmeath 0-18 Tyrone 0-18

Westmeath came agonisingly close to a famous victory over Tyrone in Cavan this afternoon – a result which would have eliminated the 2021 All-Ireland champions.

John Heslin – Westmeath’s top scorer - was unable to convert a last-gasp free from a difficult angle after the Lake men had fought back from four points to draw level at 0-18 points each.

Westmeath deservedly led by one point at half-time (0-8 to 0-7) and although Tyrone gained the ascendancy in the second half and went four points ahead at one stage, Dessie Dolan's impressive outfit refused to bend the knee.

Darragh Canavan was outstanding for Tyrone, scoring ten points (four from play) at Kingspan Breffni Park, but Westmeath had excellent displays all over the field from the likes of Sam McCartan, Ray Connellan, Luke Loughlin, Ronan O'Toole and John Heslin.

With Armagh edging out Galway in the other Group 2 game, a win by any margin would have been enough to send Westmeath through ahead of Tyrone on the head-to-head rule. As things transpired, the Tyrone camp could breathe a massive sigh of relief as they go through in third place.

Armagh top the group on the head-to-head rule, with Galway in second place. This means the Orchard men go straight into the All-Ireland quarter-finals, while Galway and Tyrone will face preliminary quarter-finals next weekend.

The draw will be made tomorrow morning (Monday) and while Galway will have home advantage, Tyrone will have to travel to face their opponents.

For Westmeath, despite several positives from this performance - and the games against Armagh and Galway - it's a case of what might have been.

Scorers - Westmeath: J Heslin 0-8 (7 frees); L Loughlin 0-4 (2f); S McCartan 0-2; R Connellan, R O'Toole, S Baker, K Martin 0-1 each. Tyrone: D Canavan 0-10 (6f); R Canavan 0-3 (1f); P Harte (f), B Kennedy, C Kilpatrick, J Oguz, K McGeary 0-1 each.

Westmeath: Jason Daly; Jack Smith, Kevin Maguire, James Dolan; Sam McCartan, Ronan Wallace, Conor Dillon; Jonathan Lynam, Ray Connellan; Andy McCormack, Ronan O'Toole, David Lynch; Luke Loughlin, John Heslin, Lorcan Dolan. Subs used: Stephen Smith for L Dolan (43 mins), Senan Baker for Dillon (46), Jamie Gonoud for J Smith (56), Kieran Martin for Maguire (66).

Tyrone: Niall Morgan; Michael McKernan, Ronan McNamee, Pádraig Hampsey; Cormac Quinn, Michael O’Neill, Pete Harte; Brian Kennedy, Conn Kilpatrick; Conor Meyler, Joe Oguz, Ruairí Canavan; Aidan Clarke, Matthew Donnelly, Darragh Canavan. Subs used: Kieran McGeary for Oguz (42 mins), Frank Burns for McNamee (52), Niall Devlin for Donnelly (64), Niall Kelly for Clarke (66), Seán O’Donnell for Harte (70).

Referee: Noel Mooney (Cavan).