Impressive Westmeath march on to semi-final

WESTMEATH 3-18LONGFORD 0-9Westmeath?s Under-16 footballers comfortably qualified for the semi-final of this year?s Fr Manning Cup with an impressive demolition of neighbours Longford in Pearse Park last Wednesday evening (August 1st), in the process racking up a huge score of 3-18, albeit against limited opposition.Team manager, John Fagan, together with his selectors Liam McDaniel and Johnny Murray, and coordinator Kieran Galvin, may well be looking back on the recent Gerry Reilly Tournament in Oldcastle with a tinge of regret, as this team has now struck a rich vein of form which should see them challenge very strongly to retain their Fr Manning title. With both midfielders, all six forwards, as well as two others making the scoresheet, the side has a nice balanced look about it and they will be very much up for next Wednesday?s home tie in the penultimate round against Sligo.Conditions were ideal for football in Longford GAA headquarters last Wednesday and the local fans were anticipating a closely-fought contest, asthe home team had run Offaly to a goal in the opening round. However, their hopes were dashed almost from the throw-in as the Lake County were completely on top in the first moiety and, except for an inevitable slackening off at certain stages of the second half, it was one-way traffic throughout.Westmeath attacked from the off and Stuart Flynn was wide from a free, taken from the ground, with only 30 seconds elapsed. It was to prove to be a rare aberration by the young Mullingar Shamrocks clubman who went on to give a wonderful display of old-fashioned freetaking from the ground, reminiscent of legends such as Tony McTague, Mickey Kearins and Jimmy Keaveney. While the visitors dominated the early exchanges, Longford almost snuck in for a goal when midfielder Marty Mulvey picked out Thomas Kelly, but the full forward was forced to shoot with his weaker left foot and the chance was wasted.In the ninth minute, the winners opened the scoring when an astute pass from Ger Egan set up Cormac Boyle for a well-taken point from 25 metres. Within a minute, Alan Fitzpatrick superbly picked out Callum McCormack and the corner forward bore down on goals and found the net, despite the Longford goalkeeper with a famous netminder?s name, Paddy Cullen almost parrying the ball to safety. McCormack then snatched at another good opportunity, but a rampant Westmeath team increased their lead after a quarter of an hour?s play when Stuart Flynn almost nonchalantly pointed a ?45?, after the Longford full back with the distinctive hairstyle, Keelan Cox unnecessarily bundled the ball over his own endline. Flynn then displayed his prowess from open play, intercepting a Longford move and burying the ball in the net from ten metres. A matter of seconds later, it was 2-3 to 0-0 for the maroon and whites, with Ben Moran overlapping from defence and kicking a fine left-footed point.Stuart Flynn was successful with a 30-metre free from the ground in the 20th minute, before Longford eventually opened their account when a quick free by Darren Quinn found Conor Quaine in space and he dissected the posts from some 25 metres out. However, in the ten minutes remaining (including what seemed an inordinate four and a half minutes of added time), Westmeath kicked six unanswered points. Adam Ward did well to find the range, despite being pressurised, and Wayne Fox soon added another minor, rounding off a move started by a terrific catch by Alan Fitzpatrick. The winners were by no means error-free at this juncture and two opportunities were spurned in quick succession by harmless kicks into Paddy Cullen?s hands.Rare Longford attacks were being intelligently repulsed by great tackling by the Lake County backs while, at the other end, a dominant midfield pairing and a slick forward line were reaking havoc. On the half hour mark, Wayne Fox finished a great build-up with a rasping shot which flew just over the crossbar and this was immediately followed by a wonderful point, the move started and finished by Ger Egan. Slack Longford defending then allowed in Robert Kenny for a point, meaning that all six starting forwards had now got their names on the scoresheet. A wild shot by Adam Ward was untypical of Westmeath?s fluency at this point, but Stuart Flynn ended the half in style with another superbly-struck ?45?, leaving his side well and truly ahead by 2-10 to 0-1 at the break.A clearly rattled home team tried to bring some respectability to the scoreline on the change of ends and they had trebled their score by the second minute, with a great point from play by Conor Quaine and a free from his hands by Darren Quinn. However, Westmeath responded in style with three points in as many minutes - a fine effort from Adam Ward, a trademark free from Stuart Flynn and an opportunist score by Callum McCormack. Longford?s Darren Quinn proceeded to point two straightforward frees, before midfielder Enda McKiernan kicked a fine point, after eye-catching work by Thomas Kelly. Seven scoreless minutes ensued, with Westmeath clearly taking the foot off the pedal. Darren Quinn kicked Longford?s seventh point, again from a free, and Barney Crawford followed up with a well-worked score, in the 20th minute.However, the winners regrouped for the remaining 14 minutes (as was the case in the first half, the extent of injury time puzzled spectators) and Ger Egan scored arguably the point of the match after a great run. A flowing move then ended with Alan Ftzpatrick blasting home a 24th-minute goal, with Stuart Flynn soon tacking on another free. Midfielder Marty Mulvey then got Longford?s last point, before Stuart Flynn shot high and accurately over the Longford crossbar. Sandwiched between Westmeath?s last two points (a great score by Robert Kenny and a fine individual effort from substitute, Shane Flanagan), Longford managed to get the ball in the Westmeath net, but the ?goal? by Enda McKiernan was rightly disallowed for ?square ball?.This was a terrific performance by the Lake County lads, even if Longford effectively threw in the towel from an early stage of the contest. New goalkeeper, Sean McCormack (deputising for the unfortunate Scott Hogan, injured in a freak domestic accident) was never tested. Trevor Farrell and Ben Moran defended staunchly in a well-coached rearguard, while the midfield partnership of Alan Fitzpatrick and Ger Egan continues to blossom. All six members of a slick forward division showed they are capable of taking scores, while Stuart Flynn?s freetaking is of a very high calibre for one so young.On the day, Longford were no match for the visitors. Keelan Cox was the pick of a beleaguered defence, while Enda McKiernan foraged hard at centrefield. Conor Quaine and Thomas Kelly provided the biggest threat in an attack which lacked the all-round potency of the oppositionWestmeath: Sean McCormack; Paul Carey, Ciaran Sheridan, Trevor Farrell; Ben Moran (0-1), Adam Browne, Shane Mulvihill; Alan Fitzpatrick (1-0), Ger Egan (0-2); Adam Ward (0-2), Wayne Fox (0-2), Cormac Boyle (0-1); Callum McCormack (1-1), Robert Kenny (0-2), Stuart Flynn (1-6, 0-2 from ?45?s, 0-3 from frees). Subs: David Smith (for Boyle), Alan Stone (for Moran), Christy Grimes (for Ward), Shane Flanagan (0-1) (for McCormack), John Hughes (for Fitzpatrick).Longford: Paddy Cullen; Robert Rehill, Keelan Cox, Matthew Daly; David Reilly, Sean Flynn, Patrick Fox; Enda McKiernan (0-1), Marty Mulvey (0-1); Conor Quaine (0-2), Darren Quinn (0-4, all from frees), Darren Farrelly; Darren Flaherty, Thomas Kelly, Barney Crawford (0-1). Subs: Fergal Bannon (for Fox), James Noonan (for Farrelly), Kelvin Flynn (for Reilly).Referee: Damien McGovern (Sligo)