Leaky defence spells defeat for Westmeath minor footballers

Offaly 3-7, Westmeath 1-11

However, for the very same reasons that supporters of that mindset will be quietly content, supporters who were hoping that this team was about to be the first Westmeath minor team to reach a provincial final since 2000 will be deeply distraught at what will be remembered as a real missed opportunity for the county.

Without question, the seventeen young men of Westmeath who took part in last Saturday night`s match proved themselves to be extremely adept and capable footballers, largely blessed with the skills required to go on and acquit themselves well at the highest level of Gaelic football.

That their championship journey hit the rocks in spite of this can be attributed to several factors – the absence of Tubberclair`s Robbie Buckley leaving a chasm at centre-back, Offaly`s ability to sneak goals when general play was going against them in the first half, a few near misses for goals and quite simply the local derby factor pushing Offaly on to a level that they had not yet found in this championship.

After an amusing prelude when referee Alan McKenna inspected four different footballs before he finally found one that he deemed to be worthy of throwing in, the game started according to script as the heavily fancied Westmeath team smoothly slipped into gear and found their rhythm, quickly transferring the ball between players and intelligently running in support and creating overlaps. They could have opened with a goal after only a minute when a high ball into the Offaly square caused chaos, but eventually Thomas McDaniel worked the ball back to Athlone`s John Egan and Westmeath had to settle for the opening point instead.

Offaly equalised through a Brian Connor free before Westmeath began to make their running game tell against an Offaly team that appeared unable to live with them for pace. John Egan again, Alan Fitzpatrick (Caulry) and McDaniel all raised white flags in the early stages. Indeed the 0-4 to 0-1 lead after only ten minutes could have been even more as Westmeath were missing chances while Offaly looked like a team that had been celebrating with Brian Cowen in the Dáil bar the night before.

Goals change games, however, and when Offaly were drowning and needed to be saved, 16-year-old Anton Sullivan was the bearer of the buoy when he took a pass from Paddy Rigney, turned and finished from ten yards out with his left foot. Having received this shot in the arm, within five minutes wing-forward Keith Lawlor (Ballycumber/Tubber) had added another 1-1 and Offaly were flying. The goal came after he ran through the middle and shot with Joe McMahon unsighted in the Westmeath goal, leaving the visitors trailing by double scores in a game they had hitherto dominated.

Westmeath responded well to this burst however and when corner-forward Ian Coffey was pulled down by Lee Dunning and Conor Lynam put away the perfect penalty kick, it looked like they had ridden out the storm and would now pull away. They did level up through John Egan after some time, with most of the credit for the score going to David Keenan who won the ball very well under pressure and laid off well to open up the space, but yet again Offaly were to be pulled back from the brink of collapse with a goal.

A free from outside the 45 dropped towards the left of the goal line and as the Westmeath full-back line struggled to deal with it, Ruairí Allen secured the possession and laid it back to Paddy Rigney, who hammered the ball home from 12 yards out. Thomas McDaniel and Rigney traded points before half-time to leave the score at the break Offaly 3-3 Westmeath 1-6, a three-point lead that was by no means a reflection on the balance of play.

For the start of the second half, Westmeath manager John Fagan introduced Tommy Barry of Shandonagh and moved David Malynn back up to his more natural home of centre-forward, with Conor Lynam moving to the right wing. Lynam had been struggling to make inroads against Brian Geraghty, a player who was no doubt conscious of returning to school in Kilbeggan on Monday and had raised his game accordingly. Malynn was a more natural match up for Geraghty`s size but despite both switches looking like they would make an impact, Westmeath continued to struggle in this area of the field and Offaly made the better start to the second half. A free from Noel Andrew Graham and a point from Keith Lawlor pushed the lead out to five, with Offaly`s first wide of the match sandwiched in between the two.

John Egan and Thomas McDaniel down the left wing had been Westmeath`s best forward outlets so far and it was Egan who kick-started Westmeath`s revival when he finished under pressure after cutting in from the left on 39 minutes. A minute later, Westmeath had a glorious chance to take a big chunk out of the lead when McDaniel laid off to Ian Coffey with just the keeper to beat, but as Shane Nally closed him down Coffey put his shot wide.

A couple of Offaly wides in response meant that they had failed to take advantage, however, and points from McDaniel and Lynam cut the deficit to two. Lynam indeed could have had a goal as his point was a goal attempt that just fizzed over the bar.

A Brian Connor point stopped the rot for Offaly but within two minutes substitute Kevin Mitchell had responded and it was a two-point game again. Westmeath got yet another goal chance when McDaniel slipped inside his marker and bore down on goal, but the covering Michael Brazil chased him the whole way and got the slightest of touches on the ball as McDaniel went to shoot, thus saving the Offaly net that continued to live a charmed life.

One felt that if Westmeath had taken points from some of these opportunities they could have bridged the gap, but a wonder score from Anton Sullivan with three minutes left all but forced the men in maroon to chase that elusive goal. A free from Ian Coffey with a minute of normal time to go meant that such a goal would have been a winner rather than a leveller, but, with Offaly pulling plenty of players back, the opportunity never came and a talented but ultimately unlucky Westmeath minor team made their exit from the 2008 Leinster Championship.

Offaly: Shane Nally; Derek Kelly, John Moloney, Lee Dunning; Darren Coughlan, Brian Geraghty, Adrian Murphy; Brian Connor (0-2, 0-1 free), Noel Andrew Graham (0-1, free); Keith Lawlor (1-2), Paddy Rigney (1-1), Ruairí Allen; Bernard Allen, Anton Sullivan (1-1), Adrian Kelly. Subs: Donal Ryan for Coughlan, Michael Brazil for Dunning, Robbie Knight for A Kelly.

Westmeath: Joe McMahon; Ben Moran, Ciaran Sheridan, Shane Mulvihill; Declan Donohoe, David Malynn, James Dolan; David Keenan, Ger Egan; Kieran Martin, Conor Lynam (1-1, 1-0 pen), John Egan (0-4); Ian Coffey (0-1, free), Alan Fitzpatrick (0-1), Thomas McDaniel (0-3). Subs: Tommy Barry for Martin, Kevin Mitchell (0-1) for Malynn.

Referee: Alan McKenna (Louth).