Westmeath earns first league point

Bearing no resemblance other than the maroon jerseys to the lacklustre side who capitulated tamely against Down a week earlier, Westmeath"s committed senior hurlers eked out a thoroughly-deserved draw.Seven days earlier in Casement Park, the home side had raised many eyebrows nationwide by defeating one of the game"s traditional powers, Wexford, while a little over a hundred miles down the road, Westmeath had been well and truly defeated by a less-than-traditional hurling county, Down. It was therefore with justifiable trepidation (apart from the overnight political situation) that a handful of diehard Lake County fans made the long journey to the north-east for last Sunday"s rescheduled opening round game.However, on a bitterly cold afternoon, their trip homewards would have seemed so much shorter, after witnessing a performance full of pride, passion and no little skill. Indeed, the element of luck in the result - Westmeath"s equaliser came in the third minute of added-time, despite only one minute being signalled in advance - was richly deserved. Truly, Eamonn Gallagher and his mentors, and naturally the players themselves, can be very proud of the turnaround in attitude and performance in such a short space of time.A small crowd was in attendance in icy-cold weather (there had been several falls of snow in the locality that morning), the vast majority cheering on the men in saffron and white. Despite five changes from the team which had shocked the Slaneysiders, the home fans were fully confident that "Sambo" McNaughton"s charges would maintain their 100 per cent start in this very competitive group. However, it was noticeable even in the pre-match warm-up that the Westmeath players had a steely determination to atone for their insipid showing against the Mournemen in Cusack Park and, thankfully, that attitude was duly carried through over the ensuing 70 minutes plus.Antrim had whatever benefit was accruing in the first moiety from a swirling wind and they took the lead with just 80 seconds on the clock, Michael Herron steadying himself before slotting over a point from the 45-metre line. Encouragingly, Westmeath began to settle, but four chances went abegging over the ensuing three minutes. From the last of these (a wide under pressure from Darren McCormack), Antrim midfielder Brendan Herron fielded the puck out and soloed forward before rifling over his side"s second point. In the seventh minute, the visitors deservedly got on the scoreboard when fine approach play by Ciaran Curley ended with Brian Connaughton shooting a fine point.Lady Luck soon came to the Lake County"s rescue when P.J. O"Connell pounced on an error by Dermot Curley and flicked the ball across the square to Karl Stewart who seemed certain to bat the sliotar to the net from close range. However, the right half forward inexplicably screwed his attempt wide. The men in maroon and white made the most of this let-off by equalising within a minute, courtesy of a neat finish by Killian Cosgrove, following good play by Brian Connaughton. The Glensmen had the majority of the possession at this juncture and Jimmy Greville had to be alert on a number of occasions but he was powerless to stop the home team take a two-point lead by the 13th minute through scores from Colm Duffin and Karl Stewart (a free).Westmeath were now giving as good as they got and their wholehearted approach was evident in the legal bundling up of Karl Stewart after he had caught Karl McKeegan"s delivery from a "65", close to the goalmouth. This heartwarming approach was rewarded with four unanswered points in as many minutes at the midpoint of the half. Scores from Ciaran Curley (from long range), Derek McNicholas (from an acute angle), Andrew Mitchell (from a 20-metre free) and Paddy Dowdall (whose goalbound rasper was deflected over the crossbar by Karl McKeegan), had the visitors ahead by 0-6 to 0-4 by the 20th minute.The respective number 5s, Karl McKeegan and John Shaw, proceeded to exchange points from frees and Westmeath"s growing confidence was evident in a wonderful catch by team captain Paul Greville from a huge Karl McKeegan free. An untypically-weak scoring attempt under no great pressure at the other end by Killian Cosgrove followed, but another brace of points ensued from the midlanders. Scores from Derek McNicholas (an opportunist effort) and Brendan Murtagh (a 35-metre free, within a minute of his introduction) left the home side in no doubt that they would have to work very hard to add to their impressive opening haul of a maximum four league points. Indeed, it could have got even gloomier for the Ulstermen had Ryan McGarry not managed to keep out Killian Cosgrove"s shot in the 28th minute, the Lough Lene Gaels star having wriggled free impressively from his marker, but directing his shot too close to the goalkeeper. Darren McCormack also should have stretched his side"s advantage, but he shot wide after making a timely interception.Antrim made the most of this by tacking on three points without reply between the 33rd and 35th minutes, courtesy of two converted frees from Karl Stewart and a great individual score from Brendan Herron. With exactly 35 minutes elapsed, Brian Smyth took a pass from his Raharney clubmate John Shaw and shot his side"s tenth point, a brief delay ensuing while the umpire debated whether to raise the white flag. In the second minute of injury-time, Jimmy Greville almost spoiled a good catch by venturing from his line and losing possession. However, Colm Duffin"s opportunist first-time pull for a goal was thwarted by an alert Dermot Curley at the expense of an unconverted "65". At the break, Westmeath deserved their two-point lead on a scoreline of 0-10 to 0-8.Clearly, "Sambo" McNaughton read the riot act in the Antrim dressing room at the interval, as his troops raced into the lead by the fourth minute of the second half. Brendan Herron (from play, after only 40 seconds) and Karl Stewart (two near-identical frees from 45-metres) were the men on target. Westmeath"s only scoring attempt during this period came from an ambitious shot by Brendan Murtagh, who was to endure a generally frustrating second moiety. Indeed, five wides from the visitors in the opening ten minutes did not augur well for the Lake County" chances. Karl Stewart (a 50-metre free) and Darren McCormack (a tidy score, seconds after he was wrongly announced by the PA man as being called ashore to make way for Castlepollard colleague, Shane Egan) swapped points. The Glensmen went into a three-point lead by the 17th minute courtesy of a brace of points from Karl Stewart, the first of these being the St. Gall"s marksman"s only point from play of the afternoon.However, Westmeath had not travelled to throw in the towel and two tremendous long-range frees by Andrew Mitchell reduced the gap to the bare minimum. Sandwiched between these, Antrim"s Shane McNaughton was yellow-carded after a second "ticking" and a terrific move by the men in maroon and white ended with a wide by Paddy Dowdall. Shortly after another monster free by Mitchell almost yielded an opportunist goal for Derek McNicholas, Mitchell and Karl McKeegan were both target from placed balls and Antrim substitute Paddy Doherty was wide from a goal attempt. However, from the resultant puck out, Michael Herron scored what was to prove to be his side"s last point of the contest. The home team then came close to snatching a match-winning goal but Westmeath"s resilience was soon typified by a great catch from John Shaw.The latter player was also prominent as normal time came to a close when he set up Ciaran Curley who pointed in style. Antrim looked likely to snatch a decisive score, or at least hang on for a win, but Westmeath were given one late, late chance to draw level when Jimmy Greville"s quick puck out found John Shaw whose long drive forced Karl McKeegan to foul the ball under intense pressure. Much to the annoyance of the home fans who felt the game was over (and, strictly speaking, they were right!) Brendan Murtagh was given a routine opportunity with the last puck of the day to earn his side what may prove to be an invaluable league point.Enormous credit is due to all concerned for this dramatically-improved Westmeath display. Paul Greville was in fine form in the number 3 jersey, but the visitors" best line was an outstanding half back division, with John Shaw, Andrew Mitchell and Eoin Price all hurling with great skill and vigour throughout. Paddy Dowdall and Brian Connaughton fared well from start to finish at centrefield, while the ever-improving Ciaran Curley and Derek McNicholas were the best of a hard-working forward line.While Antrim will be disappointed to have dropped a point they surely would have expected to collect - the bookies had them at 1/10 to win - they remain in a great position to challenge for promotion. Karl McKeegan at centre half back, talented midfielder Brendan Herron and sharpshooter Karl Stewart were their most consistent performers on the day.Westmeath: Jimmy Greville; Conor Jordan, Paul Greville (capt), Dermot Curley; John Shaw (0-1, from a free), Andrew Mitchell (0-3, all from frees), Eoin Price; Paddy Dowdall (0-1), Brian Connaughton (0-1); Brian Smyth (0-1), Darren McCormack (0-1), Ciaran Curley (0-2); Dan Carty, Killian Cosgrove (0-1), Derek McNicholas (0-2). Subs: Brendan Murtagh (0-2, both from frees) (for Carty, 29 mins), Shane Egan (for Cosgrove, 46 mins), Darren Kilcoyne (for Smyth, 70 mins).Antrim: Ryan McGarry; Kieran McGourty, Neil McGarry (capt), Sean Delargy; Conor McKinley, Karl McKeegan (0-1, from a free), Johnny Campbell; Brendan Herron (0-3), Dan McKillop; Karl Stewart (0-8, 0-7 from frees), Colm Duffin (0-1), Eddie McCloskey; P.J. O"Connell, Shane McNaughton, Michael Herron (0-2). Subs: Paddy McGill (for McKillop, 22 mins), Joey Scullion (for O"Connell, half-time), Paddy Doherty (for Duffin, 49 mins), Cormac Donnelly (for McNaughton, yellow card, 55 mins).Referee: Fergus Smith (Meath).