Second half collapse by

A dramatic and unexpected collapse by Westmeath enabled Kildare to advance to the final of the Leinster Under-21 "A" hurling championship....when they pipped a fancied home side by the narrowest of margins in glorious sunshine at Cusack Park, Mullingar on Saturday afternoon last.This was an undoubted setback to hurling in the Lake County as the maroon and whites looked certainties to reach the "special" final against Carlow, when seemingly well in control at the interval. An eight-point lead, albeit aided by a not-insignificant wind, was increased to nine within 20 seconds of the restart. The handful of travelling fans (which, if anything, was larger than the handful of home fans) must surely have felt that the only issue remaining was the margin of Westmeath"s victory. However, the Lilywhites rallied superbly and in the end probably deserved to hang on by a single point.Westmeath took the lead after a mere ten seconds, Andrew Dermody pointing neatly from 40 metres. Kildare rallied well and Jimmy Greville had to pull off a great save from Tom Byrne in the fifth minute, before the visitors equalised with a well taken score from John Meehan. The standard of hurling was mediocre at this juncture with striking by both sets of players quite poor in many instances. By the mid-point of the half, Westmeath had gone three points ahead, courtesy of a brace from Stephen Bardon (a routine free and a great shot from play from 60 metres out) and a terrific effort from Darren Kilcoyne (moments after he had spurned a simpler opportunity).The sides then exchanged points - a delightful lift and strike from Martin Fitzgerald being equalled by a wonderful long-range score from Stephen Bardon. The lads in maroon and white then took control and rattled over five unanswered points between the 20th and 30th minutes. A lovely point from Eoin Price, three converted frees by Stephen Bardon (from 20, 30 and 50 metres respectively) and a tidy score from Alan Devine had Westmeath ahead by eight points as normal time drew to a close. The teams swapped points in injury-time, a fine Kildare move ending with John Meehan pointing, but Stephen Bardon maintained his fine record from placed balls with another converted free in the 34th minute. In truth, Westmeath looked home and hosed when leading by 0-11 to 0-3 at half-time.Bardon increased his side"s advantage with another pointed free within seconds of the resumption. Kildare needed a goal to get back into contention and it duly arrived in the third minute, midfielder Donie Heffernan firing an unstoppable shot to the roof of the net, after Jimmy Greville initially batted out Paul Fitzgerald"s effort. The lads in all-white almost raised another green flag in the next passage of play, but John Meehan"s effort rolled agonisingly the wrong side of the post.A fine point from Martin Fitzgerald followed before his brother Paul took centre stage by converting three difficult frees in as many minutes. Martin then slotted over a terrific point from 55 metres and his exhortation of his team-mates showed that the momentum had well and truly swung in Kildare"s favour and it wasn"t long before substitute David Slattery levelled the contest with a neatly flicked point.Paul Fitzgerald"s freetaking was of a very high standard and the pick of his six scores from placed balls came at exactly the mid-point of the second moiety, the Ardclough man dissecting the posts from just inside his own half.Stephen Bardon was off target from a difficult free, but Eoin Price drew Westmeath level from 40 metres, after initially stumbling as he prepared to shoot. The latter player then tapped over a close-range free (his stance initially suggested that he may have been considering going for a goal).The game was now very much up for grabs and another fine free from Paul Fitzgerald (after Ciaran Curley had been caught in possession) tied up the scores in the 25th minute. Christopher Flanagan (from 30 metres) and Paul Fitzgerald (a 30-metre free) exchanged points as the scoreboard clocked approached zero.It looked very much a case of "next score wins"and it was Kildare who managed this, a patient move ending with Martin Fitzgerald popping the sliotar over from 25 metres.The losers" last chance to force extra-time fell to Eoin Price, but the Clonkill man"s effort was narrowly wide. Kildare suitably rejoiced, while Westmeath were left to rue an inexplicable second-half collapse.Kildare: Sean Whelan; Colm Chan, Fergal Byrne, Patrick Curtin; Stephen Piggott, Neil Monaghan, John Houlihan; John O"Malley, Donie Heffernan (1-0); Padraig Keegan, Tom Byrne, Sean Buggy; Paul Fitzgerald (0-6, all from frees), John Meehan (0-2), Martin Fitzgerald (0-4). Subs: David Slattery (0-1) (for Keegan, 39 mins), Gavin Sunderland (for Buggy, 40 mins), Brian Ahern (for Byrne, inj, 49 mins).Westmeath: Jimmy Greville; Thomas Gillen, Conor Slator, Darren Quinn; Damien Golden, Eoin Price (0-3, 0-1 from a free), Shane Egan; Christopher Flanagan (0-1), Stephen Bardon (0-8, 0-6 from frees); Ciaran Curley, Jamie Ward, Darren Kilcoyne (0-1); Noel Conaty, Alan Devine (0-1), Andrew Dermody (0-1). Subs: Killian Murphy (for Golden, 49 mins), Eanna Gallagher (for Kilcoyne, 58 mins).Referee: Brian Gavin (Offaly).