Westmeath whip Wicklow to secure place in Ring Cup for next year

The scoreline says it all in this Christy Ring Cup relegation battle at Clane on Saturday with Westmeath"s hurlers romping to a massive 36 points win over struggling Wicklow.This win ensures that the midlanders will again be playing Christy Ring hurling in 2010 whereas Wicklow must now win their promotion/relegation game against the Nicky Rackard Cup winners to avoid the drop.In a one-sided match, it was classy centre-forward Brendan Murtagh who led the way to victory for Westmeath with an exhibition of hurling and score-taking that saw him rack up 1-10 for his team.In truth, however, Westmeath were the superior hurlers all over the field, banging over points from all angles and all distances, from frees and from play; and they had this game neatly gift wrapped long before half-time when they led by an unassailable 1-19 to 1-2.And but for the fact that Wicklow"s goalie Ted Kennedy was on top of his game for the Garden County team, the margin of defeat would have been much worse for Wicklow than 36 points.Carnew clubman Kennedy prevented the midlanders from scoring another four goals at least with super saves. That in its own way was an indication of the almost unrelenting pressure exerted by Westmeath throughout this match.From the throw-in, Wicklow provided brief token opposition and might even have had the first score when full-forward Andy O"Brien dispossessed Westmeath"s number four, Greg Gavin, near the sideline. O"Brien then floated the sliothar invitingly across the face of the goal but John Connors" connection veered wide of the posts.Westmeath"s corner-forward Ciaran Curley opened the scoring with a point after 3 minutes and Brendan Murtagh set them on the road to eventual victory three minutes later when he blasted a 30-metre free low, hard and just inside Ted Kennedy"s near post for a goal.Thereafter Murtagh"s performance was a riverdance of hurling artistry as he fired over points from all angles, left and right handed, from play and frees.And the beauty from a Westmeath point of view was that their commanding display was not a one-man show with Killian Cosgrave, Ciaran Curley, Robbie Jackson and centre-back Andrew Mitchell also on song.John Connors opened Wicklow"s account with a point after ten minutes, fed the ball by corner-forward TJ Hennessy, but Wicklow were not to score again for another fifteen minutes as Westmeath continued to run riot with a string of points from Murtagh, centre-back Andrew Mitchell (a long range free), and a fine brace by wing-forward Killian Cosgrave.On 25 minutes, Wicklow"s Andy O"Brien got a delightful over-head flick to a long ball by centre-back Eoin O"Neill out of his own defence and the green flag was waving for Wicklow.It was not sufficient to halt the momentum and onward march of Westmeath who continued to rule the roost with a majestic display of the finer qualities of the game of hurling. Murtagh"s radar accuracy kept the points whizzing over the bar and Westmeath were virtually out of sight by half time as they led by 1-19 to 1-2.Things did not get any better for Wicklow in the second half. Ten Westmeath players got their name on the scoreboard on the change over, including substitute Darren Kilcoyne with three points, and their two second-half goals were scored by Ciaran Curley, after nine minutes, and by Noel Connaughton, at the start of the final quarter.Wicklow could only manage four points in reply leaving Westmeath good value for their win.Not having had a good season in either league or championship up to this, at least Westmeath hurlers finish their competitive year on a high note; their performance possibly indicating that they should be hurling at a higher level as they once were many moons ago.SCORERS - Westmeath: B Murtagh (1-10, 4f); C Curley (1-2); N Conaty (1-2); R Jackson (0-5); K Cosgrave (0-4); D Kilcoyne (0-3); J Shaw (0-2); A Mitchell (0-4, 3f); D McNicholas (0-2); B Smyth and B Connaughton (0-1 each).Wicklow: A O"Brien (1-1), T Doyle (0-3, 2f, 1 "65"), J Connors (0-2).WESTMEATH: Pat Burke, Eoin Price, Paul Greville, Greg Gavin, Conor Jordan, Andrew Mitchell, Darren McCormack, John Shaw, Brian Connaughton, Robbie Jackson, Brendan Murtagh, Killian Cosgrove, Derek McNicholas, Brian Smyth, Ciaran Curley. Subs: Killian Murphy for C. Curley, Andrew Dermody for K Cosgrove, Darren Kilcoyne for B. Smyth, Noel Conaty for D. McNicholas.WICKLOW: Ted Kennedy, Willy Collins, Jim Connors, Ciaran Doyle, Colm O"Neill, Eoin O"Neill, Nick Skelton, Thomas Doyle, Jonathan O"Neill, John Connors, Ger White, Geoffrey Bermingham, Christy Moorehouse, Andy O"Brien, TJ Hennessy. Subs: Stephen Kelly for John Connors, Seanie Kinsella for TJ Hennessy, Thomas Kennedy for C. Moorehouse, Sean Byrne for N. Skelton, Emmett O"Sullivan for Jim Connors.REFEREE: Eamonn Morris (Dublin).