Mitchell and Glennon goals see Maroons into 2A final
Allianz National Hurling League Division 2A playoff: Westmeath 2-18, Kerry 0-21
Westmeath’s senior hurlers are into the Allianz NHL Division 2A final after being made to work hard against a game Kerry side in TEG Cusack Park this afternoon.
Kerry led by 0-5 to 0-3 after the first quarter before Clonkill’s Niall Mitchell kicked home Westmeath’s first goal of the game after a long ball from Robbie Greville. Kerry, meanwhile, suffered a severe blow in the 11th minute when key forward Mikey Boyle was sent off.
Despite their numerical disadvantage, the Kingdom proved a tough nut to crack for the hosts, but Joe Fortune’s charges enjoyed a five-point lead at half-time (2-9 to 0-10) when Lake County sub Davy Glennon smashed the ball to the roof of the net.
Glennon and Killian Doyle (who finished with 0-9) continued to make inroads for Westmeath in the second half, but Kerry ate into that half-time lead with Podge Boyle, Shane Conway and dual star Fionán Mackessy all among the scores.
While Westmeath couldn’t take advantage of the extra man to develop a runaway lead, Kerry rarely looked like getting through for a goal, with some disciplined defending from Tommy Doyle and Darragh Egerton keeping the Kingdom at bay. That said, when Mackessy pointed his second with three minutes to go, there was just a point between the sides (2-15 to 0-20).
However, Westmeath finished strongly, winning by three with Davy Glennon drawing a magnificent save out of Kerry netminder Louis Dee in added time.
The win means that the Lake County qualify for the Division 2A decider against Down next weekend.
Scorers – Westmeath: K Doyle 0-9 (8f), D Glennon and N Mitchell 1-0 each, J Boyle 0-3, R Greville, E Keyes, D McNicholas, J Gillen, N O’Brien and C Boyle 0-1 each. Kerry: S Conway 0-8 (5fs), P Boyle 0-5 (2fs), F Mackessy and S Nolan 0-2 each, C Walsh, P O’Connor, P Ahern and M O’Connor 0-1 each.
Westmeath: Noel Conaty; Darragh Egerton, Conor Shaw, Jack Galvin; Aaron Craig, Tommy Doyle, Aonghus Clarke; Robbie Greville, Cormac Boyle; Kevin Regan, Joey Boyle, Killian Doyle; Eoin Keyes, Derek McNicholas, Niall Mitchell. Subs: Davy Glennon for Clarke (inj., 30), Niall O’Brien for Keyes (43), Johnny Bermingham for Craig (53), Jack Gillen for McNicholas (60), Shane McGovern for Regan (70 + 2).
Kerry: Louis Dee; Conor O’Keeffe, Eric Leen, Fionán Mackessy; Eoin Ross, Michael Leane, Colin Walsh; Mikey Boyle, Daniel Collins; Shane Conway, Shane Nolan, Gavin Dooley; Paudie O’Connor, Podge Boyle, Paudie Ahern. Subs: Maurice O’Connor for Nolan (h-t), Niall Mulcahy for Ahern (45), Fionán O’Sullivan for Dooley (51), Sean Weir for Ross (70 + 5).
Ref: Patrick Murphy (Carlow).