Louth goals leave Westmeath licking their wounds

O'Byrne Shield: Louth 2-12, Westmeath 0-12

Westmeath bowed out of the O’Byrne Shield after a six-point defeat against Louth at Kinnegad on Saturday afternoon.

Fielding a strong side, Louth manager Ger Brennan saw his side control the game for the most part and they led by 1-8 to 0-6 at half-time, after Ciaran Keenan’s shot deflected in off Westmeath defender Jack Smyth, who was powerless to prevent it as the initial shot was saved by Jason Daly, but the ball then struck the defender and finished in the net.

That 20th-minute major had the Wee County leading by four points and when Ryan Burns rounded off a neat move to find the net after 43 minutes, the outcome was never really in doubt.

Dessie Dolan fielded a near full strength Westmeath side, though John Heslin and Sam McCartan were notable absentees. Luke Loughlin’s five-point haul was one of the highlights, but an injury to midfielder Ray Connellan was an immediate concern in the aftermath, especially with the opening league game against Offaly just two weeks away.

Senan Baker was also replaced at half-time as Westmeath gave second best on the day. A number of missed chances will concern Dolan and his backroom team, while Westmeath never really had a clear sight of goal.

“I thought we created plenty of opportunities, but we were wasteful and some shots fell into the Louth goalie’s hands, which you cannot do at this level. It was a good test against a strong Louth side, who played in Division 2 last year, and we realise there is plenty to work on ahead of a difficult first league game in Tullamore,” observed Dolan.

Louth led by 2-11 to 0-9 after Loughlin (two, one free) and Conor Dillon got three Westmeath points after the break and the closest the home side came thereafter was within five points (2-11 to 0-12) when substitute Stephen Smyth kicked a quality score. Overall, Louth were worthy winners, but Westmeath will certainly benefit from such a solid test as the crucial Division 3 campaign looms large.

Scorers – Louth: S Mulroy 0-6 (4f; 1 ‘45’), T Durnin 0-3, C Keenan and R Burns 1-0 each, C Lennon, C Downey and C Grimes (m) 0-1 each. Westmeath: L Loughlin 0-5 (3f), S Smyth 0-2 (1f), S Baker (free), J Smyth, R O’Toole, J Lynam and C Dillon 0-1 each.

Louth: Martin McEneaney; Dan Corcoran, Anthony Williams, Oisín McGuinness; Leonard Grey, Dermot Campbell, Craig Lennon; Conal McCaul, Tommy Durnin; Paul Matthews, Ciaran Keenan, Conor Grimes; Ryan Burns, Sam Mulroy, Ciaran Downey. Subs: Peter Lynch for Corcoran and Josh Finlay for McEneaney (both h-t), Conor Clarke for McGuinness (50), Ciaran Murphy for Durnin (63), Sean Reynolds for Burns and Liam Flynn for Downey (63), Kyle McElroy for Grimes (70+4).

Westmeath: Jason Daly; Jack Smyth, Kevin Maguire, Jamie Gonoud; James Dolan, Andy McCormack, David Lynch; Nigel Harte, Ray Connellan; Jonathan Lynam, Ronan O’Toole, Luke Loughlin; Lorcan Dolan, Senan Baker, Conor Dillon. Subs: Eoin Mulvihill for Connellan (inj., 17), Kieran Martin for Baker and Stephen Smyth for L Dolan (both h-t), Matthew Whittaker for Dillon (47), Daniel Scahill for J Smith (53), Trevor Martin for Daly (53), Darragh Seery for J Dolan (62), David Giles for Maguire (63).

Ref: Paddy McDermott (Kildare).