Cooney’s hat-trick decisive as Westmeath land Leinster ‘B’ title

Westmeath 3-9, Longford 2-11

By Gerry Buckley

A well-taken hat-trick of goals from team captain Brían Cooney was enough to edge the Westmeath U20 footballers past Longford in last Tuesday night’s (April 30) entertaining Andrew Corden Cup final, played in front of a small crowd in pleasant conditions in TEG Cusack Park.

The Lake County hasn’t always had a plentiful supply of silverware in either code. Accordingly, every little bit helps, and Damien Gavin’s charges are to be commended on putting their two Leinster ‘proper’ defeats behind them to garner a worthwhile consolation prize. Indeed, an All-Ireland ‘B’ semi-final now beckons against Limerick.

Westmeath started brightly and they had two unanswered points on the board in the opening three minutes courtesy of Rory Cole (who might have goaled) and Cooney (rounding off a great move). A weak effort from Shane Hanley preceded Cooney’s first three-pointer, a great solo score in the sixth minute. Two minutes later, roving corner back Eoghan Williams opened Longford’s account with a fine point.

Cooney was wide from a very scoreable free before three points without reply by the visitors between the 22nd and 25th minutes had the gap down to the bare minimum (1-2 to 0-4), the white flags raised by Michael Flynn, Paddy Moran and Williams respectively.

Fine approach work by Tadhg Baker teed up Cooney for his second goal from close range in the 26th minute, and Ronan Murray soon tagged on a point (after a Cole shot had come back off the crossbar). Converted frees by Jamie Brady Hynes and Matthew Carey ensued at the other end (the award by an inconsistent referee for the latter could easily have been the other way). A pressurized Hanley finished off a great move with a point from the last kick of the first moiety. Westmeath led by 2-4 to 0-6 at the break.

A brace of Moran points in the opening 70 seconds of the second half kept Longford very much in contention. Cooney was soon denied a hat-trick when his soccer-style effort was kept out by Oisín McManus. Within a minute, the hard-working Shane Ormsby fired the ball straight at McManus from a good position.

Daragh Lowry (a wonderful individual score) and Carey (a free) traded points to leave the margin at two points (2-5 to 0-9), but the young men in maroon and white pounced for 1-3 without reply by the 47th minute to take a commanding lead. The points were scored by Cole (a great shot from long-range), Jack Duncan (after a Baker effort had come back off the crossbar), and Cooney, before the latter completed a classy hat-trick. Westmeath now looked home and hosed, leading by 3-8 to 0-9.

However, sloppiness had crept into the winners’ play and the blue and gold-clad outfit made the most of this by outscoring their hosts by 2-2 to 0-1 in the closing stages. Their goals were scored by from sub Josh Kelly in the 56th minute (it was very preventable from a Westmeath perspective) and Michael Flynn in injury-time, with Carey (a free) and Flynn on target for the points. Ultimately, a Cooney free on the hour mark was enough to sneak his side over the line, despite some late Longford pressure.

After the game, Pat Lynagh, on behalf of the Leinster GAA Council, and Fiona Scully, a sister of the late Andrew Corden, presented the cup to a very worthy recipient in Brían Cooney.

Scorers – Westmeath: B Cooney 3-3 (0-1f), R Cole 0-2, D Lowry, J Duncan, R Murray, S Hanley 0-1 each.

Longford: Michael Flynn 1-2, P Moran, M Carey (3f) 0-3 each, J Kelly 1-0, E Williams 0-2, J Brady Hynes 0-1 (f).

Westmeath: Stephen McNevin; Adam Keane, Cormac Monaghan, Seánaí Bracken; Daragh Lowry, Jason Macken, Liam Daly; Tadhg Baker, Shane Ormsby; Jack Duncan, Brían Cooney, Eoin Bracken; Rory Cole, Shane Hanley, Ronan Murray. Subs used: Shane Corcoran for Murray (h-t), Matthew Thornton for Cole (49), Tiarnán O’Donovan for E Bracken (50), Darragh Hall for Baker (inj., 55).

Longford: Oisín McManus; Conor Smith, Ruairí O’Toole, Eoghan Williams; Gavin Farrelly, Andrew Flynn, Jonathan Burke; Oisín Flynn, Caolan Lynch; Paddy Moran, Matthew Carey, Ross Shields; Michael Flynn, Jamie Brady Hynes, Brian Mulvey. Subs used: Jack Belton for O Flynn (h-t), Padraig Boyle for Mulvey (39), Matthew Flynn for A Flynn (41), Josh Kelly for Brady Hynes (48).

Ref: Colm McCullough (Louth).