‘Jogger’ earns late draw for Westmeath as championship hopes end

Down 3-19, Westmeath 1-25

By Gerry Buckley

Despite leading by nine points after 15 minutes, Westmeath’s senior hurlers needed a last-gasp point from Tommy ‘Jogger’ Doyle to secure their first Joe McDonagh Cup point of 2024 against Down in very misty conditions in Ballycran last Saturday afternoon, this latest setback ended any lingering hopes that Joe Fortune’s men had of making the tier two championship final next month.

For their part, a thoroughly deserved share of the spoils keeps Ronan Sheehan’s troops in slight contention to make the decider. For a neutral, this would have been a pulsating encounter, but both participants will look back with regret on an opportunity to leave the picturesque venue with a win.

After a couple of Down attacks came to nothing, the handful of away supporters present must have felt that Westmeath had put their two opening defeats behind them when their heroes had five unanswered points on the board with just six minutes elapsed. Two of these came from the ever-improving David O’Reilly, with Aonghus Clarke, Killian Doyle (a free) and David Williams garnering one each.

Point exchanges ensued between Tom McGrattan and Kevin Regan, Owen McCabe (who almost goaled) and Pearse Óg McCrickard (a free), and Doyle (a free) and Donal Hughes, by the 13th minute. The dominant visitors led by 0-9 to 0-3 with a quarter of an hour elapsed when O’Reilly brought his tally to three, and when Doyle was gifted a goal chance which he took with aplomb, the men in green and maroon led by nine points (1-9 to 0-3).

On the pitch a matter of just a minute, Phelim Savage pointed for the men in the changed strip of black with a red trim, before McGrattan brought them right back into contention with a well-taken goal in the 18th minute. More point swapping followed between Doyle and McCrickard (frees), Doyle and Savage (open play), and Doyle and McCrickard (again from frees).

Much of the play was scrappy at this juncture, but Down now had more possession than in the opening quarter and a fine McCrickard point from play preceded McGrattan’s second clinical three-pointer in the 32nd minute (with Daithí Sands as provider), leaving the bare minimum between the sides (1-12 to 2-8). Prior to his departure with injury (when he was replaced by his twin brother Ciaran), Killian Doyle slotted over another brace of frees. Sands pointed superbly at the other end, and O’Reilly and McCrickard (a free) exchanged points in added-time. The Lake County led by 1-15 to 2-10 at the interval.

A hat-trick of points from the impressive McCrickard (the first of them from a free) had the home team ahead for the first time (2-13 to 1-15) in the 42nd minute. Ciaran Doyle neatly equalized, but Down led by three points when McGrattan completed his hat-trick in fine style in the 44th minute – Liam Savage the provider on this occasion.

The lead yo-yoed thereafter with some terrific scores – and disappointing misses – at either end. The visitors outscored Down by five points (two frees from Williams and one from Ciaran Doyle, and from play by Regan and influential sub Darragh Clinton) to one (a McCrickard free) to edge ahead (1-21 to 3-14) with 58 minutes on the clock. Another McCrickard hat-trick (the first two from frees) restored Down’s lead, with Clinton and Williams soon on target to tie up the scoring (1-23 to 3-17).

A point at either end by McGrattan and O’Reilly had two evenly-matched teams tied (1-24 to 3-18) at the end of the regulation 70 minutes, when a minimum of three minutes’ additional time was announced. McCrickard looked to have won the day for Down with another successful free, but Westmeath’s veteran full back Tommy Doyle cleverly rescued a point for his team – their first of a very disappointing campaign – with time almost up.

Scorers – Down: P Óg McCrickard 0-13 (9f), T McGrattan 3-2, P Savage 0-2, D Hughes, D Sands 0-1 each.

Westmeath: K Doyle 1-7 (0-6f), D O’Reilly 0-5, D Williams 0-4 (2f), K Regan, D Clinton, C Doyle (1f) 0-2 each, A Clarke, O McCabe, T Doyle 0-1 each.

Down: Stephen Keith; Matt Conlan, Conor Cassidy, Dara Mallon; Caolan Taggart, Ruairí McCrickard, John McManus; Donal Hughes, Liam Savage; Pearse Óg McCrickard, Eoghan Sands, Tom McGrattan; Daithí Sands, Finn Turpin, Tim Prenter. Subs used: Phelim Savage for Prenter (inj., 16), Tom Murray for McManus (inj., 20), Barry Trainor for Mallon (inj., 35+1), Paul Sheehan for Turpin (69), Marc Fisher for McCrickard (70+3).

Westmeath: Noel Conaty; Johnny Bermingham, Tommy Doyle, Conor Gaffney; Aonghus Clarke, Darragh Egerton, Aaron Craig; Peter Clarke, Kevin Regan; Niall Mitchell, David Williams, Owen McCabe; David O’Reilly, Killian Doyle, Eoin Keyes. Subs used: Jamie Mulkearns for Conaty (inj., 10), Ciaran Doyle for K Doyle (35+1), Charlie McCormack for A Clarke (50), Darragh Clinton for Keyes (55), Jack Gillen for McCabe (67).

Ref: James Connors (Donegal).

In a nutshell

Man of the match

Tom McGrattan (Down). A son of Down’s only hurling All Star, Gerard McGrattan, the wing forward displayed many of his father’s skills in scoring a huge 3-2 from open play.

Key moment

In truth, the game could have swung either way in the end, but Westmeath can consider themselves very fortunate that ace free-taker Pearse Óg McCrickard missed a somewhat routine free in the 66th minute.

Stats watch

Wides - Down 13 (first half, 5); Westmeath 11 (5)

‘65’s - None

Yellow cards - Down 2 – D Hughes, F Turpin; Westmeath 3 – A Clarke, A Craig, C Gaffney

Red/black cards; None

Talking point

Westmeath’s fall from being one of the pre-tournament favourites to now needing a win against Meath next Saturday week to copper-fasten their place in the competition next season.

Ref watch

Ronan Sheehan was unhappy with James Connors’ performance, but this observer felt the Donegal man got most calls right.

Next up

Westmeath host Meath on May 18, while Down make the long trip to Laois on the same day.