Westmeath unable to cope with deadly Déise attack

Westmeath 5-20 Waterford 3-10

By Colin Lawrence

Westmeath’s All-Ireland minor football dream came to an end when they were defeated by a strong Waterford side on a breezy afternoon at Baltinglass GAA club last Saturday.

Ken Berry’s talented team fought right until the final whistle in what was a high-scoring All-Ireland U-18 'C' decider at the Wicklow venue, but the Déise side’s deadly attack, boosted by the arrival of the accurate Emma Fitzgerald off the bench at half-time, proved too strong for the Leinster champions.

This game was well and truly up for grabs when referee Eddie Cuthbert sounded the half-time whistle to leave Westmeath trailing their Munster counterparts by just four points, although supporters of the Lake County were probably concerned at that stage given how many goal chances the Waterford girls had squandered in the opening 30 minutes.

Westmeath started brightly in the warm July sunshine, firing over 1-1 in the opening minutes, the goal from Rachel Murphy and the first white flag from the very busy Kate Stuart Trainor.

Waterford then responded with three points on the bounce, from Eimear Campbell, Ava Connolly and the electric Clodagh Power, which narrowed Westmeath’s lead down to the minimum.

The Déise then stretched their advantage out to seven points between the 10th and 14th minute through goals from Abbie Fitzpatrick and Clodagh Power.

One impressive aspect of this game was the strong running and end-to-end quality throughout from both teams, with Rachel Murphy a leading figure for Westmeath in that regard.

At 2-6 to 1-2 down and given the threat being shown by the Waterford attack, the Westmeath supporters may well have been concerned, but the outlook changed in the next five minutes. It began with a cracking goal from the boot of full-forward Shannon Breslin who collected a ball from Katie Kilmurray and slotted it home to the back of Gemma Corcoran’s net.

One big advantage for Waterford was the accuracy of Corcoran’s restarts because it put the Déise side on the front foot every time. Their next score, a fine point from Teresa Ní Chrothaigh, an example of that edge.

But Westmeath were growing into the game and two points from Katie Kilmurray, either side of a peach from Waterford’s Abbie Fitzpatrick, left just four between the sides, with the tension growing in the stand as well as on the field.

Such was Kilmurray’s impact on the game, Waterford manager Fiona Laffan switched Grace Carrigan on to the St Loman’s attacker at this juncture.

And then, suddenly, with 20 minutes on the clock, Westmeath were back to within a single point of the Munster champions when Kilmurray won and converted a penalty to leave the scoreboard reading 2-8 to 3-4 and the Lake County supporters cheering proudly.

Waterford, however, possessed a lethal attack, led by the very capable Treasa Ni Chrotaigh who replied to the goal with a fine point before Waterford captain Ava Connolly drilled home a sucker-punch of a major to put five back between the sides.

Stuart Trainor and Kilmurray hit back with two white flags for Westmeath before Ken Berry sent Athlone's Lucy Allen into the fray with 29 minutes gone. Waterford missed another goal chance late on before the accurate Clodagh Power swept over a free to leave her side leading by 3-10 to 3-6 at the break.

Deise manager Fiona Laffan, no doubt concerned about the amount of frees missed by her side in the opening half, called on Emma Fitzgerald to come in and the Gaultier player rewarded this move by firing over in the opening moments of the second half before going on to grab four more points, all from frees.

The writing was on the wall for Westmeath five minutes into the second half when Siún Mernin grabbed Waterford’s fourth goal before Fitzgerald followed up with a pointed free to leave it 4-14 to 3-6, opening up a gap that Westmeath never looked like closing, especially given that the Deise side now had the breeze at their backs as well a wave of momentum.

But full credit to the Westmeath players, they certainly didn’t go down without a fight, scoring four points to Waterford’s one in the next ten minutes, closing the gap to 4-15 to 3-10. However, this Waterford side, who had looked impressive from the off, moved up through the gears and powered home to victory, Clodagh Power’s 54th-minute goal the icing on the cake for the defending champions.

Waterford were full value for their victory on the day, outscoring Westmeath by 2-10 to 0-4 in the second half, but Westmeath can reflect on a very successful year where they secured the Leinster title.

Scorers - Waterford: C Power 2-6 (0-4f); A Fitzpatrick 1-2; E Fitzgerald 0-5 (4f); A Connolly 1-1; T Ní Chrotaigh 0-4 (1f); S Mernin 1-0; E Campbell and R Browne 0-1 each. Westmeath: K Kilmurray 1-6 (1-0pen, 0-3f); R Murphy and S Breslin 1-0 each; K Stuart Trainor 0-2; S O’Sullivan and E Carey 0-1 each.

Waterford: Gemma Corcoran; Róisín Power, Deirdre Roche, Grace Carrigan; Summer Peters, Rebecca Walsh, Eimear Campbell; Shayla Condon, Ruby Browne; Clodagh Power, Molly Kenneally, Siún Mernin; Ava Connolly (captain), Treasa Ní Chrotaigh, Abbie Fitzpatrick. Subs: Emma Fitzgerald for E Kenneally (h-t), Aoife Butler for S Mernin (59 mins), Rachel Fitzgerald for R Power (60), Emma Curran for S Condon (60), Mide McCusker for T Ní Chrotaigh (60+2).

Westmeath: Keira Kelly; Rebecca Ward, Lucy Brogan, Grace Shortall; Aoibhinn Barry, Muireann Donohue, Áine Bracken; Charlotte Butler Clyne, Aoife Keegan (captain); Sarah O’Sullivan, Rachel Murphy, Kate Stuart Trainor; Orla Collins, Shannon Breslin, Katie Kilmurray. Subs: Lucy Allen for M Donohue (29 mins), Elizabeth Carey for A Berry (39), Katie Hogg for G Shortall (inj., 41), Niamh Farrell for O Collins (57), Annie McDonald for C Butler Clyne (60+2).

Referee: Eddie Cuthbert (Down).

*See more photos in this week's print edition.