Westmeath advance to O'Byrne Cup final with win over Offaly

Dioralyte O'Byrne Cup semi-final: Westmeath 5-10 Offaly 2-8

Westmeath scored five goals when defeating Offaly at TEG Cusack Park today (Saturday), thereby securing a place in the Dioralyte O'Byrne Cup final.

Danny McCartan and Brandon Kelly scored two goals each, with substitute Senan Baker raising Westmeath's other green flag.

On a cold day in Mullingar, though conditions for football were good, the home side laid the platform for victory with a bright start, forging ahead by 1-5 to 0-0 inside the opening 13 minutes. Danny McCartan scored the first goal with a neat left-footed finish in the sixth minute.

Offaly had to wait until the 18th minute to get off the mark with a pointed free from Ferbane's Darragh Flynn, while Eoin Sawyer contributed a point from play later in the half.

However, the lively Brandon Kelly struck for Westmeath's second goal in the 27th minute. The chance came after good work from Kevin O'Sullivan and Jonathan Lynam, with Kelly's shot finding the net despite a partial block from Offaly keeper Sean O'Toole.

Offaly were handed a lifeline shortly before half-time as Charlie Drumm's attempt to prevent a two-pointer from Jack McEvoy's free presented Ciaran Murphy with an easy goal chance. That left Westmeath 2-7 to 1-3 ahead at the interval.

By the 41st minute of this 30 minutes per half contest, the visitors had cut the deficit to three points, 2-8 to 2-5. The influential Murphy, who plays his club football with Skerries Harps, scored his second goal with a fine finish, while Diarmuid Egan and substitute Jack Bryant (a free) chipped in with points.

Yet it was a Westmeath sub who pounced for the vital score to halt the momentum Offaly had built up. Caulry's Senan Baker finished to the net with aplomb after the ball broke invitingly for him (44th minute).

Westmeath's victory never looked in any real doubt from then on, with McCartan scoring a splendid second goal shortly afterwards, having availed of O'Sullivan's perceptive pass.

Mark McHugh's charges embellished their win when Baker made a fine fetch in the Offaly goalmouth and laid the ball off to Kelly, who fired home his second goal.

Westmeath put together some fine attacking moves with established figures such as Ronan Wallace (scorer of 0-3 from play), Luke Loughlin and Matthew Whittaker to the fore.

Players like Tadhg Baker and Danny Scahill boosted their chances of starting places in future outings, while Harry Niall and Senan Baker made a notable impact off the bench. The last of the subs introduced was Tubberclair's Stephen McGonagle, who made his competitive debut for Westmeath.

Despite a comfortable victory in the end, an area of concern for Westmeath was the way they struggled to win primary possession at midfield from kickouts. Offaly midfielder Jack McEvoy made two fine catches from kickouts in the first half and it was notable that Westmeath goalie Jason Daly opted to go short with a number of kickouts.

Overall, though, it was a very positive day for Westmeath with plenty to work on before the start of the Allianz Football League campaign later in the month.

Westmeath will now meet Kildare in the Dioralyte O'Byrne Cup final which is due to be played next Friday night, January 16. The Lilywhites defeated Dublin in the other semi-final by 1-22 to 1-13 this evening.

The fixture details for the final have yet to be confirmed, but it's expected to be played at Cedral St Conleth's Park, Newbridge.

Scorers – Westmeath: B Kelly 2-1; D McCartan 2-0; S Baker 1-0; R Wallace, L Loughlin (2f) 0-3 each; B Cooney, M Whittaker, R Forde 0-1 each. Offaly: C Murphy 2-0; J Bryant (1f), D Flynn (2f) 0-2 each; E Sawyer, D Egan, H Plunkett (f), C Egan 0-1 each.

Westmeath - Jason Daly; Boidu Sayeh, Charlie Drumm, Danny Scahill; Brian Guerin, Tadhg Baker, Ronan Wallace; Matthew Whittaker; Jonathan Lynam, Kevin O'Sullivan; Brían Cooney, Luke Loughlin, Matthew Whittaker; Brandon Kelly, Robbie Forde, Danny McCartan. Subs: Harry Niall for Cooney (37 mins); Senan Baker for Forde (37); Jack Duncan for Guerin (37); Tom Molloy for O’Sullivan (47); Darragh O’Keeffe for Sayeh (47), Stephen McGonagle for Wallace (56).

Offaly - Sean O'Toole; Daire McDaid, Ed Cullen, Lee Pearson; David Dempsey, Jordan Hayes, Rory Egan; Jack McEvoy, Aaron Leavy; Ciaran Murphy, Diarmuid Egan, Marcas Dalton; Cormac Egan, Eoin Sawyer, Darragh Flynn. Subs: Harry Goulding for Cullen (inj., 27 mins); Jack Bryant for Sawyer, Dan Molloy for Leavy, Sean Conway for Dalton (all h-t); Nathan Poland for Flynn (39); Conor Dunican for McDaid (46); Harry Plunkett for D Egan (51).

Referee - Lee Moore (Kildare).