Westmeath no match for Louth as champions show intent

Dalata Hotel Group Leinster Under-20 Football Championship Round 1

Westmeath 2-5 Louth 3-13

There have been some positive signs for Westmeath football at underage level recently, but the manner of last Friday night’s defeat to Louth provided a sharp dose of reality.

Pride of place in terms of those positives was Coláiste Mhuire’s glorious Hogan Cup final triumph at Croke Park, while the Westmeath minors had an encouraging win over Longford the previous night.

In this Leinster U20 championship opening round, however, Westmeath played second fiddle to an impressive Louth outfit who could have won even more comprehensively than they did. In addition to scoring three goals, Louth also spurned a number of other chances to find the net as they ran out 11-point winners at Dovida Lakepoint Park.

Louth led 2-5 to 0-2 at half-time and surged into a 13-point lead shortly after the restart (3-6 to 0-2). Westmeath did finish the game reasonably well but the outcome was no longer in doubt at that stage. Moreover, one of the home side’s consolation goals was of the fortuitous variety, with Sean Whittaker’s long-range point attempt ending up in the net.

Louth are the defending Leinster champions and with several players from last year’s team still eligible, they were always likely to present a formidable challenge. But Westmeath supporters would have been hoping for their side to provide the visitors with a more competitive test and the nature of the defeat raised eyebrows.

Four members of the aforementioned Coláiste Mhuire team started this game - Ty Masterson, Críostóir Ormsby, Mikey Weir and Will Scahill. For their part, Louth made four changes to their published line-up and one of that quartet, Shane Lennon, proceeded to score two goals.

On a chilly night at the Mullingar venue, Louth forged into a 1-3 to 0-0 lead inside the opening 13 minutes. Adam Gillespie opened the scoring from a free and after James McHugh’s free dropped short at the other end, Louth struck for their first goal. The impressive Pearse Grimes-Murphy was the scorer after he cut through the Westmeath defence, with a back tracking Donnacha Maguire unable to keep his shot out of the net.

Prominent number 13 Gillespie converted his second free and then set up Conor McGinty for a point. In truth, Louth could have been further ahead and they were sharper when it came to breaking ball around midfield.

Neale Pierson opened Westmeath’s account to give his side a badly needed boost (14th minute). Fergal Reel’s side soon created another goal chance but Gillespie saw his shot blocked by Westmeath keeper James Mitchell, with Grimes-Murphy’s ensuing point attempt going wide.

After Andrew O’Reilly clipped over a 16th-minute point, good play by the generally well marshalled Will Scahill and a foul on Matthew Thornton gave James McHugh the chance to point a free. Kenny McKinley’s charges now appeared to have gained a foothold in the contest, but they were unable to add to their tally for the remainder of the half.

The Wee County outfit continued to look far more threatening. Shane Lennon’s fine pass set up Sean Flynn for a point and then Westmeath had a major let-off when Gillespie’s low drive hit the side netting.

Louth’s second goal duly arrived in the 28th minute. Lennon played a one-two with Flynn and the former’s shot found the net despite Mitchell getting a touch. Nine points adrift at half-time, Westmeath had a mountain to climb in the second half.

The gradient became steeper within three minutes of the restart when Grimes-Murphy created the opening for Lennon to raise his second green flag with a splendid finish. In reality, the game was now over as a contest.

Westmeath substitute Sean Whittaker made an impact when introduced but there was a large dollop of luck attached to his 39th-minute goal with his two-pointer attempt deceiving Louth keeper Tiernan Markey.

If this looked like it might trigger an improbable comeback, Gillespie’s swift riposte with a two-pointer halted any such thoughts. Westmeath continued to plug away and added points from Taylor Slevin (a ‘45 after Donnacha Maguire had threatened a goal) and lively sub Brian Ronan. Louth kept the scoreboard ticking with points from Grimes Murphy, Lennon and wing-back Tadhg Devaney.

Maguire caused Louth some problems when he was moved from midfield to the fringe of the square. And the Mullingar Shamrocks player was rewarded for his persistence when he punched the ball to the net after Paul Keegan played the ball inside (57th minute).

Matthew Thornton completed Westmeath’s tally after availing of a pass from Whittaker, before Devaney added two points to embellish Louth’s winning margin.

Man of the match: Pearse Grimes-Murphy (Louth). The fleet-footed number 12 created several openings for his colleagues as well as scoring 1-1 himself. Shane Lennon scored two goals, Adam Gillespie was always a threat with his wand of a left foot, Colm Hackett was a strong presence at midfield and Tadhg Devaney caught the eye with his trio of second-half points.

Talking point: The fact that talented Westmeath forwards Will Scahill and James McHugh were both held scoreless from open play was an indicator of Louth's overall dominance. Both players were starved of a decent supply with Scahill often moving out the field in an effort to make an impression.

What's next: Westmeath make the long trip to Chadwicks Wexford Park to face Wexford tonight (Wednesday), April 1 (throw-in 7.30). With only the top two teams in the group qualifying for the knockout stages, Westmeath are under pressure to win. But given that Wexford competed strongly against Dublin when losing 1-18 to 1-15 in their opening round clash, Westmeath will need to show a major improvement. Westmeath fans will hope for better fortune at the venue where the senior team recently saw their promotion hopes ended in dramatic and avoidable fashion. Westmeath's last group game is against Dublin on Wednesday, April 8.

Scorers – Louth: S Lennon 2-1; P Grimes-Murphy 1-1; A Gillespie 0-4 (1tp, 2f); T Devaney 0-3; C McGinty, A O’Reilly, S Flynn and C McQuillan (f) 0-1 each. Westmeath: S Whittaker and D Maguire 1-0 each; N Pierson, T Slevin (‘45’), M Thornton, B Ronan and J McHugh (f) 0-1 each.

Louth - Tiernan Markey; Michael McGlew, Micheál Reid, Daniel Craven; Donnacha Skinnader, Cormac McKeown (captain), Tadhg Devaney; Colm Hackett, Conor McGinty; Andrew O’Reilly, Shane Lennon, Pearse Grimes-Murphy; Adam Gillespie, Sean Flynn, Cillian McQuillan. Subs: Tony McDonnell for McQuillan (42 mins), Cian Spaight for O’Reilly (54), Eoin McCoy for Grimes Murphy (55), Donal McArdle for Lennon (57).

Westmeath - James Mitchell; Taylor Slevin, Cian Whitney, Adam Glynn; Ty Masterson, Conor Daly, Brian Doyle; Donnacha Maguire, Críostóir Ormsby; Neale Pierson, Mikey Weir, Matthew Thornton; James McHugh, Kealan Connell, Will Scahill. Subs: Paul Keegan for Doyle (26 mins), Ben Sheerin for Whitney (h-t), Sean Whitaker for Pierson (36), Henry Duncan for Weir (42), Brian Ronan for McHugh (49).

Referee - Kieran Olwell (Meath).