Westmeath finish strongly to keep Louth ladies at bay
LGFA: TG4 All-Ireland Intermediate Championship - Group 2
Westmeath 3-12; Louth 3-9
Westmeath advanced to the All-Ireland Intermediate Championship quarter-finals with victory over Louth at the Integral GAA Grounds in Drogheda on Sunday last.
‘What could have been’ is surely something Louth will reflect on when they analyse this encounter with Westmeath. When Westmeath led 2-2 to 0-1 with 16 minutes gone, Louth were probably fearing a heavy defeat.
The home side showed huge resilience, however, and only trailed 2-4 to 1-4 at the break. Still, they found themselves behind by seven points, 3-9 to 2-5, with 40 minutes played and you’d be forgiven for thinking it was a matter of how many points Westmeath would win by at that stage.
However, Louth manager Kevin Larkin has assembled a squad that is full of fight and has instilled in them a never say die attitude. They clawed their way back into the game hitting 1-4 without reply to draw the game level for the first time at 3-9 apiece with just two minutes to go.
Louth had struggled to win kickouts all day and that was to plague them in the last few minutes when it was Westmeath who won the breaking ball from their own and Louth’s kickouts to engineer three late points to claim victory and book a home tie in the All-Ireland quarter-finals.
Anna Jones was excellent for Westmeath at midfield and, with a lot of the play going through her, she was up and down the field all day. Jones was also Westmeath's joint top scorer with 1-3, alongside Sarah Dillon. Sarah Murphy (who now plays club football with Goldsmiths) was solid at centre half-back, though she had her hands full in an intriguing battle with Céire Nolan.
Kate Kilmurray was a livewire in attack and she took her goal well. She was replaced by Caoimhe Kilmurray in the second half and the latter had a big influence, particularly in the last few minutes when Louth equalised and Westmeath need someone to take the game by the scruff of the neck.
Louth hit the ground running from the start and Eimear Byrne had a point on the scoreboard after just 37 seconds. There was little time to reflect on the score as, from the kickout, Westmeath swept down the pitch and some lovely play between Sarah Dillon and Anna Jones put Katie Kilmurray in for a goal.
From a poor Louth kickout, the visitors almost got in for a second goal when Rebecca Higgins’ ball across the square was just agonisingly inches from the outstretched boot of Kilmurray who couldn’t get to it. From the Louth clearance there was almost a goal at the other end when Amy Murray’s shot for a point dipped and rattled off the crossbar before falling to Ciara Woods whose low drive went across the goal and wide.
Laura Lynch’s effort from a free dropped in on Westmeath goalkeeper Aoife Temple but Woods got a hand to it first only for the ball to deflect wide. A point from an Anna Jones free after 12 minutes put Westmeath’s lead out to four. Vicky Carr added another three minutes later, before the visitors hit the net for a second time.
In an uncharacteristic error, Rebecca Lambe Fegan’s kickout, following Carr's score, went straight to Westmeath full-forward Dillon, who coolly lobbed the ball over the retreating Louth goalkeeper and into the net to put her side 2-2 to 0-1 in front.
Louth’s response was immediate. Aoife Halligan won the resultant kickout and fed the ball to Eimear Byrne, who put Woods in to fire past Temple.
A poor kickout led to a Louth sideline ball and from that Byrne cut through the Westmeath defence but the full-forward was pulled back and brought down by the jersey leaving Lynch with an easy tap over for a point to make it 2-2 to 1-2 with 19 minutes played. Jones and Lynch, both from frees, traded points as the two sides were guilty of dropping shots short into the opposing goalkeeper's hands.
With half-time approaching, Dillon put the Westmeath lead out to four with a point from play. But Louth had the last say of the half when Céire Nolan, who tormented Westmeath with her surging runs throughout the game, was dragged down on one such foray presenting Lynch with the opportunity to score her third point of the half, from a free, reducing the gap to three at the break, 2-4 to 1-4.
Lucy McCartan restored Westmeath’s four-point advantage a minute after the restart but, two minutes later, a long ball from Halligan eventually came to Nolan, who fired the ball home off Temple to reduce the deficit to a single point, 2-5 to 2-4.
Westmeath, perhaps showing their experience as reigning Leinster Intermediate champions, didn’t take long to reply. Within two minutes, Lambe Fegan was picking the ball out of the back of her net once again after Jones had flicked a long ball in from Aoife Keegan to the net.
The same player converted a free soon after and while Nolan added a point for Louth, Westmeath hit the next three points to open up a 3-9 to 2-5 lead with 42 minutes played - Higgins (two) and Keegan on target for the midlanders.
Louth wouldn’t go away and points from Russell, Lynch (from a free), Áine Breen and Lucy White cut the deficit to three points.
Then came the score of the game when White took possession of the ball on the right some 40 metres out. Rounding her marker she set off for goal and while the crowd were encouraging her to shoot, White kept going and with Temple ever so slightly off her line, the Cooley Kickhams player dinked a perfect lob over the Westmeath goalkeeper into the far corner of the net to make it 3-9 to 3-9 with just two minutes left.
Louth now had the momentum but there was no panic from Westmeath. From the kickout the ball came to substitute Caoimhe Kilmurray who fired over from 30 metres. Frank Browne’s side won the resultant kickout and Dillon had the opportunity for a point taking the safe option to fist the ball over the bar.
With a minute to go and in need of a goal, Louth won a free in their own half but they gave the ball away and Kilmurray put Dillon in for an easy point to secure the win.
What’s next
Having recorded a comprehensive win over Monaghan in their opening game, Westmeath top their group and will be at home to a second-placed team from one of the other groups in their All-Ireland quarter-final (due to be played on Sunday June 28).
Scorers - Westmeath: S Dillon and A Jones (0-3f) 1-3 each; K Kilmurray 1-0; R Higgins 0-2; V Carr, A Keegan, Lucy McCartan and C Kilmurray 0-1 each. Louth: C Nolan and L White 1-1 each; L Lynch 0-4 (4f); C Woods 1-0; E Byrne, Á Breen and A Russell 0-1 each.
Westmeath - Aoife Temple; Lara McCartan, Lucy Power, Fiona Coyle; Philippa Ruane, Sarah Murphy, Chloe Kelly Gonoud; Anna Jones, Vicky Carr; Aoife Keegan, Lucy McCartan, Tracey Dillon; Katie Kilmurray, Sarah Dillon, Rebecca Higgins. Sub used: Caoimhe Kilmurray for K Kilmurray (50 mins).
Louth - Rebecca Lambe Fegan; Seoda Matthews, Holly Lambe Sally, Rachel Beirth; Amy Murray, Shannen McLaughlin, Louise Byrne; Áine Breen, Aoife Halligan; Aoife Russell, Céire Nolan, Lucy White; Ciara Woods, Eimear Byrne, Laura Lynch. Subs: Grace Hoey for Woods (43 mins); Sophie Everitt for Lynch (51); Katie McDonald for L Byrne (59), Lucy Sheridan for Russell (60).
Referee - Ray McBride (Dublin).