Great football on display from Westmeath"s sweet 16s

Westmeath 5-10, Dublin 1-1Offaly travelled to Lakepoint Park in Mullingar last Saturday for an under-16 blitz tournament and they opened proceedings against the hosts only to be met by a blitz of scores and powerful football.While several key players of this age group were absent from both sides due to involvement with the county minors and other commitments, it was nonetheless stark viewing from an Offaly perspective as Westmeath dominated every aspect of play and will no doubt be looking forward to the minor championships of 2010 as they have some very bright prospects in their ranks who will no doubt feature strongly.Damp and cold weather completely out of kilter with the season greeted the players and those conditions made handling the football very difficult. Mistakes were both frequent and forgivable throughout the match but Westmeath defied the elements best to register a very good win - a win that was never in doubt as they burst out of the blocks with a series of early goals.After only a minute they had their first goal when a Kelvin Reilly free dropped into the penalty area and Trevor English rose highest to get his fist to the ball and deflect it home. This was followed almost immediately by another goal when Gary Keena, one of the star performers of the day, took in a long ball from Dean Clarke and beat his man only for Ciarán Cummins to save his initial shot. It was to no avail, however, as Keena struck home the rebound and Westmeath were now well on their way.After two points were added to their two goals then Westmeath did concede their only score of the first half when Paul McPadden finished very well for an Offaly goal after being put through by Donal Hickey, but this was merely a blip rather than the start of the comeback and by half-time a goal from Niall Folan and three further points left Westmeath in a great position.Despite having the assistance of the wind in the second half Offaly were still struggling to get the ball out past midfield and, after another couple of points for Westmeath, a fourth goal was scored to compound their misery. A great charge forward from David Gavin saw him lay the ball off to Dean Clarke and he hit a tremendous shot from twenty five yards out that gave the keeper no chance whatsoever.A final goal from Emmet Heavin after more excellent approach work by Gary Keena rounded off the goalscoring, though Offaly did offer some resistance in the closing stages and won a couple of frees, one of which was converted by James Deegan.SCORERS - Westmeath: Gary Keena (1-2, 0-1 free), Niall Folan (1-2), Trevor English (1-1), Dean Clarke (1-0), Emmet Heavin (1-0), Kelvin Reilly (0-2, 0-1 free), Kyle McGurrin (0-1), David Fagan (0-1), John Warburton (0-1)Offaly: Paul McPadden (1-0), James Deegan (0-1, free)WESTMEATH: Niall O"Doherty (The Downs); Jordan Cassidy (St. Malachy"s), Diarmuid Garvan (St. Malachy"s), Alan Corcoran (The Downs); Stephen Gilmore (St. Loman"s), David Gavin (Mullingar Shamrocks), Shane Fagan (St. Michael"s); Dean Clarke (The Downs), Kelvin Reilly (St. Loman"s); Jamie Gonoud (Tyrrellspass), Niall Folan (The Downs), Trevor English (Maryland/Tang); Gary Keena (Ballynacargy), Kyle McGurrin (St. Loman"s), Emmet Heavin (Rosemount).Subs used: Andy Lynam (Athlone), Jason O"Toole (St. Loman"s), David Fagan (Tubberclair), John Warburton (Castledaly), Conor Gilsenan (Mullingar Shamrocks), John Maguire (Caulry), David Minnock (Moate All Whites), Enda Kincaid (Maryland/Tang)OFFALY: Ciarán Cummins (Edenderry); Brian Corcoran (Na Fianna), Danny Mangan (St. Vincent"s), Michael Pierce (Na Fianna); Stephen Hannon (Rhode), David Hanlon (Edenderry), James McPadden (Rhode); John Daly (St. Vincent"s), Jamie McCabe (St. Vincent"s); James Geraghty (Kilcormac/Killoughey), Charlie Hayes (St. Vincent"s), James Deegan (Kilcormac/Killoughey); Donal Hickey (Rhode), Thomas Dowling (Rhode), Paul McPadden (Rhode).Subs used: Cathal Nolan (Rhode), Cian Donoghue (Rhode), Ciarán Hurley (Edenderry), Shane Delaney (Edenderry), Seán Feeney (St. Broughan"s).REFEREE: Padraig Greene (Tubberclair).