Indiscipline proves costly as Westmeath exit championship

It was always going to be very difficult for 15 Westmeath footballers to beat a team who won the Sam Maguire Cup in 2003 and 2005, but to play well over a quarter of the match with 13 would be seen as an impossibility.And so it proved at sun-drenched Healy Park in Omagh last Saturday afternoon for a tremendously spirited Lake County outfit, who exited the All-Ireland senior football Qualifiers at the second round stage for the second year in-a-row, but not without putting the home team to the pin of their collar in an absorbing encounter.A few years ago, a popular television advertisement for "a pint of the black stuff" referred to '60 seconds of darkness'. In Westmeath"s case, 60 seconds of madness, just after a quarter of an hour"s play in the second half, saw the visitors lose two crucial players, with Damien Healy (second yellow) and Doran Harte (straight red) tangling with Tyrone captain Brian Dooher on both occasions. In fairness to referee Padraig Hughes, who actually wasn"t flavour of the month with the home fans up to this point, having given Westmeath the occasional soft free and a "45" that wasn"t (which was converted by Martin Flanagan), he had no alternative but to dismiss the Salthill/Knocknacarra and Garrycastle duo, and Westmeath (already trailing by a point) were left with a mountain to climb. As it transpired, a profligate Tyrone struggled to put the losers to the sword and Westmeath captain, Des Dolan spurned a glorious goal opportunity, four minutes from the end of normal time, the conversion of which would surely have, at least, brought the game to extra-time.Despite Saturday being one of the nicest days weather-wise in quite some time, live television coverage probably resulted in a smaller-than-expected attendance of 7,767 showing up at a resplendent Healy Park. While the sizeable contingent of fans who made the long trek from the Midlands were delighted to see Martin Flanagan back in the maroon and white colours, the heavy strapping on his right knee which he injured in the Offaly game was an unwelcome sight. Fergal Wilson"s shoulder injury and David Duffy"s achilles problem meant that they were confined to the subs" bench for a game where Tyrone were able to pick from a full deck, for the first time in quite a while. Westmeath"s tried and trusted half backs, Michael Ennis and Damien Healy, initially switched wings at the throw-in, before eventually reverting to their usual roles, both having their share of problems throughout in a head-to-head with the player later chosen by Joe Kernan as man of the match, Tommy McGuigan.Westmeath started brightly and Denis Glennon should really have pointed after a mere 30 seconds. However, Tyrone then took the game by the scruff of the neck and rattled off three unanswered points by the sixth minute. A loose crossfield pass, albeit under pressure, from Denis Glennon precipitated a flowing move which ended with Martin Penrose shrugging off John Keane before opening the scoring. After Enda McGinley was off target for the winners, his fellow midfielder, Ryan Mellon caught the resultant kick out unchallenged and, in a flash, Sean Cavanagh was impeded by Kieran Gavin, leaving Tommy McGuigan with the simple task of tapping over his side"s second point. Within a minute, the latter opened his account from play, with a great finish from an awkward angle, following good work from his brother Brian and Colm McCullagh.With the visitors looking like they were going to be overrun, a lucky break was most welcome when an innocuous challenge by P.J. Quinn on Denis Glennon was deemed to be a foul by the referee and Des Dolan popped over the ensuing 25-metre free. Both sides proceeded to miss chances, with a fine Westmeath move almost yielding a long-range point for Des Dolan. During this scoreless period, both of Westmeath"s "extra" defenders, Donal O"Donoghue and Doran Harte showed up very well in sweeping roles. After Philip Jordan and Brian McGuigan combined well to dispossess Des Dolan, a Tyrone counterattack yielded their fourtth point, Tommy McGuigan again applying the finish in some style. In a near-replica of the losers" opening score, a long ball by Martin Flanagan picked out his fellow-Tyrrellspass man, Denis Glennon, and again P.J. Quinn seemed to be harshly penalised for his challenge. This time, Glennon himself popped over the 15-metre free to leave his side trailing by 0-2 to 0-4. After an unchallenged Alan Mangan hit the post from a "sitter", an inevitably ring-rusty Martin Flanagan was caught in possession but, moments later, a neat one-two between Des Dolan and John Smyth ended with the remarkably-energetic Downs man lobbing over a lovely left-footed point, via the crossbar.A hitherto-idle Gary Connaughton showed his concentration was not diminished when he superbly fielded Colm McCullagh"s dangerous lob goalwards before a needless foul by three Tyrone players on John Smyth resulted in Martin Flanagan kicking Westmeath"s first wide, after 20 minutes, from a 55-metre free from his hands. Soon, David Glennon"s first real impact came when his high shot was just short of the target, as his older brother Denis lurked in the small square. At the other end, Tyrone then looked certain to find the net when Sean Cavanagh offloaded the ball to Tommy McGuigan but a typically-brave dive by Gary Connaughton blocked his effort, with the ever-vigilant John Keane tidying up the loose ball on the goalline. In the 23rd minute, after Kieran Gavin"s fisted interception conceded a lineball, quick thinking by the McGuigan brothers ended with yet another opportunist point from Tommy.Further pressure saw the award of a "45" to the Red Hand County, following Doran Harte"s block on the overlapping Ryan McMenamin. Significantly, prior to Colm McCullagh"s unsuccessful kick, Damien Healy (Westmeath) and Brian Dooher (Tyrone) were yellow-carded for an off-the-ball scuffle. The visitors reduced the deficit to the bare minimum when Des Dolan pointed a tricky free, awarded after his sublime pass to Denis Glennon ended with the latter being fouled by P.J. Quinn, a decision - for once - not queried by the vociferous home support. In the 27th minute, a great pass under pressure from Enda McGinley to Brian Dooher gave the 2005 All-Ireland winning captain the chance to curl over a delightful point.Following a wide from Tyrone"s Colm McCullagh and an aimless high pass to nobody in particular from Westmeath"s John Smyth, the complexion of the game changed on the half-hour mark when Damien Healy"s perceptive crossfield pass was brilliantly flicked by Denis Glennon into the path of the inrushing Michael Ennis and the ultra-reliable Ballinagore man beat John Devine all-ends-up with a wonderful low shot to the goalkeeper"s right, for his second goal of the 2008 championship. A very lengthy delay ensued while Tyrone"s outstanding midfielder-cum-forward, Sean Cavanagh was attended to, having fallen very awkwardly in an attempt to stop Glennon"s intuitive flick. Both teams took the opportunity to form a huddle, with a clearly-rattled Mickey Harte joining the Tyrone group to urge on his troops.Younger brother, Colm replaced Cavanagh (whose injury was, thankfully, not as bad as it first appeared) as the fourth official signalled five minutes of added-time. During this period, Tyrone missed two good point-scoring opportunities but Westmeath rounded off first-half scoring when a lovely flick up by Denis Glennon from substitute Dermot Bannon"s ground pass ended with Justin McMahon fouling the flying Tyrrellspass man. Tyrone dissent resulted in the free becoming a "gimme" for Des Dolan and this point left the visitors in good shape at the break, leading by 1-5 to 0-6. Clearly, Tyrone"s Brian McGuigan was not pleased with Padraig Hughes" refereeing and his protestations earned him a yellow card as the teams left the pitch.Within a minute of the restart, Westmeath went a goal ahead, when Brian Dooher was deemed (wrongly it seemed from this observer"s viewpoint) to have deflected Damien Healy"s speculative shot over his own endline and Martin Flanagan duly dissected the posts with a beautifully-judged "45". After Dermot Bannon shot wide from a scoreable effort, a nudge from Conor Gormley (which looked more like a free than some earlier awards) made Martin Flanagan screw his point attempt wide of the target. Between the fifth and the eighth minutes, the home team shot three unanswered points to level the tie. Firstly, great work by Brian McGuigan set up the manager"s nephew, Davy Harte for a neat point. Brian Dooher was forced to leave the pitch briefly for some minor repairs and his "blood sub" replacement, Joe McMahon made an instant impression when he set up Tommy McGuigan for a great point from 25 metres. A loose free from Martin Flanagan then went directly to his opposite number 9, Enda McGinley, who scythed his way through the visitors" defence to kick Tyrone"s ninth point.With just over ten minutes gone in the second moiety, Denis Glennon was deemed to have been fouled and, as spectators and reporters alike were drawn to the sight of the distinctive figure of Owen Mulligan entering the fray for the winners, to the dismay of all Westmeath people in the ground, Glennon fluffed the easy free with the ball coming back off the upright. Soon, fine play by the returned Brian Dooher (now wearing the number 35 jersey) enabled midfielder Enda McGinley to shoot his second point of the afternoon, to give Tyrone a lead they would never relinquish.The 16th minute was to bring incredible drama. When Damien Healy swung out of his adversary Brian Dooher, visiting fans were resigned to a second booking for the veteran half back. However, as the former St. Mary"s, Rochfortbridge player trooped off for his early shower, Dooher engaged in some verbals with Doran Harte and the Garrycastle man was clearly seen to throw a punch at the Tyrone captain (who certainly made a meal of the strike) in front of the referee, who had no alternative but to reduce Westmeath to 13 players. All of a sudden, from a position where the Lake County looked well capable of eking out a win, an Everest-like mountain faced Tomás Ó Flatharta"s charges.For a while it seemed that Tyrone were unsure how to capitalise on having two players to spare and they were unable to convert the inevitable extra possession on to the scoreboard. Indeed, Westmeath"s Derek Heavin came as close as anybody to scoring after a trademark surge forward. It took Brian Dooher to show a captain"s example with a terrific curled shot from 40 metres to put the winners two points ahead. However, this score was soon cancelled out by Westmeath"s best score of the match, Denis Glennon weaving his way crossfield past a posse of would-be tacklers before rifling over a great point, in the 26th minute. An awful wide followed from the red and whites" number 7, Philip Jordan, and Westmeath sub, David Duffy superbly plucked the resultant kick out from the skies, but the move broke down. Soon afterwards, an isolated Derek Heavin overplayed the ball in his own defence and Tommy McGuigan duly slotted the ball over the bar from the ensuing 35-metre free.Overlapping half back, Davy Harte was well wide from an ambitious shot for a goal before Westmeath threw away a precious lifeline in the 31st minute. David Duffy"s through ball was touched on by Denis Glennon for Des Dolan, who had more time and space than he probably realised, and he scuffed a gilt-edged goal chance harmlessly wide. The Garrycastle maestro buried his head in his hands, knowing that Westmeath had effectively said goodbye to the 2008 championship. Westmeath"s tired legs were unable to stop their opponents wrapping up their hard-earned victory as the game entered added-time, substitute Damian McCaul and midfielder Ryan Mellon firing over well-taken points to ease the Red Hand County into the third round draw, where they will face Mayo.The rightly-heralded defence again shone for Westmeath last Saturday. Two or three of the long-established players in the number 1 to 7 jerseys seem certain to receive All-Star nominations, even if a July 26th Qualifiers exit is probably too early for any to be named on the actual team. Frankly, there is no better all-round defensive unit in the country. Disruptions through injury to the blossoming Martin Flanagan/David Duffy partnership undoubtedly hindered the Lake County"s championship prospects (and Flanagan"s place at the City West banquet in December) but, even not match fit, they both showed glimpses of their ability in Healy Park, on something of an off-day for the wholehearted Donal O"Donoghue Every dog in the street and bird in the sky knows that the maroon and whites" scoring threat is almost exclusively confined to the excellent duo of Des Dolan and Denis Glennon (even if the former failed to score from play in the last two games and hit a very poor goal attempt to salvage Saturday"s match). John Smyth and Doran Harte (until his moment of madness) worked tirelessly and can, as usual, be excused from being generally shot-shy but, even allowing for the obvious drawback of being needlessly reduced to 13 men, scoring one point in the last 37 minutes of the game is simply not good enough. Or never will be.Tyrone are not the force they were earlier in the decade, when they had the magnificent Peter Canavan in attack and Stephen O"Neill lorded midfield. However, they have still lots of top-class players and, significantly, strength-in-depth which many other challengers for the Sam Maguire Cup simply have not got. Ryan McMenamin and Davy Harte continue to look fine defenders, while the very mobile pairing of Ryan Mellon and Enda McGinley won the midfield battle (chipping in three points from play between them, to boot). Brian Dooher won"t get too many Christmas cards with Westmeath postmarks this year but he drove his men on when they needed a lift and kicked two excellent points. However, Tommy McGuigan surpassed him in the scoring stakes and threatened danger anytime he got possession.Westmeath now face five months of inactivity when, in truth, they could easily be preparing for an All-Ireland quarter-final game in August, with the distinct possibility of a first-ever appearance in the semi-final to follow. The Dublin and Tyrone defeats can definitely be labelled in the "ones that got away" category, even if Tyrone "outscored" the Lake County by 14 to 5 in the wide count in Omagh on Saturday. Overall, 2008 produced far more positives than negatives and, if all the excellent senior players in the panel remain on board and stay injury-free, the unearthing of one or two more scoring forwards would leave Westmeath capable of a very serious assault on major silverware in 2009, starting with seven mouth-watering games in Division One in the spring. The bulk of this group of players have given maroon and white-clad fans untold pleasure this decade. From their point of view, they deserve more medals. And they certainly can win them.Tyrone: John Devine; Ryan McMenamin, Justin McMahon, P.J. Quinn; Davy Harte (0-1), Conor Gormley, Philip Jordan; Ryan Mellon (0-1), Enda McGinley (0-2); Brian Dooher (0-2), Brian McGuigan, Tommy McGuigan (0-6, 0-2 from frees); Martin Penrose (0-1), Sean Cavanagh, Colm McCullagh. Subs: Colm Cavanagh (for Cavanagh, inj, 35 mins), Owen Mulligan (for McCullagh, 47 mins), Joe McMahon (for Penrose, 51 mins), Raymond Mulgrew (for C.Cavanagh, inj, 59 mins), Damian McCaul (0-1) (for Quinn, 64 mins).Westmeath: Gary Connaughton; Francis Boyle, Kieran Gavin, John Keane; Michael Ennis (1-0), Derek Heavin, Damien Healy; Donal O"Donoghue, Martin Flanagan (0-1, from a "45"); Des Dolan (capt) (0-3, all from frees), John Smyth (0-1), Doran Harte; David Glennon, Denis Glennon (0-2, 0-1 from a free), Alan Mangan. Subs: Dermot Bannon (for Mangan, 25 mins), David Duffy (for David Glennon, 46 mins), Fergal Wilson (for Bannon, 50 mins), Simon Quinn (for Smyth, 70 mins), Willie Murtagh (for Boyle, 70 mins).Referee: Padraig Hughes (Armagh)Footnote. Prior to the game, a minute"s silence was observed in memory of Francis Boyle"s grandmother, Margaret Boyle, who died last week.