McDonnell the master as Armagh hammer Westmeath

Westmeath senior footballers suffered their second consecutive defeat in this year's National Football League to Ulster opposition when Armagh dished out a comprehensive 17-point hammering at Crossmaglen last Sunday, with veteran full-forward Steven McDonnell stealing the show with a remarkable personal haul of 1-9, all from play. A very small contingent of Lake County fans made the long trip northwards in the hope of seeing an improved performance from their heroes, but it was clear from an early stage that the home side, who had also lost their opening fixture (albeit narrowly and unluckily to Meath) were determined to garner their first brace of league points. With McDonnell in unstoppable mood, the Orchard County always looked the likely winners, even if Westmeath's wastefulness early in the second half, when the game was still somewhat up for grabs, proved fatal, with Armagh pulling away to win virtually as they pleased. The return of Kieran Gavin was an undoubted help to Sunday's visitors to Crossmaglen and, despite the scoreline, he had many fine moments in an often overrun defence. Indeed, the Mullingar Shamrocks defender - who is set to miss the 2010 championship due to his travel plans - was prominent early on as Steven McDonnell got straight out of the traps with a point after a mere 13 seconds. At the other end, Paul Greville and Denis Glennon were both short from tricky frees and Westmeath paid a big price for this profligacy when the Kernan brothers, Aaron and Tony, combined to set up Steven McDonnell, who deftly flicked the ball past the advancing Gary Connaughton for a well-worked goal in the sixth minute. The McDonnell show continued unabated when the Killeavy maestro beautifully curled over a point with the outside of his right boot. John Smyth was in some distress at this juncture and The Downs' action man was soon forced to withdraw, to add to Westmeath's woes. The losers opened their account in the 11th minute, Paul Greville doing well to point a difficult left-footed free after Conor Lynam had been fouled. Aaron Kernan replied with a fisted point, but Westmeath continued to hang on in the contest courtesy of another Paul Greville free and a wonderful score by David Duffy, after the Shandonagh man was alert to Denis Glennon's quickly-taken free. A patient Armagh move ended with that man McDonnell pointing in style. Gary Connaughton had to be at his best to keep out two further attacks by the winners and a good Westmeath counterattack resulted in a fine point from Denis Glennon. Worryingly, from a Westmeath perspective, a number of orange and white-clad defenders were being allowed solo out of defence virtually unchallenged, and one such foray ended with Tony Kernan tapping over a close-range free. With seven minutes of normal time remaining, Denis Glennon converted a 20-metre free to leave just a goal between the sides. However, the home side rattled off four unanswered points before half-time, courtesy of another brace of class points from Steven McDonnell, sandwiched between an Aaron Kernan free and a terrific score from the very industrious Charlie Vernon. During this period of Armagh dominance, Denis Glennon was bundled out of possession as he bore down on the winners' goalmouth. At the break, Armagh led by 1-9 to 0-5. Hoey denied goal Westmeath came close to boosting their slim chances of a comeback within two minutes of the resumption, but Philip McEvoy produced a great full-length save from Gavin Hoey's accurate low shot. Two wasted '45's ensued from the losers, quickly followed by a very poor free from a scoreable position by Paul Greville. Denis Glennon also missed a straightforward free and Armagh mounted their first two attacks of the second moiety, with Ryan Henderson and Tony Kernan (free) duly increasing their lead to nine points. Denis Glennon converted a 13th-minute free after Gavin Hoey was fouled, but any faint hopes of a Westmeath comeback disappeared by the midpoint of the half, Armagh tagging on a further 1-2 without reply between the 16th and 19th minutes. Sandwiched between a great point on the run from Gareth Swift and a trademark turn and shot from Steven McDonnell, the latter player and Charlie Vernon combined for the overlapping Finnian Moriarty to rifle home a superb goal from 15 metres. Denis Glennon was now at midfield for the losers and the Tyrrellspass man remained his side's most prominent player as the inevitable outcome was played out painfully in front of the handful of diehard travelling fans. Steven McDonnell nonchalantly kicked another Armagh point and the star of the show came close to adding another goal, with Gary Connaughton's foot block resulting in a remarkable miss from a routine free by Tony Kernan. The one-way traffic continued when Joe Feeney scored his first point of the game and Gareth Swift nabbed his second. Steven McDonnell's hunger for scores was still evident and it took a great save from Gary Connaughton to keep out the Armagh full-forward, at the expense of an unconverted '45'. Paul Greville and Colm Watters then traded fine points from play. With three minutes of normal time remaining, Denis Glennon rounded off his side's paltry total from a free, fittingly leaving Steven McDonnell time to kick a further brace of points from play in the 33rd and 34th minutes respectively. Indeed, McDonnell came close to entering double figures for his points tally but his 30-metre free from the ground went wide via the upright, regular free taker Tony Kernan having been one of five players withdrawn late in the game by Paddy O'Rourke. The final whistle came as a relief to the visitors. Age-old rivals Meath are Westmeath's next opponents on March 6. As was the case with last Sunday's victors, Westmeath managed a rare win over their neighbours when last they met in the league two years ago. The maroon and whites' freefall since 2008 has been alarming, even allowing for the loss of form with some key players, retirements (irreversible and otherwise) and the necessary blooding in of new players (some of whom are struggling to make the grade). On recent evidence, the high-profile management team have an enormous job on their hands to prevent a further slide to the lower regions of the National League. ARMAGH: Philip McEvoy; Andy Mallon, Brendan Donaghy, Paul Duffy; Barry Shannon, Ciaran McKeever, Finnian Moriarty (1-0); Charlie Vernon (0-1), Kieran Toner; Joe Feeney (0-1), Aaron Kernan (0-2, 1f), Gareth Swift (0-2); Ryan Henderson (0-1), Steven McDonnell (1-9), Tony Kernan (0-2, 2f). Subs: Michael McNamee for Henderson (52 mins); Paul Kernan for Moriarty (55); Colm Watters (0-1) for A. Kernan (58); Jason O'Neill for Feeney (60); Kevin Dyas for Duffy (61). WESTMEATH: Gary Connaughton; Kieran Gavin, Michael Ennis, John Gaffey; Ger Egan, Donal O'Donoghue, Doran Harte; David Duffy (0-1), Stephen Bracken; Tommy Warburton, Damien Healy, John Smyth; Paul Greville (0-3, 2f), Denis Glennon (0-4, 3f), Conor Lynam. Subs: Gavin Hoey for Smyth (inj, 13 mins); James Durkan for Healy (h-t); Ronan Doolin for Warburton (h-t); Francis Boyle for O'Donoghue (h-t); Damien Healy for Gavin (inj, 50). REFEREE: Martin Higgins (Fermanagh).