Westmeath edged out in thrilling Fr. Manning final

Westmeath's under-16 footballers came tantalisingly close to pulling off a remarkable double, just three days after their Gerry Reilly Tournament win, but Graham O'Connor's young men were pipped in extra-time by a very good Sligo team in Longford Slashers' ground on Wednesday evening last in the final of the Fr Manning Cup. The Markievicz County lads regained the trophy they last won in 2008 in a pulsating match, which ended in semi-darkness, the earlier shield final having been delayed by a half-hour due to transport difficulties encountered by Leitrim. Indeed, it is debatable if ten minutes-a-side should have been played at the end of the main attraction, given the fading light (ironically, a floodlit pitch remained unused in the same splendid Michael Fay Park facilities). Unfortunately, for the very wholehearted Lake County lads, extra-time was a case of a bridge too far, even if Sligo goalkeeper Damien Sweeney and Lady Luck combined to keep out last-gasp goal efforts from Lorcan Dolan and Robbie Greville respectively, which would have earned Westmeath a draw which nobody could have begrudged them. Sligo had wind advantage in the first moiety against virtually an unchanged Westmeath team from Oldcastle on the previous Sunday night. As was the case in the Gerry Reilly final, the lads in maroon and white started very sluggishly and, after a couple of early wides, Sligo raced into a five-point lead by the seventh minute. The losers opened their account with two pointed frees in as many minutes from Ger Leech (whose placekicking from the ground was top-class), before a quickly-taken free in the 13th minute from Adam Gaffney was collected by Lorcan Dolan, and the Castledaly lad swivelled superbly before rifling a great shot low to the net for the equalising score. Robbie Greville, who excelled all through both in defence and when joining the attack, and Ciaran O'Connor (from a free) soon traded points. Three unanswered points from Westmeath - David Brooks (a left-footed free from his hands), Ger Leech (a great 40-metre free with his right foot) and Robbie Greville (availing of great approach play by Lorcan Dolan) - put them ahead by 1-6 to 1-3 by the 23rd minute. With four minutes of normal time remaining in the first half, Padraic Leonard kicked a great solo point for the lads in black and white, but Westmeath responded with another stylish free from Ger Leech and a fabulous individual point from Lorcan Dolan. In added-time, Sligo's Ciaran O'Connor pointed a 25-metre free, leaving Westmeath ahead by 1-8 to 1-5 at the break (it was a pity that the scoreboard was not operational). Ciaran O'Connor added a Sligo point from a free within five minutes of the resumption but Westmeath, whose wind advantage had by now subsided, increased their advantage to four points by the ninth minute, courtesy of well-taken points from play by substitute Dylan McDermott and Ger Leech. However, the seemingly-omnipresent Criostóir Davey soon struck for his second goal, after the losers' defence should have cleared the ball. Adam Gaffney got his name on the scoresheet after doing well to keep the ball in play, but a foul on Davey gave inconsistent freetaker Ciaran O'Connor a simple chance from a placed ball, which he availed of on this occasion. With ten minutes of normal time remaining, Aaron Curley dissected the posts from a '45'. It needed a great save from Michael McMahon, at the expense of an unconverted '45', to prevent Criostóir Davey from completing his hat-trick. However, a brace of late frees from Ciaran O'Connor tied up the scores. Sligo had reasonable penalty claims in the last action of the scheduled hour when substitute Adrian McCann was challenged by Michael McMahon, but the referee waved play on. With the scores tied at Sligo 2-9 Westmeath 1-12 a decision was taken to proceed with the stipulated extra-time. Unsurprisingly, given Westmeath's heroics three nights earlier, Sligo looked the fresher side in extra-time, despite a classy point from Dylan McDermott opening the scoring. The winners replied with four unanswered points from the boots of Ciaran O'Connor (three, including one free) and Padraic Leonard, to lead by 2-13 to 1-13 at the end of the first period of extra-time. Two tiring teams added just a point each in the second ten minutes, Sligo's Padraic Leonard and Westmeath sub Shane Dempsey (from a free) being the men on target. A very committed Lake County side went all-out in search of an equalising goal as spectators and reporters struggled to see the action. In the last action of a memorable final, Lorcan Dolan's piledriver was brilliantly saved by Damien Sweeney and Robbie Greville's well-struck follow-up rebounded off the butt of the post. Sligo: Damien Sweeney; Patrick Kevany, James O'Hehir, Stephen Barrett; Robbie Galvin, Ben McGarry, Kevin Coen; Eddie Connell, Colm Egan; Cathal Surlis (0-1), Ciaran O'Connor (0-9, 0-7 from frees), Padraic Leonard (0-4); Seamus Cawley, Criostóir Davey (2-0), John McDonagh. Subs: Conor Kerins (for McGarry, 18 mins), Jonathan Quinn (for McDonagh, 45 mins), Ben McGarry (for Coen, 50 mins), Adrian McCann (for Connell, 50 mins), Ross Gordon (for McCann, e/t 8 mins). Westmeath: Michael McMahon; Eoghan Reilly, Luke Corless, Gary Greville; Rob Gorman, Mark Brown, Robbie Greville (0-2); Aaron Curley (0-1, from a '45'), Adam Gaffney (0-1); Killian Daly, Shane Murtagh, Andrew O'Sullivan; David Brooks (0-1, from a free), Lorcan Dolan (1-1), Ger Leech (0-5, 0-4 from frees). Subs: Dylan McDermott (0-2) (for O'Sullivan, 24 mins), Justin Barrett (for Murtagh, 34 mins), Tommy Gallagher (for Corless, 45 mins), Sam Moran (for Gaffney, e/t 8 mins), Shane Dempsey (0-1, from a free) (for Barrett, e/t 10 mins). Referee: Eugene Murtagh (Longford).