New look Westmeath turfed out in O'Byrne Cup opener
Offaly 3-6 Westmeath 0-7
Offaly took their goal chances. Westmeath missed theirs. That was the main difference between the teams as a makeshift Lake County side bowed out of the O'Byrne Cup proper at Tullamore last Sunday afternoon in a game which never reached any great heights.
A small crowd turned up in O'Connor Park, despite very reasonable weather for the time of year, to see two largely experimental teams do battle for early season bragging rights in the midlands.
The home team had the advantage of the wind blowing from the road side of the ground and, following two early wides, they took the lead in the fifth minute courtesy of a neat point from Willie Mulhall.
However, the real damage was done in the ensuing couple of minutes when a quickfire brace of goals put the Faithful County well in control. The first came when burly full-forward Alan Mulhall fielded a pass from his cousin Willie and buried the ball in the net from close range.
Shortly afterwards, a long ball from Brian Darby found Ken Casey in space and the former St. Joseph's, Rochfortbridge player decisively beat his one-time school colleague Darren Quinn for Offaly's second goal. The gap was soon eight points, Willie Mulhall slotting over a lovely point from 30 metres.
Maryland's Callum McCormack, who had a fine game overall, opened the visitors' account in the 14th minute at the end of a patient move. John Egan then spurned a glorious goal chance for the maroon and whites and the winners made the most of this, with Nigel Dunne pointing in style at the other end.
A terrific left-footed free by the hard-working Kieran Martin doubled Westmeath's tally before John Egan missed another great goal opportunity, when the ball fell nicely for him after Mark Gorman's shot for a point came back off the upright. Philip Sheridan soon pointed well at the end of a laboured move by the losers, but Willie Mulhall replied with a point which could easily have been a goal.
The Lake County scored the last two points of the first half via the ever-threatening Callum McCormack, either side of which the same player failed to avail of two goal opportunities, the second being thwarted by a brave save from Kevin Meehan. At the break, the scoreboard read: Offaly 2-4 Westmeath 0-5.
Early points from Trevor English and Callum McCormack reduced the deficit to three points. However, this was as close as Westmeath came despite some genuine bad luck with point-scoring chances throughout the second half, while Michael Ennis - back to his imperious best in the maroon and white jersey he has served with such distinction for well over a decade - popped up on more than one occasion close to the opposition goalmouth when half-chances of goals beckoned.
Midway through the second half, an Alan Mulhall free was followed by a second goal from the boot of Ken Casey, despite a fine initial save by Darren Quinn from Daniel Currams. A game which generated virtually no atmosphere in the resplendent O'Connor Park stand limped out to its conclusion when Richie Dalton's dipping shot went over via the crossbar, giving Gerry Cooney's men (under the guidance of Jimmy Stewart on the day) an early season morale-boosting win.
Pat Flanagan's charges now face DIT in the shield next weekend, as the Clara man continues his rebuilding work with his adopted county.
Scorers
Offaly: K Casey 2-0, A Mulhall 1-1 (0-1f), W Mulhall 0-3, R Dalton and N Dunne 0-1 each.
Westmeath: C McCormack 0-4, T English, K Martin (f) and P Sheridan 0-1 each.
Offaly
Kevin Meehan; James Gallagher, Sean Pender, Brian Darby; James Keane, Paul McConway, Lorcan Hiney; Richie Dalton, Ross Brady; Graham Guilfoyle, Nigel Dunne, Aidan Keenaghan; Willie Mulhall, Alan Mulhall, Ken Casey. Subs: Fergal Daly for Guilfoyle (28), Daniel Currams for Dunne (48), Niall Smith for Keane (48), Brian Hanamy for A. Mulhall (68), Derek Kelly for Casey (69).
Westmeath
Darren Quinn; Mark Dalton, Kieran Sheridan, Tommy Warburton; Micheal Curley, Michael Ennis, Kevin Maguire; Trevor English, Aidan Finnan; Kieran Martin, Mark Gorman, Philip Sheridan; John Egan, Callum McCormack, Declan Mullen. Subs: Daniel McDermott for Warburton (h/t), Denis Glennon for Mullen (48), Dean McNicholas for Egan (53), Willie Coyne for Gorman (69), Davy Gavin for P. Sheridan (69).
Referee
John Hickey (Carlow).
