Hegarty hat trick helps Westmeath win battle of champions

Westmeath ladies racked up their second win from two starts in the Bord Gas Energy Division 3 league following their romp to a double scores victory over Wicklow at Greystones on Sunday last. This was the clash of the All-Ireland champions - Westmeath the intermediate title holders in 2011, Wicklow the queens at junior level - and this game highlighted the fact that the midlanders are in a class above the Garden County. The girls from Westmeath had a very scary opening 20 minutes when the home side hit them with everything but, once they weathered that early storm, there was really ever going to be one winner of this contest. Full-forward Karen Hegarty bagged three of Westmeath's four goals in a champagne performance but there was so much to savour from this display, with Maud Ann Foley and Ruth Kearney dominating at midfield, Jenny Rogers thundering forward from centre-back and Laura Walsh causing Wicklow all sorts of problems from the corner-forward position. However, Wicklow rattled their opponents in the opening quarter as they raced into a deserved 1-4 to 0-2 lead after 24 minutes. The goal was drilled to the net by Maedhbh Deeney as she provided the clinical finish to a lightening counter-attack as they swept the ball upfield from their own defence. The Garden County ladies came thundering out of the traps, with Claire Walsh leading a solid defence, and Niamh Carroll, Maedhbh Deeney and Roisin Ellis providing strong initial support to full-forward Lucy Mulhall, who was Wicklow's main scoring threat throughout. Westmeath's meagre response to this initial onslaught was two points by midfielder Maud Anne Foley, forcing their mentors to dig into the bench for fresh legs to steady the ship and energise the team as a whole. Once they gained traction, Westmeath showed who the real masters were, moving up through the gears as the game progressed to take complete command of the situation. Milltown lass Jenny Rogers at centre-back started to bulldoze her way through the Wicklow defence, while Maud Anne Foley was doing a riverdance from midfield. Karen Hegarty caught fire at full-forward as she drilled over two smart points, before rifling two shots to the net twice in the space of three minutes coming up to half-time. Wing-forward Johanna Maher and Laura Walsh chipped in with points and, in the space of less than ten minutes, Westmeath had turned a worrying 1-4 to 0-2 deficit into a 2-6 to 1-4 lead at half-time. Wicklow lined out with five or more changes to the team that won the junior All-Ireland final last autumn, the absentees including inspirational captain Cathriona McKeon, who has retired, and Caoilfhionn Deeney, who is in college in Scotland. Starting the second half, it was Wicklow's turn to look to the bench for inspiration, with Aoife Kavanagh and Laurie Ahearne being introduced to the fray. Wicklow again had a promising start to this half but it was all too brief. Westmeath midfielder Ruth Kearney drilled over three sweet points, her colleague Foley supplemented with a fine brace and the winners' lead was stretched to 2-11 to 1-5. Lucy Mulhall provided the sole response for Wicklow with a point from a free. Indeed, Mulhall was posing the only threat to Westmeath at this stage, and she was being well policed by the visitors' defence, who had closed off all openings. From the 24 minute until the last minute of the game, Wicklow could only manage to add three points to their total as Westmeath continued to show their superior class and two more goals from Laura Walsh and Karen Hegarty (completing her hat-trick), saw them run out clear cut winners. Walsh landed a couple of lovely points for Westmeath, while Fiona Claffey also got her name on the scoresheet. Substitute Laura Ahearne scored one of Wicklow's three second-half points. Then in the last minute of the match, Wicklow were awarded a penalty for a foul on Mulhall and Deeney blasted the spot kick to the right corner of Sarah Keegan's net. Scorers - Westmeath: Karen Hegarty (3-2, 1-0pen), Maud Ann Foley (0-4, 3f), Johanna Maher (0-1), Laura Walsh (1-3), Ruth Kearney (0-3), Fiona Claffey (0-1). Wicklow: Maedhbh Deeney (2-0, 1-0pen), Loretta Gilbert (0-1), Lucy Mulhall (0-5, 3f), Laura Ahearne (0-1). Westmeath: Sarah Keegan; Aileen Martin, Carol Finch, Aoife Brady; Kelly Boyce Jordan, Jenny Rogers, Karen McDermott; Maud Anne Foley, Ruth Kearney; Ciara Blundell, Fiona Claffey; Johanna Maher, Laura Walsh, Karen Hegarty, Ciara Scully. Subs: Eimear Connellan for C. Scully, Tara Fagan for K. Jordan, Sheila Kelly for C. Blundell, Ruth Daniels for K. Hegarty, Carol Butler for C. McDermott, Sinead Boyce for M. Foley. Wicklow: Eimear Miley; Claire Kavanagh, Aisling " hAnnaidh, Aoife Heffernan; Sarah Miley, Claire Walsh, Laura Fuisciardi; Jackie Kinch, Loretta Gilbert; Niamh Carroll, Maedhbh Deeney, Roisin Ellis; Eadoine Lenihan, Lucy Mulhall. Laura Hogan. Subs: Aoife Kavanagh for A. Lenihan, Laurie Ahearne for N. Carroll, Sinead Boland for R. Ellis, Emma Sergeant Kelly for C. Walsh, Sarah Delahunt for L Hogan, Emily Mulhall for L. Fuisciardi. Wides: Westmeath 3, Wicklow 8. Referee: Tony Lennon, Kildare.