Westmeath dumped out of Ring Cup

In a season that has simply gone from bad to worse, Westmeath surrendered their interest in the Christy Ring Cup to a determined and far more focused Mayo side at Westport last Saturday afternoon. As the stars of tomorrow were hitting the headlines in the Leinster MHC, beating one of the provincial powers Offaly, to set up a semi-final meeting with Kilkenny, Eamon Gallagher"s charges were blown out of the water and now stand perilously close to losing their Tier Two status in 2010. It is not too long ago that Westmeath GAA fans and indeed the County Board were bemoaning the fact the Lake County could not get into the Leinster Championship, but the reality is that unless the team gets down to business against Wicklow in Clane next Saturday, the maroon of Westmeath could be plying their trade in the Nicky Rackard Cup next season. The winners of Saturday"s game between Westmeath and Wicklow will secure Tier Two status for next season, while the losers will face the 2009 Nicky Rackard Cup winners to decide who will play in the Christy Ring Cup next year. Superb efforts against Wexford and Antrim in the National Hurling League became a distant memory for the handful of diehard Westmeath supporters who headed west last weekend and they certainly left the beautiful Mayo venue in a deflated mood. They flattered to deceive early on and looked like they were heading for the safety net of certain qualification for the Ring Cup next year but, almost in the wink of an eye, the westerners had turned the game on its head with a brace of goals from Derek McDonnell and Martin Devaney. From then on, it was a question of just how much resilience is in this current Westmeath squad and the answer came at the end of seventy minutes, with an eleven point drubbing. On a day which had a touch of winter about it, the hurling produced by the Mayo lads was of the summer variety. This was a 'winner takes all' game, a championship tie with the losers exiting the competition. For Mayo, the stakes could not have been higher, pipped for a place in last year"s final by a last-gasp Carlow goal in Castlebar. Pete Finnerty and Martin Brennan had their squad psyched up for this encounter. That became increasingly clear as the game progressed. Some of the fare produced by Mayo was out of the top drawer and Westmeath were visibly stunned by the tenaciousness of the Mayo response to all they could muster. In some regards, Mayo appeared to have caught a mood and this spread throughout the team. They drove forward relentlessly, fired up by the two early goals, and striving to maintain the edge which had come their way. This was superbly epitomised by wing-back Brian Higgins who fired over a sweet point following a swift downfield attack featuring Pearse Higgins and Adrian Freeman. With Freeman picking off a series of points and Eoghan Madigan also getting on the score sheet, the Mayo men showed delighted their followers with the crispness of their play and the whole-hearted endeavour which adorned this display. Despite some very worthy performances from Paul Greville, Andrew Mitchell, Greg Gavin, Brian Connaughton, John Shaw, Robbie Jackson and Darren McCormack, Westmeath found themselves trailing by 2-8 to 0-6 at the interval. The midlanders were dealt a severe blow two minutes into the second half when one of their star players, Darren McCormack was dismissed following a second yellow card. They closed the gap to six points with scores from Robbie Jackson, Andrew Mitchell and Brendan Murtagh but were unable to bridge it any further. Goalie Micheal Walsh effected one magnificent save at a stage when a Westmeath goal could have set up a tense finish. He somehow managed to deflect a rasping effort from Derek McNicholas over the bar, showing marvellous reflex skill in the process. Mayo held firm, especially in defence with Aidan Connolly providing splendid leadership at fullback and with Conor Ryan turning in an excellent display in the halfback line, ably assisted by Paddy Barrett and Brian Higgins. The Higgins brothers, Pearse and Keith, came thundering into the game. The class and style of Keith was matched by the workhouse qualities of Pearse whose trojan efforts rallied the troops at a time when the Westmeath rally was reaching its zenith. While Ballyhaunis and Tooreen may be the keenest of rivals at club level, the combination of the Higgins brothers, Adrian Freeman and Martin Devaney saw Mayo notch their next eight points and take them into the comfort zone. The last ten minutes witnessed the home side close out the game with two marvellous points from an in-form Stephen Broderick who was drafted from the bench and further points from the excellent Adrian Freeman and also Derek McConn, a teacher in the Marist College, Athlone. It is almost unthinkable that a team with an abundance of genuinely committed and excellent hurlers, many of whom have two Christy Ring medals in the cabinet, now find themselves standing on the brink of elimination from the competition next season. Serious questions have to be asked about the side and no doubt, Wicklow will be only too anxious to put those questions to them in Clane on Saturday. Mayo: Micheál Walsh; Derek Walsh, Aidan Connolly, Paul Hunt; Brian Higgins (0-1), Pat Barrett, Conor Ryan; Keith Higgins (0-5, 3f), Pierse Higgins (0-1); Eoin Madigan (0-1), Derek McDonnell (1-0), Derek McConn (0-1); Adrian Freeman (0-7, 4f), David Dowling, Martin Devaney (1-2). Subs: Stephen Broderick (0-2) for D. Dowling, Ciaran Hynes for D. McDonnell, Cathal Freeman for E. Madigan, Cian McGrath for C. Ryan (inj). Westmeath: Jimmy Greville; Eoin Price, Paul Greville, Greg Gavin; Adam Price, Andrew Mitchell (0-5, 5f), Robbie Jackson (0-3); Conor Jordan, Brian Connaughton (0-1); John Shaw, Brendan Murtagh (0-2, 2f), Killian Cosgrove (0-1); Ciaran Curley (0-1), Darren McCormack, Alan Devine. Subs: Derek McNicholas (0-2) for A. Devine, Brian Smyth for A. Price, Darren Kilcoyne for R. Jackson. Referee: Tony Carroll (Offaly).