Westmeath minors go down tamely in poor contest

Westmeath made a rather tame exit from the Leinster Minor Championship in Cusack Park Mullingar on Saturday afternoon last when they were overcome by a more committed and ultimately clinical Longford. Two points from play over the 60 minutes from the Lake County tells its own story and in truth they did not create many more chances than that. Longford for their part missed three open goals in the opening half and really should have been on the bus home at half time as a beleaguered Westmeath defence struggled to cope with the visitors pace and directness. The midfield battle was being lost hands down and the mercurial John Heslin was a shadow of the player we have seen in the early part of this season. His dismissal late on for two yellow cards was borne out of frustration more than anything else. Up front, the forwards performed poorly as time and again they were dispossessed or kicked aimlessly and their inability to retain possession put enormous pressure on the Westmeath rearguard. Thankfully, Westmeath's defence was on song, but they were assisted by an Longford attack which was almost as wasteful as its Westmeath counterparts and it made for a rather insipid game that never really got going. That will matter little to Longford who will now contest the Leinster semi final while Ger Heavin's charges will ponder on what might have been. Still, the game turned on a thirty-second period on the second half, when Westmeath had a chance to level matters, but lost possession and within seconds Longford had broken down field and earned a penalty which they successfully converted. On the opening whistle, Longford almost immediately had the ball in the net only for it to be hauled back for throw ball which looked a very harsh call indeed. Mark Hughes did open the scoring for Longford when he pointed from a long-range free soon after. Westmeath should have equalised when a strong Kelvin Reilly run finished with a poor attempt at a score but John Heslin did equalise with a 45-metre free on 7 minutes. Robbie Smyth restored the Longford lead when he gathered a quick James McGivney free and caught the Westmeath defence napping but it was the last score for almost ten minutes as the game descended into mediocrity. McGivney, Smyth and Padraig McCormack all missing further chances for Longford to pull ahead and on the break Westmeath equalised with possibly their best score of the game from David McCormack who finished a good move involving Kelvin Reilly andTrevor English. Mark Hughes increased the Longford lead when he pounced on some poor Westmeath defending and McGivney added another with the Westmeath defence in total disarray. Darren Farrelly made it three in a row when he sliced through the porous Westmeath defence after a short Westmeath free went awry. Hughes should have increased Westmeath's worries soon after but his fisted effort went right across the Westmeath goal and moments later he should have raised another green flag when he was clean through only to see his shot squirm left of the post. His colleague Smyth had an equally good chance for goal moments later only to also miss the target. It left Longford leading by just three points, 0-5 to 0-2 at the break, when, on the run of play, they should have enjoyed a greater advantage. Westmeath needed something to fire them up an in fairness midfielder Dean McNicholas stepped up to the mark and was possibly their best player over the hour. His fetching around midfield was excellent and he was unlucky himself not to score after another trademark run ended with another Westmeath wide. Kelvin Reilly missed another simple chance and one wondered would Westmeath score again such was their ineptitude in front of goal. A Heslin long range free was tapped down by Jason Cully and Trevor English was on hand to tap over a lovely score. But David McCormack and Darren Ruane missed glorious chances to draw Westmeath level and on a break out Hughes converted a free to restore Longford's three-point advantage. Westmeath, and McNicholas in particular, took over at this point and had the lion's share of possession in the next quarter but they kicked some terrible wides in that period with several player missing very scoreable chances. A Heslin free narrowed the gap and when he added another from a dead ball on 51 minutes there was just the minimum between the sides and Westmeath had all the momentum. Heslin had another free to level matters but instead of striking for goal he played it short with Kelvin Reilly and in a blink of an eye the ball was robbed brought down the field and Hughes was bearing down on goal. When he fell in the small square the referee pointed to the spot immediately and whether he was right or wrong it was a clumsy challenge and needless and upped stepped goalie Paddy Collum who struck the ball superbly to the net for the game-defining score. Another Heslin pointed free reduced the deficit and then he was placed on the edge of the square for the last few minute but try as they might Westmeath could not breach a strong Longford defence. Late on Heslin was shown two yellow cards that saw him get his marching orders, while the final whistle brought whoops of joy from the large Longford supporting contingent. It would be hard to pick out a single Westmeath player who did himself justice on the day with possibly McNicholas the only player to show any of his ability. Possibly too much of the burden of the team passed to John Heslin and he struggled to live up to that. Jamie Gonoud had a good game at wing back but it was up front that Westmeath struggled considerably and apart from cameos from Jason Cully and Trevor English, they were simply not good enough. McGivney was a constant threat for Longford while Hughes, Darren Gallagher and Padraig McCormack were others to excel but overall they won what was a scrappy and error ridden affair that was hard to watch at times and they will need to up their game in the semi final. For Westmeath it has been another season of little progress and disappointment and continues the county's poor run in this grade. Scorers: Longford: Paddy Colum 1-0, Mark Hughes 0-3 2 frees, James McGivney, Darren Farrelly and Robbie Smyth 0-1 each Westmeath: John Heslin 0-4 4 frees, David McCormack and Trevor English 0-1 each Teams Longford: Paddy Collum, Darragh Bennet, Oisin Farrell, Ronan Keogh, Conor Clarke, Dylan Quinn, Shane Donoghue, James McGivney, Darren Gallagher, Darren Farrelly, Padraig McCormack, Diarmuid Cooney, Robbie Smyth, James Noonan, Mark Hughes. Subs: Pedro Byrne for Noonan 47 mins, Tom Madden for Donoghue 56 mins. Westmeath: Darren Brady, Stephen Gilmore, Robbie Henshaw, Cathal McKinley, David Lynch, Davy Gavin, Jamie Gonoud, Dean McNicholas, John Heslin, Darren Ruane, Kelvin Reilly, David McCormack, David Fagan, Trevor English, Jason Cully Subs: Enda Kincaid for Lynch 28 mins, John Maguire for McCormack 41 mins Referee: Eddie Craul Wicklow