Westmeath minors march on to last four in Leinster race
Westmeath 2-13
Wicklow 0-10
By Kieran Galvin
The Westmeath minor footballers booked their place in the semi-finals of this year’s Leinster championship with a comfortable victory over Wicklow at Cusack Park yesterday (Saturday).
Two early goals from Moate All Whites player John Corbally set Westmeath on their way. Despite playing against the strong breeze in the first half, Westmeath surged into a 2-3 to 0-0 lead in the opening quarter. Both of Corbally’s goals were set up by Caulry’s Robbie Hickey and they gave the home side a cushion which proved too much for Wicklow to reel in.
With corner-forward Mickey O’Connor leading the way, Wicklow did rally and, at half-time, Westmeath’s lead had been cut to five points (2-7 to 0-8).
Although sloppiness crept into Westmeath’s play when wind-assisted in the second half, their lead was never really threatened. Wicklow wing-back Niall Donnelly was sent off in the second period, having been shown a second yellow card.
Westmeath will meet Meath in the semi-finals on July 6, after the Royals recorded an emphatic win over Laois in Portlaoise.
At the time of writing, the venue for the Westmeath v Meath Leinster semi-final had yet to be confirmed.
*See this week’s Westmeath Independent for a full report and reaction from the Westmeath v Wicklow match.
Scorers – Westmeath: J Corbally 2-5 (0-5f); L Cassidy 0-3; D Giles 0-2 (2f); R Hickey, A Hughes and C Shanley 0-1 each. Wicklow: M O’Connor 0-6 (4f); T Donohoe 0-2 (2f); C Devlin and P Murtagh 0-1 each.
Westmeath: Joe Hyland; Sean Doyle, Israel Ilunga, Matthew Darling; Darren Giles, Ryan Caffrey, Boidu Sayeh; Theo Watts, Sam Omukoro; Jeremiah Scully, Alan Hughes, Ruairi Cunningham; John Corbally, Robert Hickey, Liam Cassidy. Subs: Ciaran Shanley for Hughes; Bryan O’Donohoe for Doyle; Anthony McGivney for Cunningham; Andrew McCormack for Sayeh; Conor Marlowe for Omukoro.
Wicklow: Robert Fitzgerald; Ruairi Marron, Adam Benson, Jack Gilligan; Conor Devlin, David Baker, Niall Donnelly; David Boothman, Paul Murtagh; Simon Boucher, David Tompkins, Thomas Donohoe; Brian Doyle, Conor Healy, Mickey O’Connor. Subs: Emmett Cullen for Benson; Conor Lambert for Boucher; Ian Richardson for Tompkins.
Referee: Brendan Cawley (Kildare).