Westmeath get back on track in style
GAA: Allianz Football League Division 3
Westmeath 4-16 Longford 0-9
Deniese O’Flaherty
Westmeath produced a dominant second-half display to sweep aside the weak challenge of neighbours Longford, in this Allianz Football League Division 3 game at Glennon Brothers Pearse Park yesterday (Sunday).
Just one point separated the sides at the break with Longford in the lead, but Dessie Dolan’s Westmeath side were a different proposition in the second half.
They were hungry and clinical, putting Longford under ferocious pressure from their own kick-outs and that set the tone for what followed. Longford were forced into making several mistakes which Westmeath punished.
Such was Westmeath’s dominance in the second half Longford were only able to score one point; that came in the 56th minute through Darren Gallagher. By contrast, the Lake County scored 4-9, underlining their superiority with the breeze at the backs.
In a woeful afternoon for Longford, they ended the game with 13 players after both David McGivney and Andrew Farrell were sent off for yellow and then black card infractions.
Longford struggled with their own kick-outs in the first half and Westmeath were able to expose that in the second period. Their first goal came after Ray Connellan intercepted kick-out and played the ball to Luke Loughlin, who applied the finish. That goal gave Westmeath a five-point lead and they went on to build on that.
Westmeath's other goals came from Lorcan Dolan, John Heslin and Sam McCartan.
It was a very much improved performance from Westmeath following their opening day defeat to Cavan.
When Westmeath got a hold on the game in the second half, they looked impressive and played some good football. The forwards worked hard on and off the ball and Longford struggled to contain them. Their defence had very little to do in the second half but when called into action they were resilient.
Scorers – Westmeath: J Heslin 1-5 (0-5f); S McCartan, L Dolan, L Loughlin 1-1 each; C McCormack, S Smith 0-2 each; S Baker, N Harte, R O’Toole, R Connellan 0-1 each. Longford: D Reynolds 0-4 (1m); D McGivney 0-2 (1f); D Gallagher, D Mimnagh, J Hagan 0-1 each.
Westmeath: Jason Daly; Daniel Scahill, Kevin Maguire, James Dolan; Nigel Harte, Ronan Wallace, Senan Baker; Sam McCartan, Conor McCormack; Sam Duncan, Ronan O’Toole, Ray Connellan; Lorcan Dolan, John Heslin, Luke Loughlin. Subs: Stephen Smith for L Dolan (53 mins), Kieran Martin for Baker (61), Conor Dillon for J Dolan (62), Andrew McCormack for Duncan and Shane Dempsey for Loughlin (68).
Longford: Paddy Collum; Paddy Fox, Andrew Farrell, PJ Masterson; Ryan Moffett, Gary Rogers, Iarla O’Sullivan; Darren Gallagher, Fergal Sheridan; Michael Quinn, Daniel Mimnagh, Keelin McGann; Joe Hagan, David McGivney, Dessie Reynolds. Subs: Rian Brady for McGann, Peter Lynn for Rogers and Jack Macken for Sheridan (47 mins), Peter Foy for Mimnagh (65).
Referee: Niall McKenna (Monaghan).