Westmeath's U20 hurlers held by gritty Meath

Westmeath 2-14, Meath 0-20

Westmeath's U20 hurlers twice held nine-point leads at Páirc Tailteann, Navan on Saturday afternoon, but a gritty Meath side battled back to earn a draw.

Two first half goals from David O’Reilly and David Williams (penalty) ensured Westmeath led by 2-10 to 0-11 at half-time. However, the Lake County had built up a 1-9 to 0-3 advantage following O'Reilly's eighth minute strike and at the end of the first quarter, the visitors led by 1-10 to 0-4. It looked rosy for the Maroons, but Meath refused to wilt.

The home side drew inspiration from every score and clearly fired up, they battled back with some terrific scores from midfielder Tom Shine (who struck some fine long-range frees) and Donal Rodgers, who hit a marvellous point in the 36th minute: Meath outscored their opponents by 0-5 to 0-1 in the third quarter and the recovery was gathering momentum.

Westmeath panicked and made defensive errors, while Williams missed a routine free and when the impressive Rian Holding failed to earn a free out late on, Meath won a throw-in and were then awarded a free. It was a controversial moment, one that irked Westmeath, but Meath corner forward Mark Leavy wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth and he sent the ball over the crossbar to ensure a share of the spoils. It came in the sixth minute of additional time, after four minutes had been announced (Meath made a substitute in that period).

It was the challenge on Holding as he went to gather the ball and the ensuing ruck that generated most debate.

That said, Westmeath and Meath will now both be fancied to emerge from a group that includes Ulster side Derry. Meath meet the Oak Leaf men on April 6 and a week later Derry travel to Mullingar to face the Lake County.

Westmeath manager Kevin O'Brien said it was a case of mixed emotions at the final whistle.

"We feel like we should have won when we went nine points up, but Meath upped their game considerably. It's disappointing that a couple of key decisions went against us, including that challenge on Rian Holding, but it's back to the drawing board now. We will learn from this: it's great to have Darragh McCormack back from his injury and our focus now is on the Derry match," he remarked.

McCormack produced two moments of sheer brilliance when he struck over points from sideline cuts in the fourth and 49th minutes. He certainly appeared to have strong claims for a free when body-checked in the Meath half in the 60th minute, but it wasn't considered a foul.

Dublin referee Mark Ryan booked Holding for protesting afterwards, but it was easy to appreciate the Westmeath player's frustration following a fine performance.

Westmeath’s failure to win was down to their own errors, though and ‘keeper Sean Jackson didn’t inspire confidence. Yet, inspired by O’Reilly’s well-taken goal in the eighth minute - after he cut though the centre of the Meath defence and batted the ball to the net - Westmeath led by 1-4 to 0-1. The home side replied with points from Cian O’Sullivan and Tom Shine, but Conor Heffernan’s 18th minute strike had the Lake County 1-9 to 0-3 ahead. Darragh McCormack, O’Reilly and David Williams (frees) had the bulk of the Westmeath points in that period.

Westmeath’s short puck-out strategy wasn’t executed with fluency at times and a rejuvenated Meath side punished them. However, when Williams was fouled in the square in the 29th minute a penalty resulted and Williams composed himself before firing a powerful shot to the net, making it 2-10 to 0-9, and while Meath got the final two points of the half, the visitors were in control.

Westmeath managed just four second half points, a statistic that will surely frustrate them when they reflect on this game. Darragh McCormack (two, one from a line ball), O’Reilly and Williams were on target at different times, but a sustained spell never materialised. It was looking good when they got two in-a-row from McCormack and Williams to lead by 2-14 to 0-19 entering the final minute.

Four minutes into added time, Williams missed a free and the final whistle ought to have sounded then, but the referee allowed play to continue. A late free for a foul on Lorcan Byrne (after a throw-in) led to the equalising point from Leavy.

Scorers - Westmeath: D Williams 1-6 (1-0 pen; 4fs; 1 '65'), D O’Reilly 1-3, D McCormack 0-3 (2 s/line cuts), C Heffernan and P Clarke 0-1 each.

Meath: M Leavy 0-8 (8f), T Shine 0-5 (4f), C O’Sullivan 0-2, D Heffernan, M Horan, D Rodgers, L Byrne and P Barnwell 0-1 each.

Westmeath: Sean Jackson; David Maloney, Jack Murtagh, Tom Flynn; Darragh Smith, Rian Holding, Conor Gaffney; Brian McCabe, Ivan Smyth; David Williams, Darragh McCormack, David O’Reilly; Conor Heffernan, Peter Murphy, Peter Clarke. Subs: Callum McKeogh for I Smyth (h-t), Shane Ormsby for Heffernan (41), Cian Geary for McCabe (46).

Meath: Ben Mather; Cian O’Sullivan, Cian Calhoun, Conor Dixon; Paul Hennessy, Charlie McCormack, Craig Gilsenan; Mark Horan, Darragh Heffernan; Tom Shine, Donal Rodgers, Lorcan Byrne; Mark Leavy, Paddy Barnwell, Patrick Jordan. Subs: Tiernan Anderson for McCormack (34), Noah Conroy for Rodgers (53), Darren Higgins for Jordan (60+3).

Ref: Mark Ryan (Dublin).

The game in a nutshell

Man of the match

Rian Holding (Westmeath): The towering Westmeath midfielder (switched to centre back) won some crucial ball in the air and was strong throughout. He was unlucky with that late decision.

Score of the match

Either of Darragh McCormack’s outrageous points from sideline cuts: the second one was arguably better as the angle was more acute. Ironically, it should have been a Meath line ball.

Match officials

Talking points aplenty. The referee and linesman (stand side) made incorrect decisions in the second half when intensity levels rose. Tom Flynn (53 minutes), Darragh McCormack (59 minutes) and Rian Holding (66th minute) appeared to be fouled, but play continued in each instance. Technically the game was over when David Williams hit a free wide in the fifth minute of added time, but the four additional minutes ticked on into six and Meath got the equalising score. In fairness, the home side could quibble with some first half frees and the line ball that was pointed by McCormack in the second half.

Next up

The U20 hurlers will play Derry on April 13.