Terrific effort by Westmeath minor footballers falls short

Kildare 1-12, Westmeath 2-6

Westmeath minor footballers suffered their second defeat in this year’s Leinster championship when they were denied by favourites Kildare, who took all of 53 minutes to get ahead in Kinnegad on Wednesday evening.

Despite the loss, Westmeath can still qualify for the preliminary quarter-finals if they overcome Meath (who have also been defeated twice in the group) on Saturday April 13 at TEG Cusack Park.

The Lilywhites scored an unanswered 1-4 in a 10-minute spell during the second half to claim victory in an exciting match before a large attendance. The introduction of four substitutes in that period led to a rejuvenated effort from Niall Cronin’s Kildare side and they outmuscled Westmeath in a crucial phase of the match.

The Lake County, considered outsiders, led by 1-3 to 0-4 at the interval following Christóir Ormsby's fisted goal in the tenth minute.

It was a superb effort, overall, by Eoghan Kevlihan’s Westmeath side, who led by five points after 10 minutes, but they came up short in the end and just one score from play in the second half tells its own story.

An outstanding goal from Will Scahill - a prodigious talent, still eligible for U16 - put Westmeath three points clear in the 37th minute, but all they could muster were three points from frees by the talented James McHugh in the remaining 29 minutes (including added time).

Kildare took over in the middle third at crucial stages and substitute Austin Donegan made a massive impact, scoring a superb individual point after a powerful solo run on the hour mark.

Kildare wing back Paddy Ryan, who had just put the visitors ahead for the first time with a fine point, saw his low shot trickle into the bottom corner after 55 minutes and that proved decisive.

It was a gripping game, played in a great atmosphere and the Coralstown/Kinnegad GAA Club did fantastic work in hosting the fixture at their fine venue.

Scorers - Kildare: Paddy Ryan 1-1, Harry Donnelly 0-4 (3f), Ruaidhri Lawlor 0-2, Cian McKevitt, Dylan O’Dwyer (free), Austin Donegan, Brian Caffrey and Luke Murray 0-1 each. Westmeath: Will Scahill 1-1 (0-1m), Christóir Ormsby 1-0, James McHugh 0-3 (3f), Daire O’Brien and Daragh Lough (free) 0-1 each.