Westmeath U20s reach Andrew Corden Cup semi-final
Westmeath 2-15, Longford 2-11
Westmeath booked their place in the semi-finals of the Andrew Corden Cup with a deserved four-point victory over Longford at Clonguish GAA grounds on Wednesday evening.
Trailing by three at the break, Kenny McKinley’s side produced a rousing second-half performance, dominating the midfield sector and making the most of their chances in front of goal. Despite a number of handling errors in tricky conditions, Westmeath showed enough attacking quality to overturn the deficit and see out the win.
At times it was far from a classic and a typical midlands derby, with plenty of errors and Westmeath will need to be more ruthless to emulate last year's run to the All-Ireland final. The Lake County were forced to dig deep after conceding a second goal in the 50th minute - a soft score from their point of view - which brought Longford back on level terms.
However, Westmeath’s response was impressive, stringing together an unanswered 1-3 in a decisive ten-minute spell. And even the concession of a very avoidable second goal did not derail their bid.
Substitutes made a key impact, particularly Matthew Thornton who slotted home the second goal to seal the win after fine work in midfield by the industrious Shane Ormsby. Westmeath lorded possession here after the break and that was a key factor in their victory.
Longford had the better of the first half, leading 0-9 to 0-6 at the interval. Michael Flynn and Matthew Carey were prominent in attack, while Westmeath struggled to settle and lacked conviction in possession. Flynn’s first goal, early in the second half, came from a high ball that Westmeath failed to deal with. But from there, Westmeath upped the intensity, with Corcoran’s cool finish for the first goal giving them the lead for the first time on 42 minutes.
Ronan Murray’s influence grew as the game wore on, and he chipped in with two superb points to help build momentum. Ormsby’s midfield dominance and Eoin Doran’s crucial late clearance also stood out in a game where Westmeath showed real character.
They now face Laois in the semi-final on Tuesday evening, April 22, in Kinnegad (7.30pm), while Offaly host Carlow in the other last four encounter.
Scorers - Westmeath: S Corcoran 1-1, R Murray 0-4, M Thornton 1-0, J Duncan 0-3, K Connell and S Ormsby 0-2 each, B Moffatt, F Duffy and T Baker 0-1 each. Longford: M Flynn 2-3 (1tp; 0-1f), M Carey 0-5 (5f), P Mollahan 0-2 (tp), C Flynn 0-1.
Westmeath: Eoin Doran; Sean Dillon, Adam Keane, Oisin Shortall; Aodhan Curran, Billy Moffatt, Seanaí Bracken; Shane Ormsby, Tadhg Baker; Kealan Connell, Jack Duncan, Shane Corcoran; Ronan Murray, Finn Duffy, Ryan Kelly. Subs: Matthew Thornton for Kelly (26), Peter Murphy for Shortall (37), Taylor Slevin for Duffy (40), Conor Callaghan for Connell (50), Tiarnán O’Donovan for Murray (57).
Longford: Darragh Egan; Tom Kearney, Conor Flynn, Colin Gilna; Andrew Flynn, Jack Belton, Seán Egan; Ruairí O’Toole, James Dorr; Harry Kiernan, Matthew Carey, Cormac McGann; Michael Flynn, Paddy Mollahan, Cormac Flynn. Subs: Brian Mulvey for Flynn (40), Paddy Moran for McGann (40), Daniel Galvin for Dorr (45), Alan Mimnagh for Egan (50), James Hagan for Mollahan (55).
Referee: Eamonn O’Connor (Offaly).
(Full report and pics in next week's printed edition).