Westmeath suffer narrow defeat to gritty Limerick side

Limerick 0-19, Westmeath 0-18

Westmeath’s hopes of a second Tailteann Cup title have suffered a setback as they came unstuck against a gritty Limerick side, at Laois Hire O’Moore Park on Saturday.

The Treaty County recorded a first ever victory over Westmeath in senior football as they claimed a one-point win to secure a place in the quarter-final. Westmeath, who only needed a draw to top the group, must now face a preliminary quarter-final next weekend against Laois.

Westmeath played with the aid of a lively breeze in the first half but apart from a brief spell when they opened up a three-point gap, they struggled and failed to score in the final 14 minutes.

Limerick led by 0-4 to 0-3 after 15 minutes of pretty poor football, a feature of which was Westmeath’s rather cautious approach as they allowed Limerick plenty of time on the ball. Limerick’s James Naughton was the early star with some fine scores against the breeze; Luke Loughlin looked liveliest for the Lake County, kicking a brace of points, while wing back Sam McCartan shot a quality score to bring the sides level in the 20th minute.

It took a superb two-pointer from midfielder Ray Connellan in the 24th minute to ignite the Westmeath challenge and they pushed three clear. Ronan Wallace appeared to have solid claims for a penalty in the 29th minute, but Tyrone referee Kieran Eannetta didn’t agree.

Limerick finished the half the superior slide and deservedly led by 0-10 to 0-8 at the interval - Westmeath struggling to find any form of consistency.

After 15 minutes of the second half, Limerick’s lead was five points, 0-15 to 0-10, and Westmeath had missed a glorious goal chance when Sam McCartan fisted wide, following Lorcan Dolan’s pass.

Seven unanswered points gave Westmeath renewed hope - Connellan, Wallace, Loughlin and McCartan to the fore - and they suddenly had a two-point lead with seven minutes remaining, 0-17 to 0-15. Loughlin kicked two fine efforts, while McCartan found the range in impressive fashion with the outside of the right boot.

However, Limerick produced a determined response and ‘keeper Josh Ryan slotted over a vital score (after Brandon Kelly’s fisted effort came off the upright) before centre forward Emmett Rigter kicked the winning point two minutes into added time - an additional three minutes another talking point.

Overall, though, Westmeath’s below-par first half effort proved costly, while they left too many scoring opportunities behind in the second half, including a couple of goal chances. Their execution simply wasn’t clinical enough and they coughed up possession from their own kickout far too often.

Limerick opened the scoring on six minutes through James Naughton, who split the posts after wing-forward Cillian Fahy and midfielder Tommy Childs combined smoothly. Westmeath responded just two minutes later when Sam McCartan picked out Luke Loughlin with a neat pass – a goal looked on, but Loughlin sensibly opted to clip over the bar.

Kevin O’Sullivan then nudged the Lake County in front with a well-taken score, but the lead was short-lived. A soft free awarded to Limerick’s Danny Neville resulted in Naughton converting to level matters on ten minutes, and the same player pointed again two minutes later after neat work from Neville.

Nigel Harte restored parity at 0-3 apiece on 14 minutes, but Limerick’s Emmett Rigter capped a fine team move involving Tommy McCarthy and Darragh O’Hagan to edge his side back in front. Naughton then added his fourth point in the 17th minute.

Loughlin answered once more for Westmeath, cleverly losing his marker before arrowing a shot over. The equaliser came soon after from McCartan, who made no mistake when presented with the chance.

Westmeath then surged into a three-point lead. Ray Connellan launched over a stunning effort from distance, followed up moments later by a sharp Lorcan Dolan turn and point. At that stage, the Lake County appeared to have settled, but Limerick’s determination was evident as they hit back.

Naughton added another in the 28th minute before a controversial moment on 29 minutes when Ronan Wallace appeared to be held back inside the square. Westmeath appeals for a penalty were waved away by the referee.

Limerick took full advantage, wing-back Paul Maher punishing a Westmeath turnover with a composed finish, followed by a Tommy Childs point and then a Rigter effort set up by Naughton. Just before the break, Danny Neville fired over after Maher’s pass to send Limerick in with a two-point lead at half-time.

The standard improved after the break. Limerick resumed where they left off, Naughton converting a free on 38 minutes. But Westmeath were far from finished. Loughlin fisted over after a superb turn of pace to escape his marker, and a minute later he added another off his right foot to cut the gap to one.

Naughton again punished a Westmeath error after Peter Nash capitalised on a sloppy turnover to set him up for his seventh point. A major moment arrived on 44 minutes when Ronan Wallace and Loughlin linked brilliantly to release Lorcan Dolan, whose handpass found Sam McCartan charging through, but his attempted fisted goal effort drifted agonisingly wide.

Limerick punished the miss immediately, Neville pointing from Naughton's delivery before Nash struck a free off the left boot. After substitute Tadhg Baker had a tame shot saved (following Wallace’s pass), Limerick sub Darragh Murray made it 0-15 to 0-10 and the Munster men threatened to pull clear.

However, Westmeath produced an inspired seven-point rally to wrest back control of the game. Stephen Smith started the run with a classy score on 51 minutes, followed by a neat Wallace point three minutes’ later. Westmeath then had a gilt-edged goal chance when Matthew Whittaker fisted the ball across the face of goal but again Limerick survived and cleared the danger.

Connellan narrowed the gap again after Smith turned provider, and Wallace added his second of the half to bring Westmeath level. McCartan edged them in front with a beautiful outside-of-the-boot finish, made possible by good interplay between Wallace and substitute Daniel Scahill.

Loughlin, enjoying a superb afternoon, fired over twice more in quick succession – first after O’Sullivan’s lay-off and then after fine work by Whittaker – to leave Westmeath 0-17 to 0-15 ahead entering the final minutes.

Limerick, however, were not done. Naughton struck again, followed by a crucial score from Rob Childs, and then goalkeeper Josh Ryan showed nerves of steel to split the posts after a dramatic sequence in which Westmeath sub Brandon Kelly had fisted the ball off the upright at the opposite end.

The sides were level deep in injury time thanks to a routine free from Loughlin, but there was one final twist. Limerick patiently worked the ball through Rob Childs and Killian Ryan, setting up Emmett Rigter to curl over the winning point after a pulsating finish, leaving Westmeath to face Laois next weekend.

Scorers - Limerick: J Naughton 0-8 (2f), E Rigter 0-3, D Neville 0-2, J Ryan, P Maher, T Childs, D Murray, P Nash (f) and R Childs 0-1 each.

Westmeath: L Loughlin 0-7 (1f), R Connellan 0-3 (1 tp), R Wallace and S McCartan 0-2 each, K O’Sullivan, N Harte, S Smith and L Dolan 0-1 each.

Limerick: Josh Ryan; Jason Hassett, Darren O’Doherty, Mark McCarthy; Paul Maher, Iain Corbett, Tony McCarthy; Tommy Childs, Darragh O’Hagan; James Naughton, Emmett Rigter, Cillian Fahy; Peter Nash, Danny Neville, Killian Ryan. Subs: Darragh Murray for Fahy (46), Rory O’Brien for Maher (57), Rob Childs for T Childs (57), Andrew Meade for Neville (69).

Westmeath: Conor McCormack; David Giles, Sam Smyth, Jamie Gonoud; Joseph Moran, Ronan Wallace, Sam McCartan; Ray Connellan, Eoghan McCabe; Matthew Whittaker, Kevin O’Sullivan, Nigel Harte; Luke Loughlin, Stephen Smith, Lorcan Dolan. Subs: Brian Cooney for McCabe (28), Tadhg Baker for Harte (inj., 35), Daniel Scahill for Giles (h-t), Brandon Kelly for Dolan (52), Shane Allen for Connellan (inj., 68).

Ref: Kieran Eannetta (Tyrone).