Westmeath U16 hurlers denied by Cork in penalty shootout

Westmeath 2-12, Cork 2-12 (AET; Cork win 1-0 on penalties)

A gallant Westmeath lost out to Cork on penalties last Saturday morning in St. Patrick's GAA Ballragget. With the tournament final following the semi-final, the games were ran on 25 minutes a half.

Playing with the wind, Westmeath opened the stronger and raced into an early 1-3 to 0-1 lead, with Conor Williams goaling and also converting a sideline. However, the Leesiders grabbed a crucial goal on the 20-minute mark to reduce the deficit and Westmeath went into the interval leading by 1-5 to 1-4.

With wind advantage, it was assumed Cork would push on to win but Westmeath refused to read the script. Points from MJ Long, Aidan Doyle and Hugo Corroon stretched the lead out to 1-9 to 1-7 by the 15th minute of the second half.

Cork rallied with five points in a row to lead by three entering injury time and looked to have done enough to qualify for the final However, a brilliant team move saw Westmeath goal through Eoghan Goldrick to level at 2-9 to 1-12 and send the game to extra-time.

Extra-time was five minutes a half and Cork played with the elements in the first period. Again, Westmeath defended excellently and conceded only one score. Unfortunately, this was a lucky goal from a dropping ball that took a strong deflection off the ground.

Westmeath got to work on reducing the deficit on the turnaround, with Conor Williams pointing superbly from distance, quickly followed with another from closer in. A Williams' free had the game level again and Westmeath squandered a few chances to win the game thereafter.

The referee's whistle indicated the penalty shootout would decide who faced Kilkenny in the final, with each team given three penalties each. Alas, the Cork goalkeeper saved two Westmeath efforts with another going wide. Ryan McNamee did save the second Cork effort but with the first one succeeding, Cork won the penalty shootout 1-0.

Scorers from Cork Game: Conor Williams 1-9 (0-5f, 0-1 SL), Eoghan Goldrick 1-0, MJ Long, Aidan Doyle, Hugo Corroon 0-1 each.

The team played a second game against a high calibre Limerick outfit. Despite conceding three early goals, Westmeath fought back and competed well throughout. A second half rally brought Westmeath back into contention but Limerick kicked back to win by 5-16 to 3-17.

Scorers from Limerick Game: Conor Williams 0-7 (0-2f), Eoghan Goldrick 1-2, Dean Kelly 1-1, Cillian Clarke 1-1, Hugo Corroon 0-3, Dara Geary 0-2, Tom Shaw 0-1.

Team: Ryan McNamee (St. Oliver Plunkett's), Cian Matthews (Cullion), Tomas Brennan (Cullion), Dylan Gaffney (Clan na Gael), Conor Cleary (Clonkill), Dean Kelly (St. Brigid's), Jack Connaughton (Cullion), Cillian Clarke (Castletown-Geoghegan), Eoghan Beehan (Cullion), Hugo Corroon (St. Oliver Plunkett's), Conor Williams (Na Piarsaigh), Aidan Doyle (Cullion), Tom Shaw (Raharney) (Captain), MJ Long (Clonkill), Dara Geary (Southern Gaels), Oisin Gavin (St. Oliver Plunkett's) Cathal Flanagan (St. Vincent's), Cian Kennedy (St. Vincent's), Eamonn Gannon (Cullion), Calum McHugh (Raharney), Liam Weblin (St. Brigid's), Eoghan Daly (Clonkill), Eoghan Goldrick (St. Vincent's), Oisin O Muiri (St. Oliver Plunkett's) Odhran Mitchell (Southern Gaels), Andrew Sinnott (Cullion), Fionn Kelly (St. Oliver Plunkett's).

The games last weekend mark the conclusion of the U16 hurlers' games programme, following four Celtic Challenge games and five U16 B hurling games. Thanks to all players for their efforts and to mentors of Ger Beehan, Fintan Clarke, Greg Gavin and Martin Geary.

U15 Hurling John Doyle Cup

Westmeath made the trip to Moycarkey Borris last Saturday to take on Offaly in the John Doyle Cup semi-final. The Faithful men played with the aid of the breeze in the first half and showed a ruthless streak in building up an early lead. Westmeath were unable to gain a foothold in the game after the interval and Offaly ran out comfortable winners. Thanks to the mentors Kevin O'Brien, Alan Kenna and Barry Whelan, and to the players for their efforts all year and hopefully we will see plenty of these players in the maroon and white in the future.

U14 Hurling Academy

Two Westmeath teams travelled to two separate locations last Saturday, with one team in Hawkfield in Newbridge, and the other in the Faithful Fields in Kilcormac.

The team in Hawkfield took part in the Leinster Shield and played Laois in their first game. In a tight affair, Laois lead by 1-8 to 1-7 at the interval before pushing on to win by 3-11 to 2-8. This resulted in Westmeath facing Wicklow in their second game where the Lake County opened well and led by 2-3 to 0-1 at half-time. With the weather conditions deteriorating, scoring became more difficult but Westmeath scored three majors to win out by 6-4 to 2-6.

Leinster Shield Panel: Aodán Berry (St. Brigid's), Callum Cleary, Conor Raleigh, Graham Slevin, James Nea, Michael Long (Clonkill), Cian Heffernan, Liam Costello, Ryan Dempsey (Na Piarsaigh), Cian McNamee, Eddie Leavy, Eoin Reddan, Oisin Kelly, Senan Walsh (St. Oliver Plunkett's), Conor Halpin, Harry McCormack (Clan na Gael), James Fox, Lorcan Massey, Rhys Williams, Rían Williams (Delvin), PJ Flanagan (St. Vincent's), Ruairí Fleming (Raharney), Graham Slevin (Castletown-Geoghegan).

The team in the Faithful Field took part in the Offaly Cup and played Offaly in their semi-final. The home side were fastest out of the blocs to establish a 1-6 to 0-2 lead at half time, with the elements aiding in this. However, the Lake County men fought back after the interval and won out by 2-9 to 2-7.

This qualified the team for the final against Antrim and a solid first half left Westmeath trailing by 1-5 to 0-4 at half-time. Similar to the Offaly game, the team in maroon found their scoring stride after the interval, outscoring the Glensmen by 1-7 to 0-1 to win by 1-11 to 1-6. Afterwards, Ryan Denning received the silverware on behalf of the team from Adrian Glancy of Offaly GAA.

Offaly Cup Panel: Ben Denning Michael Fitzgerald, Ryan Denning, Trevor Nyagano (Delvin), Callum Maloney (Fr. Dalton's), Conor Walters, Declan Bourke (Cullion), Donacha Creevy, Oisin McNamee, Pau Dooley, Sean Dooley (St. Oliver Plunkett's), Dylan Morley (Raharney), Jayden Kennedy, Max Cassidy, Oisin McGuinness, Shane Cox, Eoin Smyth (Clan na Gael), Padraic Craig, Paidi Slevin (Clonkill), Senan Kelly (Southern Gaels), Ray Daly (St. Vincent's), Oisin O'Farrell, Colm O'Rourke (Na Piarsaigh).

The games on Saturday marked the end of the games programme for the squad. Many thanks to the players for their efforts all year and to mentors Damien Cassidy, Barry Williams, Kevin Reynolds, Johnny McGuinness, Mike Maloney and Patrick Dempsey for their coaching with the squad.

U10 Supergames

TEG Cusack Park hosted the U10 footballers of the county over four evenings last week, as all U10 players were invited in to take part in games in the county ground. Many thanks to Bernie Corroon for organising and to our staff members for helping in the running all week. Thanks also to the club mentors who helped and to the parents and guardians for bringing the young footballers in, with approximately 370 players taking part from 23 different clubs.

U13 Lakeland Og Academies The U13 Hurling Academy continues this Saturday morning (6th September) in Raharney, with this the third outing of four planned.

The U13 football details have been sent out to club coaching officers, with a start date of Saturday 20th September. Club coaching officers have been provided with the sign up link for players who are interested in taking part in this initiative, with only players born in 2012 eligible for it.

1st Year Post Primary Blitzes TUS Athlone plays host to a 1st Year hurling blitz this Tuesday (2nd September), as a number of budding hurlers across the county get to wear their school colours for the first time. Ran on 7-a-side games, schools can enter multiple panels with the focus on getting game time for all players. TUS will also host a football blitz on Thursday 11th September, again ran on a 7-a-side basis.