Tom Molloy, who made a clear impact off the bench for Westmeath, solos clear of Louth's Pearse Grimes-Murphy, in Wednesday's O'Byrne Cup game at Dovida Lakepoint Park. Photo: J McCauley.

Guerin and Kelly swoop for decisive Westmeath goals

Damien Maher

Published: Thu 8 Jan 2026, 12:34 PM

Last updated: Thu 8 Jan 2026, 12:46 PM

O'Byrne Cup: Westmeath 2-15, Louth 0-15

Westmeath will face Offaly in the O’Byrne Cup semi-final on Saturday following a clear-cut victory over Louth at Dovida Lakepoint Park, Mullingar, on Wednesday evening.

Goals from industrious wing-back Brian Guerin and improving wing-forward Brandon Kelly laid the platform as Mark McHugh secured his second victory as Westmeath bainisteoir. Technically, it was his first on the field of play - the previous weekend’s fiasco in Longford when the game was awarded to Westmeath at the 11th hour due to Longford being unable to provide a venue - doesn’t carry much gravitas.

Victory over the reigning Leinster champions is certainly of greater value.

Luke Loughlin, Westmeath’s marquee forward, opened the scoring with a fine solo point in the second minute, though a two-point free from Ryan Burns quickly swung the advantage in Louth’s favour.

Westmeath regained control on the quarter-hour mark when Brian Guerin finished to the net with a fisted goal from Jonathan Lynam's angled delivery, and Mark McHugh’s troops added further daylight in the 24th minute through a well-struck second goal from Brandon Kelly. Kevin O'Sullivan's impact in securing possession from a Louth kickout was key before the Milltownpass forward's crisp strike.

Burns landed his second two-point free to leave the visitors three points adrift, 2-5 to 0-8, at the interval.

Gavin Devlin’s charges were unable to wrestle back the lead after the restart as the hosts enjoyed a wider spread of scorers. Westmeath closed out the contest by registering the final five points, capped by a superb two-pointer from play by substitute Tom Molloy - the Shandonagh star making a fine impact off the bench. It wasn’t just his classy effort with the outside of the left boot that impressed, Molloy showed a willing desire to drop back and make a crucial block in defence as Louth pressed for those elusive late scores.

Once Burns went off in the 44th minute, Louth loooked limited in terms of attacking options, even allowing for Dylan McKeown's fine two-pointer from a free.

McHugh is an All-Ireland winner in the sport and as such commands serious respect, and the early signs are that he is getting a good response from the Westmeath players. Harry Niall at midfield worked really hard and was in the thick of the action; Kevin O’Sullivan kicked two points from play - one particularly impressive - and Robbie Forde chipped in. Kealan Connell and Tadhg Baker were among the scores also.

Darragh O’Keefe and Charlie Drumm in the full-back line can be pleased that no goals were conceded and that underlines the level of workrate on the evening.

“It was positive, great to win - everyone remembers their first one. We have a lot of players absent due to the Sigerson Cup but those who are here put in a strong performance and it’s great to have eight scorers on the evening. More importantly, it gives us another game against Offaly at the weekend,” said McHugh.

TEG Cusack Park is set to host Saturday's semi-final at 2pm, with tickets available via the following link - https://leinstergaa.ie/leinster-gaa-tickets

Scorers – Westmeath: L Loughlin 0-5 (1 2ptf), B Kelly 1-1, B Guerin 1-0, R Forde 0-3 (2f), K O’Sullivan, T Molloy (2pt) 0-2 each, T Baker, K Connell 0-1 each. Louth: R Burns 0-8 (2 2ptf; 2f; 1 ‘45’), D McKeown 0-4 (1 2ptf, 1f), C McCaul 0-2, E Callaghan 0-1.

Westmeath: Jack Connaughton; Jack Geoghegan, Darragh O’Keeffe, Charlie Drumm; Boidu Sayeh, Ronan Wallace, Brian Guerin; Jonathan Lynam, Harry Niall; Kevin O’Sullivan, Robbie Forde, Brandon Kelly; Tadhg Baker, Luke Loughlin, Kealan Connell. Subs: Tom Molloy for Geoghegan (36), TJ Cox for Connell (42), Eoghan Hogan for Sayeh (50).

Louth: Tiarnan Markey; Emmet Carolan, Peter Lynch, Padric Tinnelly; Conal McKeever, Eoghan Callaghan, Craig Lennon; Conor Early, Paul Matthews; Liam Jackson, Ciaran Downey, Ciaran Byrne; Dylan McKeown, Conall McCaul, Ryan Burns. Subs: Sean Callaghan for Byrne (inj., 18), Pearse Grimes-Murphy for Jackson (30), Daire McConnon for Downey (h-t), Leonard Grey for Lennon (32), Darragh Dorian for Burns (43), James Maguire for McCaul (52), Evan Whelan for Callaghan (52).

Ref: Lar Murphy (Carlow).