Wallace leads Westmeath to O'Byrne Cup victory
A stunning two-pointer from Luke Loughlin secured victory for Westmeath over Kildare in yesterday evening's O'Byrne Cup final at Cedral St Conleth's Park, Newbridge.
Three minutes into added time, Loughlin landed the final score of a thrilling match, after a resurgent Westmeath side overtook Kildare for the first time in the 63rd minute. Loughlin scored 0-8, including three two-pointers, while team captain Ronan Wallace scored a mightily impressive 1-7. Fittingly, Wallace accepted the cup from Derek Kent, Leinster Council chairman.
Wallace beamed: ''It's great to get silverware, and nice for the supporters who travelled. The teams were evenly matched as the second half wore on: we had let ourselves down a bit in the first half and the management told us we needed to bring more intensity to it. We threw off the shackles and the two-pointers helped us.''
Mark McHugh, Westmeath manager, said the subs made a difference and that he was pleased with the result. ''You always want to win, even a challenge. We sat too deep in the first half, but the big men stood up as the second half wore on. The league is the big target, but the players are happy with this victory and it should give them confidence ahead of the Sligo game next weekend.''
Westmeath trailed by eight points with 20 minutes remaining before producing a spirited recovery, led by the outstanding Ronan Wallace. It was all square going into added time after Wallce kicked his third two-pointer of the evening.
A couple of superb two-pointers from Luke Loughlin and another from captain Ronan Wallace helped turn the tide in Newbridge. Kildare were boosted by a goal from sub Liam Kelly, who pounced when Brían Cooney was overturned in his own square. Cooney was dragged by the jersey, but no free was awarded and Kildare accepted the early second-half present.
Westmeath pulled a goal back through the inspirational Wallace but trail by three points with eight minutes remaining.
Earlier, Danny McCartan got the first Westmeath point, after six minutes, following Kevin Feeley's two-pointer for Kildare. The home side shot another couple of two pointers and led by 0-6 to 0-1 after eight minutes.
Midfield was a real problem area for Westmeath and Kildare mopped up whenever the restart went long. But Luke Loughlin (two, one '45') and Ronan Wallace landed tidy points for the Lake County, bidding to win the title for the first time since 2019.
Kildare went 0-7 to 0-4 ahead on 28 minutes and then pushed on when Westmeath defender Boidu Sayeh spilled the ball. Brian Guerin almost got a hand to Loughlin's late shot which dropped short, but the Lilywhites cleared the danger.
At half-time Kildare led by 0-8 to 0-4 and it was clear Westmeath needed to win a higher percentage of possession from kickouts in order to turn things around.
They were certainly much-improved in the final quarter, finishing the game with great energy and showing the kind of desire that could make for a good league campaign.