Westmeath bow out as Lynch and Kelly shine for Kildare

Kildare 1-20, Westmeath 2-12

After the high of the momentous win for the seniors over Meath, Westmeath football was brought crashing back to earth last week.

Last Thursday night, Westmeath meekly bowed out of the Leinster U20 championship as a more accomplished Kildare outfit advanced to the semi-finals with plenty to spare at TEG Cusack Park.

This followed the previous Tuesday night's defeat for the minors against Offaly which saw a potential direct passage to the Leinster semi-finals turned into the consolation prize of a preliminary quarter-final.

The Westmeath U20 squad was hit with injury blows with players like Tom Bourke, Conor Callaghan and Daire O'Connor unavailable, but the manner of this defeat was very disappointing nonetheless. The gritty win over Dublin in the last round of the group stages suggested Westmeath could make a strong impact in this championship, but Kenny McKinley's charges were unable to build on that fine victory.

The original Leinster quarter-final between the sides was abandoned at half-time - with Kildare leading by 0-6 to 0-3 - after the Kinnegad pitch was deemed unplayable by referee Ian Howley, and there was free entry for spectators for this re-fixture.

It could be argued that Westmeath fell down in two main areas on the evening. Firstly, there was a glaring lack of intensity when it came to tackling in the first half and this allowed Kildare to build a substantial lead when wind-assisted. At one stage Kildare led by 14 points (1-12 to 0-1) and, wind or no wind, Westmeath's prospects of overturning such a deficit looked highly improbable.

The other big problem was Westmeath's inability to win a decent share of possession from kickouts, particularly when it came to breaking ball. This was an area where Kildare excelled in the original game and Westmeath were unable to counteract this dominance. In truth, the contribution of the luminously talented Will Scahill helped to prevent a defeat of embarrassing proportions. The Shandonagh player scored eight points, including three two-pointers from frees, in addition to winning valuable possession around midfield.

On a lovely evening in Mullingar, Kildare were aided by a deceptively strong breeze blowing towards the supermarket end in the opening half. Westmeath actually made a reasonably bright start, but James McHugh missed a scoreable free and Kildare also thwarted the home side with some good blocks, Finn Dowling setting the tone with the first.

The deadly duo of Ronan Kelly and Jimmy Lynch nailed two-pointer frees for Kildare, either side of a single from play by Euan Cowzer. Kelly struck for a goal in the eight minute and Niall Cronin’s side went on to surge 1-10 to 0-0 ahead.

Colm Moran's classy point (after selling a couple of dummies to a passive Westmeath defence) increased Kildare's lead, before Ben Ryan (son of Kildare legend Glenn) sent over a two-pointer from the right. As the onslaught continued, the outstanding Lynch added a brace to bring Kildare's tally to 1-10 by the 17th minute.

Tubberclair's Kealan Connell, who was prominent early on, opened Westmeath's account with a badly needed point only for Kelly to reply with another orange flag from a free.

Will Scahill pointed a free, after a foul on Cillian Rochford, and Westmeath gave themselves hope when Rochford scored a 23rd-minute goal. With Taylor Slevin, Brian Doyle and Matty Thornton involved in the build-up, Rochford beat Kildare goalie Charlie Carroll at his near post.

Buoyed by the goal, Brian Doyle sent over a point after defender Ty Masterson did well to keep the ball in play, having joined an attack. Lynch and Scahill exchanged points from frees to leave Kildare leading 1-14 to 1-3 at half-time. Yet the home side could have been closer with Rochford having a goal attempt blocked at the expense of a fruitless ‘45’ moments before the whistle.

The Westmeath management opted to make a double substitution at the interval, Sean Whittaker and Henry Duncan entering the fray, with Conor Daly having been introduced earlier. Early in the second period, Scahill put a dent in the deficit with a brace of two-pointers from frees (the first after Kildare were pinged for a breach), either side of another Lynch point.

With Ty Masterson to the fore in the second half, the Westmeath rearguard was now applying more pressure and was rewarded with some turnovers. Westmeath’s second goal gave home fans renewed hope in the 45th minute. After Kildare were penalised from a kickout, Rochford played the ball inside and Whittaker got to it just before advancing Kildare netminder Carroll and he set up Donnacha Maguire, who fired a low shot to the met. There was now four points between the sides.

After a classy score from the irrepressible Lynch, Thornton landed a two-pointer via the crossbar, making it 1-16 to 2-10, but that was as close as Westmeath got in the second half

The Lilywhites responded to Westmeath's mini revival in impressive fashion, reeling off a necklace of four points courtesy of Lynch (a free, after Conor Daly prevented a possible goal), Kelly (two) and substitute Harry Redmond to secure victory.

The final score was another orange flag from a free by Scahill, but Westmeath were very much in consolation territory at this stage, as Kildare thoughts turned to a semi-final clash against Meath on Wednesday night.

Scorers - Kildare: R Kelly 1-7 (2tpf); J Lynch 0-8 (1tpf, 2f); B Ryan 0-2 (tp); C Moran, E Cowzer and H Redmond 0-1 each. Westmeath: W Scahill 0-8 (3tpf, 2f); C Rochford and D Maguire 1-0 each; M Thornton 0-2 (tp); K Connell and B Doyle 0-1 each.

Kildare - Charlie Carroll; Cian McKevitt, Liam Kelly, Senan Gallagher; Calum Keaveney, Finn Dowling, Ben Ryan; Evan Boyle, Ruaidhrí Lawlor; Daniel Colbert, Colm Moran, Jimmy Lynch; Hugh Martin, Euan Cowzer, Ronan Kelly. Subs: Liam Kenny for McKevitt (44 mins), Rob Murray for Cowzer (44), Cian Keaveney for Martin (55), Harry Redmond for Calum Keaveney (58), Luke Murray for Lynch (60+4).

Westmeath - James Mitchell; Taylor Slevin, Ty Masterson, Adam Glynn; Eoghan Daly, Cian Whitney, Brian Doyle; Kealan Connell (captain), Críostóir Ormsby; Donnacha Maguire, Will Scahill, Mikey Weir; Matty Thornton, James McHugh, Cillian Rochford. Subs: Conor Daly for Weir (24 mins); Sean Whittaker for Doyle (h-t); Henry Duncan for E Daly (h-t); Brian Ronan for McHugh (47); Hagan Niall for Maguire (55).

Referee - Ian Howley (Dublin).