Westmeath's rapid start blows Leitrim out of water in Hyde Park

There is a reason it is a cliche because it was certainly true on Wednesday that a good start was half the battle for Westmeath as they put Leitrim on the back foot right from the off in the Dalata Hotels All-Ireland U20 B Championship Semi-Final in King & Moffatt Hyde Park, ending Leitrim’s U20 campaign for the year.

Westmeath led 2-3 to a point after just seven minutes and missed some good chances as well as they blitzed Leitrim in the opening stages and try as they might, Barry McWeeney’s side could never get any closer to the Leinster team who featured quite a few of the players who had reached last year’s All-Ireland Final.

A third goal followed before the 20 minute mark and that was as good as that, even if Leitrim threatened a few times early in the second half to get a goal that might have reignited their challenge, Darren Cox driving a powerful shot off the crossbar and Liam Chandler denied by a good save.

But truth be told, Westmeath were vastly superior in this contest - they wasted quite a few chances but still had dominance in the middle of the park, a defensive solidity that Leitrim’s best efforts were never quite able to break down and an attacking unit that looked threatening every time they got the ball.

Credit, Leitrim for not collapsing, it would have been extremely easy because they were always behind the eight-ball thanks to Westmeath’s blistering start but in chasing the game, they were vulnerable to the counter and the Leinster champions were efficient and always kept the Green & Gold at arms length.

Westmeath got off to a blistering start, putting Leitrim on the backfoot straight away as they broke from the throw-in and Shane Corcoran briefly threatened a goal before taking his point. A poor wide followed but Westmeath didn’t wait too long for their goal as the resulting kickout was intercepted by Corcoran who buried the ball in the net.

Darren Cox soloed through for a fine point but it looked as if it would be a long night for Leitrim when Westmeath full-back Adam Keane ran in from deep, holding off a would-be tackler before chipping the unfortunate Brian Cull in the Leitrim goal.

Points from Billy Moffatt and Jack Duncan followed before a Westmeath turnover led to a fine Jack Kelly point after nine minutes. Duncan responded before Cox set up Ben Guckian for a point on 14 minutes, right after Kealan Connell blazed a Westmeath goal chance wide.

Peter Murphy hit an excellent two-pointer for the Lake County but that was matched immediately by Ben Guckian. Westmeath were still piling on the scores with Duncan and Tadhg Baker both firing over points before a Leitrim kickout was again turned over and Westmeath quickly countered, Shane Corcoran blazing past his man to fire the ball to the Leitrim net.

Dessie Wisley was introduced in place of Oran Foley as Westmeath put a two point free attempt wide, something Jack Kelly didn’t do with a fine effort on 24 minutes. Kelly and Guckian both added a point each to get the gap down to seven, the closest Leitrim would get all game.

However, Westmeath finished with points from Conor Callaghan and Jack Duncan, a goal on, as they led 3-10 to 0-9 at the halftime break.

Leitrim needed an early goal to get back into the game and they almost got it, Darren Cox breaking from the throw-in before letting fly with a rasper that rebounded off the crossbar. Westmeath cleared the danger and went straight down the field for Kealan Connell to point in a double whammy for Leitrim.

Westmeath were missing chances and Darren Cox fired a long range two pointer to cut the gap back to nine after three minutes. Leitrim were making huge efforts but the final pass and finishing let them down, Westmeath keeper Luke Nicholson intercepting a dangerous ball.

Nicholson did even better when Cox and Kelly combined to put Liam Chandler through on goal with only the keeper to beat but Nicholson saved the shot, got the ball away under pressure and Westmeath promptly went down the field for Duncan to fist the ball over the bar.

Conor Callaghan got his second of the game before Ronan Murray converted a free to stretch the lead further. Ruairi O’Rourke scored an excellent two-pointer but Murray responded with a score from play, the Leinster side always responding.

Jack Kelly hit a two-point free but curling a wonderful point from the corner over the Westmeath crossbar but they hit back with points from Corcoran and sub Tiarnan O’Donovan.

Leitrim’s last score came from Eanna McNamara, raiding upfield to burst through a tackle to score but Westmeath, as they had all game, responded with points from Corcoran, Duncan and keeper Luke Nicholson from a fifty, that came after Brian Cull denied sub Matthew Thornton a certain goal in added time.

LEITRIM

Scorers: Jack Kelly 0-7, 2 tp; Ben Guckian 0-4, 1 tp; Darren Cox 0-3, 1 tp; Ruairi O’Rourke 0-2, 1 tp; Eanna McNamara 0-1

Team: Brian Cull, Oran Foley, Jack Rowley, Oscar Reynolds, Liam Chandler, Eanna McNamara, Bailey McBride, Jack Foley, Colm McLoughlin, Naoise McManus, Darren Cox, Ruairi O'Rourke, Jack Kelly, Tom Plunkett Ben Guckian. Subs: Matthew Murphy for Plunkett (35); Dara Greenan for Rowley (55); Darragh Gardiner for McLoughlin (59); Patrick Gilgunn for Chandler (61)

WESTMEATH

Scorers: Shane Corcoran 2-3; Jack Duncan 0-6; Adam Keane 1-0; Peter Murphy (tp), Conor Callaghan & Ronan Murray (f) 0-2 each; Billy Moffatt, Tadhg Baker, Kealan Connell, Luke Nicholson (50) & Tiarnan O’Donovan 0-1 each

Team: Luke Nicholson, Sean Dillon, Adam Keane, Seani Bracken, Aodan Curran, Billy Moffatt, Gareth Malaniff, Shane Ormsby, Peter Murphy, Jack Duncan, Ronan Murray, Shane Corcoran, Kealan Connell, Finn Duffy. Subs: Conor Callaghan for Duffy (25); Matthew Thornton for Moffatt (42); Ryan Kelly for Connell (48); Tiarnan O’Donovan for Murray (53); Taylor Slevin for Curran (56)

Referee: Diarmuid Boylan (Monaghan)