Westmeath 0-13
Offaly 0-12
WESTMEATH HELD OFF a resurgent Offaly side in TEG Cusack Park to squeeze into the last four of the Leinster SFC.
Westmeath will take on Kildare as they bid to make back to back provincial finals for the first time in their history.
A thoroughly entertaining encounter finished 0-13 to 0-12 in favour of Tom Cribben’s team. Westmeath led by six at half-time, although they had a strong breeze at their backs in the opening half.
It took Offaly 17 minutes to open their account, while Westmeath had four points on the board by that stage with John Heslin and John Connellan to the fore.
The Faithful admirably turned things around after the interval as Nigel Dunne kicked five scores to bring them to within a single point.
It was a close as Offaly would come and they brought the gap down to the minimum on four occasions in the second period. Heslin and Kieran Martin settled Westmeath’s nerves with a score apiece but Dunne and Cunningham responded to put Offaly a point behind once again.
Niall McNamee had the chance to claim a draw from a long-range free, but his shot trailed off wide.
Westmeath Scorers: John Heslin 0-5 (0-2 Frees), John Connellan 0-3, Paul Sharry 0-2 (0-1 ’45), Denis Corroon 0-1, Kieran Martin 0-1, James Dolan 0-1.
Offaly Scorers: Nigel Dunne 0-6 (0-5 Frees), Peter Cunningham 0-2. Graham Guilfoyle 0-1, Bernard Allen 0-1, Johnny Moloney 0-1, Niall McNamee 0-1.
Westmeath
Darren Quinn
Killian Daly
Francis Boyle
Jamie Gonoude
James Dolan
Alan Stone
Kevin Maguire
Denis Corroon
Ger Egan (Capt.)
David Lynch
John Connellan
Callum McCormack
John Heslin
Kieran Martin
Paul Sharry
Subs: John Egan for David Lynch (38 mins), Biodiu Sayeh for Callum McCormack (56 mins), Darragh Daly for John Egan (63 mins), Paddy Fagan for Killian Daly (inj – 65 mins), Lorcan Dolan for John Connellan (67 mins).
Offaly
Alan Mulhall (Capt.)
Brian Darby
Eoin Rigney
Sean Pender
Niall Darby
Peter Cunningham
Joey O’Connor
Eoin Carroll
Niall Smith
Niall McNamee
Nigel Dunne
Michael Brazil
Bernard Allen
Niall McNamee
Graham Guilfoyle
Subs: Anton Sullivan for Graham Guilfoyle (Black Card – 42 mins), Nigel Bracken for Michael Brazil (52 mins), Sean Doyle for Bernard Allen (60 mins), Cian Donohue for Nigel Dunne (Black Card – 70 mins).
That blind fcuker in middle of the field should never ref again……
He was bad, but he’s not the only reason that we lost. We had our chances and we couldn’t take them. An inconsistent ref really hurts though.