Offaly suffer agonising one point defeat to Westmeath

WESTMEATH 2-7

OFFALY 1-9

TWO goals in first half injury time were the scores that did the damage as Offaly crashed out of the Leinster Senior camogie championship when losing by a single point to Westmeath in the quarter final at St Rynagh's Park, Banagher on Saturday.

After a slow start Offaly had taken a grip on the game and were leading by three points a minute into first half injury time but by the time the half time whistle blew almost three minutes later Westmeath were leading by four points after hitting Offaly for a quickfire 2-1.

Westmeath extended their lead to six points early in the second half and that might have knocked the stuffing out of many sides but to Offaly's credit they just never gave up. They dominated possession for the rest of the game but found scores difficult to come by. They slowly reduced the gap and when Sarah Harding finally found the net for the home side a minute from the end of normal time the lead was down to the minimum. Offaly pushed hard in search of an equaliser but just didn't get the break and the final whistle sounded with Westmeath hanging on for a one point win.

It was a disappointing result for Offaly, particularly as they dominated for long spells of the game. Other than that 10 minute spell either side of half time during which Westmeath scored 2-4 of their 2-7 total, Offaly enjoyed the majority of the possession and territory but turning that into scores proved to be problematic for them.

They fought hard all the time and their ability to put pressure on their opponents and dispossess them was admirable. They tried to play the possession game and while it didn't come off at times, they kept at it and did their best to create openings but it must be said Westmeath defended strongly and prevented Offaly getting many clearcut chances.

Offaly have a break now before taking on Waterford in the opening round of the All-Ireland championship at the start of June and they will be looking to pick themselves up from this setback. There were many positive aspects to their play and if they could add greater penetration and turn possession into scores, they could turn some of these performances into victories.

Louise Mannion, Orlagh Phelan and Alan Roddy all played very well in defence, while Grainne Dolan got through a huge amount of work in the middle of the field. In attack Sarah Harding was very active while Becky Bryant and Siobhan Flannery also did well.

Westmeath came prepared for this game, arriving at the Banagher venue two and half hours before throw in. Julie McLoughlin, Muireann Scally and Sheila McGrath played well in the Westmeath defence, Megan Dowdall was strong in the middle of the field, while Amelia Shaw, Denise McGrath and Hannah Core played well in attack.

The game was slow to get going and seven minutes had elapsed before Lisa Gorman opened the scoring with an Offaly free. Four minutes later Siobhan Flannery doubled that lead with a free from the middle of the field and Westmeath got off the mark themselves in the 13th minute when Amelia Shaw pointed a '45'.

The first score from play came midway through the half when Becky Bryant was quickest onto a break and shot over. Six minutes later Sarah Harding gathered a ball from Amy Byrne and scored a good point. Megan Dowdall pulled one back for Westmeath but Lisa Gorman restored Offaly's three point lead after 27 minutes.

That was the way it was a minute into injury time when Amelia Shaw's 60m free took a deflection off an Offaly defender and ended up in the net. Aoife Doherty then put Westmeath in front for the first time and worse was to follow three minutes into injury time when Sandra McGrath came in on the right and passed to the unmarked Denise McGrath at the edge of the square and she blasted to the net to give the visitors a 2-3 to 0-5 interval lead.

Just 19 seconds after the restart Denise McGrath fired over another point and although Siobhan Flannery quickly pulled one back for Offaly, Hannah Core and Amelia Shaw from a free stretched the Westmeath lead to two goals six minutes into the half.

From there Offaly began to dominate but scores were slow to come. Sarah Harding went for goal from a 20m free on the left but the ball went into the sidenetting. After 11 scoreless minutes Rachel Brennan did get one back and Sarah Harding added two more, one free, to leave three in it with seven minutes left. Centre back Sheila McGrath came forward to score a super point for Westmeath, their only score in the final 24 minutes but ultimately the decisive score.

Offaly kept pushing and Sarah Harding had a shot saved by Fiona Keating but then with a minute left, the Birr player won another ball and steered her shot to the net to leave just one in it. Offaly went in search of an equaliser but time ran out and Westmeath held on to win by the minimum.

MATCH ANALYSIS

THE TEAMS

WESTMEATH: Fiona Keating; Jade McKeogh, Julie McLoughlin, Dearbhail McLoughlin; Muireann Scally, Sheila McGrath, Laura Doherty; Aoife O'Malley, Megan Dowdall; Aoife Doherty, Amelia Shaw, Caoimhe McCrossan; Denise McGrath, Sandra McGrath, Maria Kelly. Sub. Hannah Core (for Caoimhe McCrossan, 8 mins).

OFFALY: Leah Gallagher (Tullamore); Louise Mannion (St Rynagh's), Orlagh Phelan (Naomh Brid), Sarah Walsh (Tullamore); Orla Gorman (Tullamore), Alana Roddy (Birr), Amy Byrne (Lusmagh); Grainne Dolan (St Rynagh's), Sinead Moore (Kilcormac/Killoughey); Lisa Gorman (Tullamore), Rachel Brennan (St Cillian's), Niamh Killeen (St Cillian's); Siobhan Flannery (St Rynagh's), Sarah Harding (Birr), Becky Bryant (Clanmaurice). Subs. Clodagh Leahy (Drumcullen) (for Niamh Killeen, 45 mins), Hannah Feenane (Birr) (for Lisa Gorman, 48 mins),

Caoimhe Darcy (Drumcullen) (for Sinead Moore, 48 mins), Labhaoise Glynn (Lusmagh) (for Siobhan Flannery, 51 mins), Siobhan Killeen (St Cillian's) (for Amy Byrne, 56 mins).

REFEREE: Liz Dempsey (Kilkenny)

PLAYER OF THE MATCH

Captain Grainne Dolan and Louise Mannio deserve mention for their wholehearted effort for Offaly but in the end Sarah Harding just edged the vote. Things didn't go her way at times and she was very closely marked but she never gave up and almost pulled the game out of the fire for Offaly, scoring 1-3 overall and seeing another late goal effort saved.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

The period of first half injury time proved disastrous for Offaly. They led by three minutes a minute into injury time but three minutes later when the half time whistle blew they found themselves four points behind as Westmeath hit a quickfire 2-1. It proved the decisive period of the game and although Offaly got within a point of Westmeath at the end, the concession of those scores proved fatal.

REFEREE WATCH

Liz Dempsey refereed the game well. She let it go as much as possibly and while occasionally Offaly might have felt a little hard done by, on the whole those decisions balanced themselves out. Probably could have added more than two minutes and 20 seconds injury time in the second half as there were a couple of long stoppages. Another couple of minutes would have been warranted, similar to what was added in the first half, and that could have been enough for Offaly to at least get an equaliser.

TALKING POINT

After suffering relegation in the league with just one draw from their five matches, this was a disappointing defeat for Offaly. They dominated possession but weren't able to turn that into scores. Maybe in the circumstances avoiding a meeting with All-Ireland champions Kilkenny and a possible morale sapping defeat ahead of the championship might not be the worst scenario but Offaly will clearly know that they will have to make more of their opportunities come championship time if they aim to make progress.

WHAT’S NEXT

Offaly's next game will be a meeting with Waterford in the first round of the All-Ireland championship in June, while Westmeath will host Kilkenny in the Leinster semi-final next weekend.

VENUE WATCH

Banagher hosted this game well. There was a small crowd present but the host club had all the usual arrangements in place for the game. The grass looked a little long in places on the pitch but otherwise it was in good condition.

It was disappointing that Leinster Camogie didn't provide a programme for the game, which doesn't do much to promote their biggest championship.

STATISTICS

Wides; Westmeath 7 (2 in first half) Offaly 2 (1 in first half)

Yellow Cards: Westmeath 0 Offaly 1 (Orlagh Phelan)

Red Cards: None

THE SCORERS

Westmeath; Amelia Shaw (1-2, 1-1 frees, 0-1 '65'), Denise McGrath (1-1), Megan Dowdall, Aoife Doherty, Hannah Core, Sheila McGrath (0-1 each).

Offaly; Sarah Harding (1-3, 0-1 free), Lisa Gorman (0-2, 0-1 free), Siobhan Flannery (0-2, 0-1 free), Becky Bryant, Rachel Brennan (0-1 each).