Strong finish sees Westmeath pull away from Offaly to seal important win

WESTMEATH 2-12

OFFALY 0-12

A STRONG finish enabled Westmeath to get the better of Offaly in a closely fought Allianz National Football League Division 3 game at Cusack Park in Mullingar.

The final scoreline is probably a little harsh of Offaly, who led for much of the game and were still very much in it with 10 minutes to go, but the home side got the breaks from there to pull away and win by six points.

The sides were level for the fourth time with 10 minutes left when Kieran Martin finished a high ball to the net and three points followed in the next three minutes to give Westmeath that cushion and although Offaly pushed hard in the final minutes, they were unable to haul back their opponents.

Offaly played with the advantage of the wind in the first half and probably should have been more than two points up at the break. They got a terrible start, conceding a goal from a penalty after five minutes and losing goalkeeper Ian Duffy for 10 minutes to a black card, but they recovered well from there but were unable to open a significant gap with a goal chance never materialising over the 70 minutes.

Offaly actually stretched their lead to four points after the resumption but then Westmeath began to dominate with three quick points to cut the gap to one. They levelled after 14 minutes and the sides exchanged points twice over the next 11 minutes before Westmeath pushed for home in those final 10 minutes.

Offaly played well in the first half. They applied good pressure on the Westmeath kick out and probably should have reaped more dividends from that. Anton Sullivan and Dyland Hyland were both in good form kicking two points each from play and after conceding the early goal, they limited Westmeath's chances. Indeed Westmeath didn't get their first score from play until the fourth minute of injury time in the first half.

After getting those early points after half time Offaly were unable to push on. They possibly sat a bit too deep at times inviting Westmeath on and the home side began to grow in confidence. Offaly were now struggling to win possession from their kick outs and Westmeath kept the pressure on. Offaly did well to stay in the game until the 60th minute but the goal from sub Kieran Martin with 10 minutes left freed the pressure on Westmeath and they made their possession pay in the following minutes to pull away.

It's a first defeat of the campaign for Offaly and they now face another test against table toppers Cavan at O'Connor Park next Sunday. Declan Hogan, David Dempsey and Peter Cunningham played well in defence, Conor McNamee worked hard around the middle of the field and Anton Sullivan and Dylan Hyland were best in attack.

Nigel Harte, James Dolan and Sam McCartan did well in the Westmeath defence, Ray Connellan won a lot of ball around the middle of the field and in attack Conor McCormack was a threat throughout, John Heslin won good ball and subs Kieran Martin and Stephen Smith were lively when introduced.

Westmeath got off to the best possible start when Sam Duncan played a good ball in and slick passing involving Lorcan Dolan and John Heslin put Jack Smith through and he was hauled down by Ian Duffy. Referee David Coldrick awarded a penalty and to compound Offaly's misery showed a black card to Ian Duffy. Corey White came on as sub goalie to face John Heslin but the Westmeath man found the net with five minutes on the clock.

Offaly responded well with a good point from Anton Sullivan and although they missed a couple of other chances after that the Rhode man then kicked a second point. John Heslin replied with a 13m free for Westmeath but Dylan Hyland kicked a good point midway through the half and then levelled from a free after 20 minutes. Offaly hit the front for the first time after 23 minutes when Dylan Hyland ended a good move with a point and Conor McNamee and a Dylan Hyland '45' pushed them three clear with 35 minutes gone. In the fourth minute of injury time Ray Connellan kicked Westmeath's first score from play and at the interval Offaly had a two point advantage, 0-7 to 1-2.

Dylan Hyland pointed two frees inside the first four minutes of the second half to double Offaly's lead but Westmeath hit back with thee points in as many minutes from Ronan O'Toole, John Heslin (free) and Conor McCormack. They levelled from a Luke Loughlin '45' after 14 minutes but Offaly regained the lead again with a Nigel Dunne free. John Heslin levelled from a free and Anton Sullivan (with Offaly's first score from play in 27 minutes) and Senan Baker exchanged points from play to bring the sides level for the fourth time.

With 10 minutes left John Heslin took a free from about 35m out near the left sideline. The ball landed in the goalmouth where Kieran Martin got a fist to it to divert it to the net. John Heslin quickly added a free and Kieran Martin almost had another goal but his shot hit the crossbar and went over. Ronan O'Toole added another point and suddenly Westmeath were six ahead with seven minutes left. Stephen Smith did stretch the lead to seven but Anton Sullivan's fourth point of the game brought the final margin back to six.

MATCH ANALYSIS

THE TEAMS

WESTMEATH: Jason Daly; David Lynch, Kevin Maguire, Nigel Harte; James Dolan, Jack Smith, Sam McCartan; Sam Duncan, Ray Connellan; Conor McCormack, Ronan O'Toole, Senan Baker; Luke Loughlin, John Heslin, Lorcan Dolan. Subs. Daniel Scahill (for Jack Smith, 26 mins), Conor Dillon (for David Lynch, half time), Kieran Martin (for Lorcan Dolan, 48 mins), Stephen Smith (for Luke Loughlin, 54 mins), Andy McCormack (for Senan Baker, 68 mins)

OFFALY: Ian Duffy; Ciaran Donnelly, Declan Hogan, David Dempsey; Rory Egan, Peter Cunningham, Lee Pearson; Jack McEvoy, Conor McNamee; Cian Donohoe, Ruairi McNamee, Bill Carroll; Bernard Allen, Anton Sullivan, Dylan Hyland. Subs. Corey White (for Bernard Allen, 4 mins), Bernard Allen (for Corey White, 16 mins), Nigel Dunne (for Bernard Allen, half time), Joe Maher (for Bill Carroll, 51 mins), Cian Farrell (for Lee Pearson, 68 mins)

REFEREE: David Coldrick (Meath)

MAN OF THE MATCH

Over the 70 minutes Anton Sullivan was probably Offaly's best performer, kicking four points from play and being heavily involved in a lot of the action. Kieran Martin made a big contribution when introduced for Westmeath and Conor McCormack also had a very good game, but overall the accolade goes to Westmeath midfielder Ray Connellan. He got an important point just before half time and won a lot of ball around the middle of the field in the second half which helped keep the pressure on Offaly.

MOMENT OF THE MATCH

Kieran Martin's goal with 10 minutes left was the decisive moment of the game. Up to that point the game was still in the melting pot but the goal gave Westmeath the break they needed and they quickly added three points in three minutes to seize control.

REFEREE WATCH

Experienced referee David Coldrick kept good control of the game throughout. He rightly issued a black card to Ian Duffy for hauling down Jack Smith for the penalty and consulted well with his umpires, resulting in a yellow card for David Lynch for soemthing which happened off the ball. He was consistent in his decisions, moving the ball forward for dissent on a couple of occasions. He handed out 10 yellow cards and a couple of other Offaly players could consider themselves lucky not to be among them after reacted following fouls on a couple of occasions.

TALKING POINT

After a good start to the season this was Offaly's first defeat of the campaign. With Down also suffering defeat, the battle at the top of Division 3 is now getting quite congested. Cavan are the only unbeaten side now and they travel to Tullamore next Sunday but Offaly, Fermanagh, Down and Westmeath are all hovering behind them on four points, so there is still a lot to play for.

WHAT’S NEXT

Offaly are at home to Cavan on Sunday next February 26th at 2pm while Westmeath travel to face Down on Saturday evening.

VENUE WATCH

On a mild sunny day, albeit with a wind, the Cusack Park pitch was in good condition. A good crowd gathered to see this local derby and there were plenty of stewards on duty both inside and outside the crowd to control things.

STATISTICS

Wides; Westmeath 6 (4 in first half) Offaly 8 (6 in first half)

Yellow Cards: Westmeath 5 (David Lynch, Sam Duncan, James Dolan, Ray Connellan, Kieran Martin) Offaly 3 (David Dempsey, Conor McNamee, Dylan Hyland).

Black Cards: Westmeath 0 Offaly 1 (Ian Duffy)

Red Cards: None

THE SCORERS

Westmeath; John Heslin (1-4, 1-0 penalty, 0-4 frees), Kieran Martin (1-1), Ronan O'Toole (0-2), Ray Connellan, Conor McCormack, Luke Loughlin ('45'), Senan Baker, Stephen Smith (0-1 each).

Offaly; Dylan Hyland (0-6, 0-3 frees, 0-1 '45'), Anton Sullivan (0-4), Conor McNamee, Nigel Dunne (free) (0-1 each).