Offaly unable to fully recover as Westmeath dominate first half

Offaly 0-14 Westmeath 1-17

Offaly fell to a six-point defeat against Westmeath in the opening round of the Leinster U20 Football Championship at Kilcormac’s Faithful Fields on Wednesday evening.

Despite a promising start by the home side, it was Westmeath who gained control through an opportunist goal and they led comfortably at half-time, 1-11 to 0-4, before securing a precious first round victory.

Offaly made all of the running in the early stages but all they could muster, despite dominating the possession, was a point from corner forward Kaelem Bryan (Edenderry). The absence of the injured Cillian Bourke was certainly a blow to Offaly prospects, but overall they played second fiddle for long spells of this encounter.

A strong Westmeath defence forced numerous turnovers and when Peter Murphy flicked home the only goal of the game in the 12th minute, following a high delivery from Ronan Murray, the visitors never looked back. Midfielders Shane Ormsby and Tadhg Baker dominated that crucial sector, giving them a solid platform.

Westmeath led by 1-4 to 0-1 at the end of the first quarter, following some quality scores from Finn Duffy (two frees, including a two-pointed effort) and Ryan Kelly, who showed full back John Colgan a clean pair of heels before finishing.

Bryan pulled one back for the home side with a converted free, but Westmeath surged ahead courtesy of five unanswered points in an impressive period of dominance.

Billy Moffatt powered forward from centre back to fire over from a decent goal opportunity, while Duffy was on target again in the 20th minute. Jack Duncan added a point with the left boot and Duffy kicked a quality score when Shane Corcoran engineered an opening. Duncan set up midfielder Shan Ormsby for Westmeath’s ninth point of the half and their control of the midfield sector was a major factor.

Offaly hit back with a two-pointer from a Conor Melia free off the turf, but Duffy replied with his second two-pointer of the half to give Westmeath a ten-point lead at the break. Mark Plunkett’s charges enjoyed a more productive second half and had ten points to show for their efforts, but Westmeath showed good composure and game management at vital stages.

The home side got the first two scores after the restart - a free from Cillian Foran who then broke clear along the endline to fist over. Crucially, Dara Bates missed a free off the ground and Westmeath managed to reassert control when Tadhg Baker set up Murray for a wonderful point in the 36th minute.

Kelly followed with another for the visitors and then Duffy showed his class to fire over and make it 1-14 to 0-6. Bryan’s two-pointer (free) ensured the big home support remained vocal and he followed up with a point from a free when Steven Doran was impeded. Westmeath kept the scoreboard ticking over through Duffy and at the three quarter stage, they led by 1-15 to 0-9.

Doran and Bryan (free) notched two unanswered scores for Offaly at this stage and they were showing some promising signs that they might produce a late rally.

Melia had a shot for a two-pointer when his side trailed by seven points (1-15 to 0-11) in the 55th minute and that could have made for an interesting finish had it been on target.

Corcoran steadied Westmeath nerves with a terrific point (58th minute) and after Tullamore’s Niall Furlong shot over for the home side, Kelly converted a free, keeping Westmeath firmly in control.

Offaly were forced to wait until the third minute of added time for substitute Cian Bracken to kick a superb two-pointer, following a short 45’ from Melia, and ultimately they paid a heavy price for their first-half display.

Offaly’s next game is against Dublin next Wednesday evening (7.30pm), with the Dubs having lost to Meath in their opening game.

Scorers - Westmeath: F Duffy 0-9 (2 2ptf, 1f); P Murphy 1-0; R Murray 0-2, R Kelly 0-2 (1f), B Moffatt, J Duncan, S Ormsby and S Corcoran 0-1 each. Offaly: K Bryan 0-6 (3f; 1 2pt f), C Melia 0-2 (2pt f), C Foran 0-2 (1f), C Bracken 0-2 (2pt), S Doran and N Furlong 0-1 each.

Offaly - Conor Melia; Jake Maher, John Colgan, Christian McKeon; Mary Goulding, David O’Rourke, Darragh Bryant; Brian Carroll, Eoin Dunne; Dara Bates, Niall Furlong, Steven Doran; Cillian Foran, Conor Fox, Kaelem Bryan. Subs: Luke Kelly for Fox (20 mins), Jack Maher for Bryant (28), Cian Bracken for Foran (44), Davin Keegan for Carroll (48), Billy Quinn for Bryan (56).

Westmeath - Luke Nicholson; Sean Dillon, Seanaí Bracken, Aodhan Curran; Kealan Connell, Billy Moffatt, Adam Keane; Shane Ormsby, Tadhg Baker; Ryan Kelly, Finn Duffy, Peter Murphy; Shane Corcoran, Ronan Murray, Jack Duncan. Subs: Matthew Thornton for K Connell, Taylor Slevin for Moffatt (51 mins), Tiarnán O’Donovan for Duncan (56), Gareth Mullaniff for Murphy (57), Tom Bourke for Murray (60).

Referee - Patrick Coyle (Meath).