Hurlers Back On Track In Joe McDonagh Cup
Joe McDonagh Cup
Offaly 2-23 Westmeath 1-20
By Kevin Egan at Glenisk O’Connor Park
Both Offaly and Westmeath went into this Joe McDonagh Cup clash at Glenisk O’Connor Park in Tullamore with their hopes of ascension to Liam MacCarthy Cup hurling hanging by a thread following first round defeats, but Offaly will feel a lot better about their chances going into next weekend’s trip to Páirc Tailteann after they finished strongly to account for their neighbours and fellow Division One side.
Dan Bourke’s goal at the start of six minutes of stoppage time was the decisive score that saw Johnny Kelly’s side over the line, but Offaly had been that bit more threatening throughout, with Charlie Mitchell, Eimhin Kelly and Brian Duignan all making an impact up front to compensate for the absence of top scorer Eoghan Cahill and the late withdrawal of U-20 sensation Adam Screeney.
Late arrivals into O’Connor Park paid a heavy price for their tardiness as they missed several big talking points which set the tone for the dramatic encounter that was to follow. The ball had barely broken loose out of midfield from the initial throw in and Offaly captain Jason Sampson was being shown a straight red card for his part in a clash with Aonghus Clarke, but after conceding the opening score from the subsequent free, Offaly shook that off to mount an attack that ended with David Nally getting dragged to the ground and Brian Duignan slamming a penalty to the net.
Within five minutes David O’Reilly – one of several Westmeath players who will be in action (tomorrow) Sunday in the Leinster U-20 championship against Dublin – plucked a high ball out of the clouds and found the Offaly net to seemingly hand the initiative back to the visitors, albeit briefly.
The Lake County’s numerical advantage didn’t last long as Darragh Egerton first received a black card for a foul on Brian Duignan running through – on this occasion Noel Conaty did brilliantly to dive and turn the penalty around for a 65 – and by the 20th minute the defender was done for the day after he went in with a high hit on Charlie Mitchell and could have no complaints with his yellow card.
Westmeath’s strong running through the middle third yielded a lot of frees for Killian Doyle, and that threat was augmented greatly by the introduction of Peter Clarke (another U-20) who hurled a lot of ball, but Offaly looked far more likely to create scores from open play, while Eimhin Kelly also drew another excellent save out of Conaty.
With a mild breeze at their backs in the second half, Offaly moved three points clear when Cillian Kiely, Mitchell and Duignan picked off a run of points in quick succession, while again, Westmeath only had Doyle making any impression up front. The centre forward hit three from play in the second half but was also his county’s only scorer for approximately 55 minutes.
That run was broken when David O’Reilly found the target from 50 metres with just over five minutes to play, but Westmeath couldn’t find a way to take the lead and Offaly powered on in the closing stages. Dan Bourke whipped in their goal after a towering catch from Killian Sampson opened up the Westmeath defence, and points from Kiely, Duignan and Leon Fox put enough daylight between the sides to force Doyle to go for goal from a couple of late frees, both of which were turned around the post on the Offaly goal-line.
Scorers for Offaly: Brian Duignan 1-11 (1-0 pen, 8fs, 1 65), Cillian Kiely 0-3, Dan Bourke 1-0, Killian Sampson 0-2, Charlie Mitchell 0-2, Eimhin Kelly 0-2, Ben Conneely 0-1, Cathal King 0-1, Leon Fox 0-1.
Scorers for Westmeath: Killian Doyle 0-15 (10fs, 1 65), David O’Reilly 1-1, Eoin Keyes 0-1, Robbie Greville 0-1, David Williams 0-1, Davy Glennon 0-1.
Offaly: M Troy; C King, C Burke, P Cantwell; B Conneely, C Kiely, S Bourke; J Sampson, D King; K Sampson, B Duignan, D Nally; D Bourke, C Mitchell, E Kelly.
Subs: O Kelly for Mitchell (22-25, temp), J Clancy for S Bourke (35), D Shirley for Cantwell (half-time), O Kelly for Nally (47), L Fox for Clancy (66).
Westmeath: N Conaty; K Regan, T Doyle, D Egerton; R Greville, A Clarke, A Craig; C Boyle, C McCormack; J Boyle, K Doyle, N Mitchell; D O’Reilly, E Keyes, D Williams.
Subs: P Clarke for Greville (20), C Gaffney for McCormack (half-time), Owen McCabe for Keyes (51), Davy Glennon for Boyle (55), Ciaran Doyle for Williams (66)
Referee: Brian Keon (Galway).
