Leinster SHC Quarter-Final

OFFALY 4-15 WESTMEATH 1-20

By Kevin Egan at TEG Cusack Park, Mullingar

3,105 supporters in TEG Cusack Park were left breathless after this Leinster championship clash between Offaly and Westmeath caught fire in the closing stages, with Offaly eventually pulling through thanks to a hat-trick of goals from Shane Dooley, and a strong contribution from their bench.

Dooley also added an insurance point with the last attack of the game to round off a 4-15 to 1-20 victory at the Mullingar venue.

It was a result that will be savoured in the Faithful County as it avenged their comprehensive 14-point defeat at the same venue in last year’s round robin series.

For the opening 35 minutes of the contest, it was like 2016 all over again. Twelve months previously, Westmeath were the more, intelligent, aggressive and polished side as they were full value for their 2-22 to 1-11 victory.

The Lake County weren’t as precise or accurate in their striking in the opening half, racking up seven wides and misplacing a considerable number of long deliveries into their forward line.

However, they were utterly dominant in terms of picking up possession, particularly off James Dempsey’s puckouts, where they completely outplayed the Offaly half forward line. Alan Devine carried his good form from this year’s round robin series into the contest and he was particularly sharp early on, running good lines from the left corner and firing over scores from frees and from play.

That Westmeath didn’t build an earlier lead was entirely down to one rash moment close to goal after just six minutes. A lobbed ball in from Shane Kinsella was well fielded by Shane Dooley, who was promptly bundled over by Paddy Maloney. Dooley was able to brush it off rifling the resultant penalty into the top corner of the net and while Westmeath soon drew level, points from Oisín Kelly and Dooley edged the Faithful men back in front by the 24th minute.

Only the most fervent of Offaly supporters would have argued that their lead was deserved, and for the rest of the first half Westmeath really made their dominance count on the scoreboard, racking up the points from all angles to establish a 0-12 to 1-4 interval advantage. Joey Boyle, Darragh Egerton and Devine were all on target as the home side completely suffocated Offaly.      

Manager Kevin Ryan called up Joe Bergin and Paddy Murphy from the bench at half time and while Bergin was a thorn in Westmeath’s side throughout the half, it was the sterling work of Murphy in the middle third that changed the momentum of the tie.

Twice he earned frees that were well converted by Dooley from around midfield and by the 50th minute Offaly were back within a score, and could have taken the lead when a close range kicked effort from Oisín Kelly went wide of the target.

Westmeath settled back into the tie, however, with points from Killian Doyle and Devine, but pressure from the Offaly tacklers meant that they were committing far more unforced errors, and Offaly soon started to take advantage. Still the Faithful County didn’t hit the front until seven minutes from the end of normal time when Emmet Nolan collected possession in the middle third of the field, scythed through the centre of the Westmeath defence and blast the ball past Paddy Moloney from 20 metres out.

Within a further three minutes, Offaly went five points clear. Dermot Shortt stepped up to fire over from 40 metres, and then Dooley bundled home his second goal from close range after Maloney saved an initial effort from Oisín Kelly.

Many supporters looked perplexed when Alan Devine opted to tap over a 20 metre free in the last minute of normal time, but the decision was vindicated when he added another ’65, and then Killian Doyle slammed the ball to the net from a seemingly impossible angle in the second minute of added time.

But by the time the supporters got to check their programme to see if a replay or extra time was on the cards, Dooley’s third goal settled the tie – a wonderful piece of craft as he blocked down Maloney and deflected the sliothar straight into the net, rounding off a great start to what should be a fantastic series of games in the Leinster Championship.

**Scorers for Offaly: **S Dooley 3-8 (1-0 pen, 5fs), E Nolan 1-1, O Kelly 0-2, P Guinan, J Bergin, L Langton and D Shortt 0-1 each.

**Scorers for Westmeath: **A Devine 0-10 (8fs, 165), K Doyle 1-2, J Boyle 0-3, N O’Brien 0-2 (1 sideline), R Greville, A Clarke and D Egerton 0-1 each.

OFFALY: J Dempsey; B Conneely, D Shortt, E Grogan; S Gardiner, A Treacy, D King; P Guinan, S Ryan; E Nolan, S Dooley, O Kelly; S Cleary, S Kinsella, P Geraghty.

Subs: J Bergin for Geraghty (HT), P Murphy for Treacy (HT), L Langton for Kinsella (47), S Quirke for Cleary (51), C Kiely for Guinan (58).

WESTMEATH: P Maloney; S Power, T Doyle, T Gallagher; A Craig, P Greville, C Shaw; A Clarke, G Greville; C Boyle, K Doyle, J Boyle; R Greville, N O’Brien, A Devine.

Subs: D Egerton for Gallagher (15), J Galvin for O’Brien (36 – temp), Galvin for Power (62), B Murtagh for O’Brien (66)

REFEREE: Sean Cleere (Kilkenny).