Sam McCartan continues to impress for Westmeath. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
Tailteann Cup Preliminary Quarter-Final
Westmeath 3-26 (3-4-18) Laois 1-15 (1-1-13)
By Gerry Buckley at TEG Cusack Park
Westmeath emerged as facile winners against an off-colour Laois side in a one-sided Tailteann Cup preliminary quarter-final in Mullingar.
Nigel Harte put the home team ahead after a mere 15 seconds and Robbie Forde soon doubled this lead from a free. Ronan Coffey halved the deficit from a free, before Matthew Whittaker’s powerful shot at the other end came back off the crossbar in the sixth minute, but his side still led by 0-4 to 0-3 with 13 minutes on the clock.
The outstanding Sam McCartan took centre stage at the midpoint of the first half when he scored a quickfire brace of two-pointers from play. Westmeath’s defending was very good at this juncture and Justin McNulty’s charges were struggling to get in for scores.
A rapid-fire brace of points from Brian Byrne and Kevin Swayne had the visitors within four points of their hosts (0-10 to 0-6). However, Dermot McCabe’s men finished the first half very strongly and a foul on the hard-working Shane Allen gave Luke Loughlin the opportunity to open his account by superbly converting the ensuing spot kick in the 33rd minute.
After a neat point from Stephen Smith the hooter sounded, but Westmeath sensed the opportunity to increase their advantage and duly did so when skipper Ronan Wallace finished off a great move by finding the net from point-blank range. Wind-assisted Westmeath led by 2-12 to 0-7 at the interval.
Laois needed a good start to the second period, but they never threatened to make it into a real contest. Indeed, Westmeath had extended their advantage to 14 points (2-16 to 0-8) when Whittaker atoned for his earlier goal miss by scoring a wonderful individual three-pointer in the 42nd minute. The Lake County men went on to lead by 3-22 to 0-09 at the end of the third quarter.
The O’Moore County outfit had a brief purple patch when they scored five points without reply between the 58th and 64th minutes, including their only two-pointer of the match from a free taken by goalkeeper Killian Roche.
Two more points from the best player on show, Sam McCartan, either side of a neat score by Kevin O’Sullivan preceded the full-time hooter. Westmeath opted to play on and when Loughlin’s goal attempt was blocked, Laois got a consolation goal from sub Jonah Kelly.
Scorers for Westmeath: S McCartan 0-8 (2 2pt), R Wallace 1-5 (1 2pt), L Loughlin 1-2 (1-0pen, 2ptf), M Whittaker 1-1, S Smith (1f), R Forde (1f), D O’Sullivan 0-2 each, J Moran, D McCartan, N Harte, S Allen 0-1 each.
Scorers for Laois: J Kelly 1-0, M Barry (3fs), R Coffey (2fs) 0-3 each, P Kirwan, K Roche (2ptf) 0-2 each, D Larkin, N Corbet, K Swayne, B Byrne, C Lee 0-1 each.
Westmeath: Conor McCormack; Jack Geoghegan, Sam Smyth, Jamie Gonoud; Joe Moran, Ronan Wallace, Sam McCartan; Brian Guerin, Shane Allen; Matthew Whittaker, Kevin O’Sullivan, Nigel Harte; Luke Loughlin, Stephen Smith, Robbie Forde.
Subs: Danny Scahill for Gonoud (44), Tadhg Baker for Guerin (46), Danny McCartan for Smith (46), Eoghan McCabe for Whittaker (53), Shane Ormsby for Wallace (60).
Laois: Killian Roche; Ben Dempsey, Trevor Collins, Liam Knowles; Padraig Kirwan, Patrick O’Sullivan, Aaron McEvoy; Seamus Lacey, Damon Larkin; Mark Barry, Ronan Coffey, Conor Heffernan; Niall Corbet, Kevin Swayne, Brian Byrne.
Subs: Michael Doran for McEvoy (HT), Jake Darcy for Knowles (43), Cathal Lee for Corbet (45), Jonah Kelly for Coffey (55), John Brennan for Heffernan (63).
Referee: Martin McNally (Monaghan).
