Promising Limerick footballer Emmet Rigter. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
Tailteann Cup Group Three
Limerick 0-19 (0-0-19) Westmeath 0-18 (0-1-16)
By Gerry Buckley at Laois Hire O'Moore Park
Limerick have advanced to the quarter-finals of the Tailteann Cup after a dramatic win by the narrowest of margins against Westmeath in a third round robin game in Portlaoise which only came to life in the second half, while the losers now go into a preliminary quarter-final next weekend.
The opening 20 minutes was a cat-and-mouse affair with both teams retaining possession and reluctant to have a pot at the target due to the swirling wind, and they were tied at 0-5 apiece at this juncture.
Limerick’s scores came courtesy of the outstanding James Naughton (four, including three from play) and Emmett Rigter (one), while Luke Loughlin (two), Kevin O’Sullivan, Nigel Harte, and Sam McCartan raised white flags for the Lake County outfit.
Midfielder Ray Connellan scored a wonderful two-pointer in the 25th minute - as it transpired, the only one of the contest - and when Lorcan Dolan added a one-pointer soon afterwards it looked like the pre-match favourites might pull away.
However, it was Jimmy Lee’s charges who took over for the final quarter-hour of the first moiety, registering five one-pointers in that period from the boots of Naughton, Paul Maher, Tommy Childs, Rigter, and Danny Neville to deservedly lead by 0-10 to 0-8 at the interval.
Limerick had the better of the third quarter and they had deservedly increased their lead to five points (0-15 to 0-10) by the 52nd minute, with Naughton again prominent in attack. Dermot McCabe’s troops spurned a glorious goal chance in the 44th minute when McCartan looked certain to score from close range.
Westmeath had a purple patch for the next 12 minutes during which they scored seven unanswered points in open play, including a brace apiece from their most consistent duo of Wallace and Loughlin – the latter’s second was an inspirational score. Limerick remained composed and points from Naughton, sub Rob Childs and goalkeeper Josh Ryan (seconds after Westmeath sub Brandon Kelly had hit the post with a fisted effort) edged them ahead with a minute of normal time remaining.
A minimum of three minutes’ added-time was announced, and when Loughlin slotted over a free in the second of these a draw seemed certain, thereby making Westmeath potential group winners on scoring difference. But up popped Rigter to complete his points’ hat-trick with time almost up to give the Shannonsiders their first ever competitive win against their midlands rivals.
Scorers for Limerick: J Naughton 0-8 (6f), E Rigter 0-3, D Neville 0-2, J Ryan, P Maher, P Nash (f), T Childs, D Murray, R Childs 0-1 each.
Scorers for Westmeath: L Loughlin 0-7 (1f), R Connellan 0-3 (1 2pt), R Wallace, S McCartan 0-2 each, K O’Sullivan, S Smith, L Dolan, N Harte 0-1 each.
Limerick: Josh Ryan; Jason Hassett, Darren O’Doherty, Mark McCarthy; Paul Maher, Iain Corbett, Tony McCarthy; Tommie Childs, Darragh O’Hagan: James Naughton, Emmett Rigter, Cillian Fahy; Peter Nash, Danny Neville, Killian Ryan.
Subs: Darragh Murray for Fahy (47), Rory O’Brien for Maher (57), Rob Childs for T Childs (57), Andrew Meade for Neville (70).
Westmeath: Conor McCormack; David Giles, Sam Smyth, Jamie Gonoud; Joe Moran, Ronan Wallace, Sam McCartan; Ray Connellan, Eoghan McCabe; Matthew Whittaker, Kevin O'Sullivan, Nigel Harte; Luke Loughlin, Stephen Smith, Lorcan Dolan.
Subs: Brían Cooney for McCabe (28), Tadhg Baker for Harte (inj., 35), Danny Scahill for Giles (HT), Brandon Kelly for Dolan (53), Shane Allen for Connellan (69).
Referee: Kieran Eannetta (Tyrone).