Kerry Boss Makes Westmeath 'Heavy Favourites' For Joe McDonagh Cup Final

Friday, 16 July 2021 10:16

The battle lines are being drawn ahead of Saturday's 5pm start.

Kerry boss Fintan O'Connor thinks Westmeath are heavy favourites for the Joe McDonagh Cup final.

It's the third decider in four years for Shane O'Brien's side while the Kingdom are in the final for the second year in succession.

Westmeath were defeated by five points by Carlow in 2018 and lost out to Laois by eleven in 2019.

The wheel came off the cart as such in 2020 when an early loss put pay to their chances.

Kerry and Antrim played out an entertaining final, the Saffrons ultimately coming out on top by two points, 0-22 to 1-17.

Westmeath have secured two hard fought wins so far in this season's competition against Carlow and Kildare.

The Lake county enter the final with the best defence at this level while Kerry have registered the second highest number of scores behind Kildare.

The Kingdom somewhat stumbled into Croke Park having tasted defeat against Meath in surprising fashion seven days ago.

They put Down to the sword by six on the opening weekend.

Their main scoring threat comes from Shane Conway. He's bagged 1-18 so far in the 2021 championship which leaves him second in the scorers table.

Westmeath's leading marksman is Killian Doyle on 0-14 followed by Niall O'Brien on 0-11.

The Westmeath team was named late last night and they line out as follows:

Noel County; Darragh Egerton, Tommy Gallagher, Conor Shaw; Aaron Craig, Tommy Doyle, Aonghus Clarke; Cormac Boyle, Robbie Greville; Davy Glennon, Killian Doyle, Joey Boyle; Ciaran Doyle, Niall Mitchell, Niall O'Brien.

Westmeath senior hurling squad to take on Kerry at 5PM tomorrow at Croke Park in the 2021 Joe McDonagh Cup Final.
The game will be shown live on
RTÉ 2.
Best of luck to all our players & management 🇶🇦 🇶🇦 🇶🇦#iarmhiabu #westmeathgaa #maroonandwhitearmy pic.twitter.com/aQwCd1ZsYw
— Westmeath GAA (@westmeath_gaa) July 16, 2021

Fintan O'Connor says a couple of additions to the lake county panel could be telling:

And here is how O'Connor's team will line out:

Huge occasion for these lads tomorrow! Make sure to watch on @RTEgaa or listen to @radiokerrysport - they deserve all of our support! Best of luck @fintanoconnor10 and all connected with the Kerry Hurlers. Bring ‘Joe’ Home #Kerry4Joe 💚💛 pic.twitter.com/CYdUAVRPNE
— Kerry GAA (@Kerry_Official) July 16, 2021