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Will Third Time Be The Charm For Westmeath In Joe McDonagh Final?

Sunday, 11 July 2021 13:40

It'll all be decided next weekend in Croke Park.

Westmeath will play Kerry in their third Joe McDonagh Cup final in four years next Saturday. 

2020 the only blip on the radar for the lake county since this format was introduced. 

They'll go into the decider as the only unbeaten team in the competition after Kerry fell to a surprise defeat against Meath in group two. 

Shane O'Brien's side have the fourth most potent attack of the six participants but crucially, the tightest defence. 

Will the old American sports adage of defence wins championships ring true for Westmeath? 

It was far from plain sailing for them against free scoring Kildare.

The Lilywhites head for a relegation playoff but have been the best marksmen at Joe McDonagh level, registering a whopping 4-37 in their two games to date. 

The away side were much the faster out of the blocks at TEG Cusack Park and established a 0-7 to 0-2 lead in the first twenty minutes before the home team thought about competing. 

An admirable recovery began with a Niall O'Brien point and was swiftly followed by 1-4 without reply in the next seven minutes. 

Ciaran Doyle netting a super goal at the back end of that run to put Westmeath three in front. 

The sides continued trading points either side of half-time until the next big moment at the 50-minute mark. 

Having just fallen a point behind Westmeath levelled through Robbie Greville before further points by Killian Doyle and Josh Coll either side of a Niall Mitchell goal. 

Kildare managed to register a further score themselves in the midst of that flurry but with thirteen minutes on the watch, the lake county suddenly had a four point advantage. 

Shane O'Brien's side maintained that advantage for the next eight minutes before they gave their fans huge cause for concern. 

Brian Byrne reduced the Kildare gap to three before David Herity's team drew level with a Jack Sheridan goal with two minutes of normal time remaining. 

The momentum was all with the lilywhites and Paul Divily looked to have raised a telling white flag with only a minute to go. 

Westmeath refused to give-in and showed tremendous spirit and conviction heading into injury time.

That man Killian Doyle popped over successive scores and Derek McNicholas made a telling contribution from the bench to give them a two point cushion as time expired. 

Kildare had time for one more score but as the final whistle sounded it was elation for the home team and another shot at a return to Leinster Championship Hurling next weekend. 

 

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