Player collapses in Westmeath club game

Cathal Joyce had a close call yesterday evening when he collapsed before his club Athlone’s Westmeath IFC semi-final clash with Rosemount in Cusack Park in Mullingar.

Joyce, a sub on the Athlone team, was partaking in the pre-match warm-up when he collapsed. Though his heart stopped for several seconds, he was resuscitated with the aid of a defibrillator which was on-site and then taken to hospital, where he was said to be recovering.

“Cathal collapsed in the warm-up after suffering a cardiac arrest,” Athlone PRO Brian Melinn told www.hoganstand.com.

“There’s a good chance he would not have survived but for the quick thinking and swift action of Dr Patrick Boland, who was a sub on the Rosemount team, and one of our subs, Colm O’Leary, who is a garda trained in CPR.

“The club is extremely grateful for their assistance.”

Athlone, shaken by the experience, were outclassed in the first half and were 2-5 to 0-2 behind at half-time but scored 1-8 without reply in the second half with Westmeath star John Connellan scoring an injury-time penalty to secure a 1-10 to 2-5 win.