Westmeath cruise past Kildare

Westmeath 2-15 Kildare 0-07

Leading 1-05 to 0-03 at the interval, having played against a strong wind in the opening half, Westmeath were never really tested by Kildare in this opening Guinness Hurling Championship preliminary round game at Clane.

That first goal came in the 12th minute when Andy Mitchell blocked down a high ball on the end line into the path of fullforward Frank Shaw, to bring the winger's tally to 1-02 with the home side yet to score,

Any hopes of a Kildare comeback after the resumption were shattered when Danny Carthy extended the winner's lead with a second goal eight minutes into the second half.

With 17 wides to their name, they were by no means flattered by their winning margin of 14 points.

Man-of-the-match: Christo Murtagh

Westmeath scorers: Daniel Carthy 1-03, Frank Shaw 1-02, John Shaw 0-06, Andy Mitchell and Pat Dowdall 0-02

Kildare scorers: Billy White 0-05, Tony Spain 0-01, Conal Boran 0-01

Referee: Dennis Richardson