Derek McNicholas hits late winner as Croke Park-bound Westmeath edge Kildare in thriller

Whether Westmeath deserved to be the side to crop up with the late winner or not is another matter.

Westmeath 2-19 Kildare 1-21

Derek McNicholas fired over a sublime winning score with the last meaningful puck of the game in Mullingar on Saturday afternoon, and, while it didn’t make any difference to the fates of the two counties involved, it felt like a dramatic, end-to-end encounter like this one deserved a stylish, emphatic finish to crown a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.

Whether Westmeath deserved to be the side to crop up with the late winner or not is another matter.

Even if McNicholas shot had skewed wide of the target, the Lake County would have been headed for Croke Park to play a Joe McDonagh Cup final next Saturday, and Kildare’s fate was going to be a relegation final. That difference didn’t tell on the field, where Kildare were physically powerful and clearly the sharper side, only to be undone by inaccuracy and Westmeath’s greater goal threat.

The Lilies hit the ground running here and were full value for their 0-7 to 0-2 lead after 20 minutes, with Brian Byrne and Paul Divilly controlling play from midfield. Defensively they were excellent as well, but just didn’t quite have an answer for players like Niall Mitchell and Niall O’Brien under the high ball.

A quick-fire flurry of points was followed by Mitchell setting up Ciarán Doyle on the half hour mark, and it was 1-9 to 0-9 at half time as a result.

Kildare’s second half performance was right out of the top drawer as they controlled the physical battle and earned the lion’s share of possession, but paid the price for their relative lack of goal threat. Westmeath had up to half a dozen goal chances in this game if you were to count misplaced passes close to the Kildare goal, taking two of them – Doyle, and Mitchell midway through the second half.

Realistically Kildare only created two, a Brian Byrne drive that was well saved by Noel Conaty, and Jack Sheridan’s equalising score in the 68th minute that left it 2-15 to 1-18.

Even from there, the action was heart-stopping right up until the final whistle. Killian Doyle edged Kildare in front, a superb strike from Paul Divilly levelled it, Doyle and Sheridan again traded points before McNicholas popped up right at the death for the winner.

Scorers for Westmeath: K Doyle 0-8 (0-4f), N O’Brien 0-5 (0-4f), N Mitchell 1-1, C Doyle 1-0, J Coll 0-2, R Greville, D Glennon & D McNicholas 0-1 each.

Scorers for Kildare: J Sheridan 1-5 (0-4f), B Byrne 0-6 (0-4f, 0-1 65), P Divilly 0-3, J Burke & D Slattery 0-2 each, C Dowling, K Whelan & J Byrne 0-1 each.

Westmeath: N Conaty; D Egerton, T Gallagher, C Shaw; A Craig, T Doyle, S Clavin; C Boyle, R Greville; J Boyle, K Doyle, D Glennon; N Mitchell, N O’Brien, C Doyle.

Subs: A Cox for Cormac Boyle (half-time), J Coll for Greville (50), D Clinton for C Doyle (56), D McNicholas for Glennon (63), J Galvin for J Boyle (68).

Kildare: P McKenna; C Derivan, R Boran, S Leacy; K Whelan, D Flaherty, J Travers; P Divilly, B Byrne; J Byrne, J Burke, C Chan; J Sheridan, D Slattery, C Dowling.

Subs: S Christianseen for Travers (43), S Ryan for J Byrne (45), K Ahearne for Chan (51), M Delaney for Slattery (62), C Smith for Dowling (68).

Referee: C McAllister (Cork).