Westmeath in cruise control in one-sided All-Ireland Ladies IFC final

Westmeath players celebrates at the final whistle

TG4 All-Ireland Ladies IFC final

Westmeath 4-19 

Wexford 0-6 

Sarah Dillon and Anna Jones scored 1-6 apiece as Westmeath were crowned TG4 All-Ireland IFC champions following a convincing victory over Wexford at Croke Park.

Westmeath lost out to today’s senior finalists Meath in the 2020 decider but they bounced back in style to claim the Mary Quinn Memorial Cup and top flight status for 2022.

Sean Finnegan’s side were 2-11 to 0-3 in front at the half-time interval thanks to goals from Leona Archibold and Lucy McCartan. And there was no comeback from Wexford once Sarah Dillon and Jones found the net.

Westmeath were in front by the second minute when Sarah Dillon pointed but she could have had a goal shortly afterwards. Fiona Claffey and Ciara Blundell created the opening only for Wexford keeper Sarah Merrigan to pull off a brilliant save.

Westmeath looked dominant and points from Jones and Tracey Dillon widened the gap before Sherene Hamilton scored Wexford’s first point in the eighth minute.

The teams traded scores before Merrigan produced another excellent save to deny Ciara Blundell from point-blank range.

Westmeath were 0-5 to 0-2 ahead but the game soon turned further in their favour. Loren Doyle pulled down Sarah Dillon for a penalty and Archibold stepped up to blast the ball into the top left corner in the 16th minute.

Westmeath were already six points in front at the first water break and just after the restart McCartan found herself in space and fizzed another sensational shot into the roof of Merrigan’s net.

From there Westmeath scored all but one of the seven points before half-time, Jones and Sarah Dillon helped themselves to two each and they led by 2-11 to 0-3 at the break.

Sarah Dillon scored the first three points of the second half and Westmeath took a 2-16 to 0-5 advantage into the final quarter. Dillon had the game's third goal in the 49th minute before Jones palmed home the fourth four minutes from time.

After conceding a penalty late on Merrigan was shown a yellow card and captain Aisling Murphy went into the Wexford goals before stopping an Aoife Connolly strike but that was to be little consolation.

Scorers for Westmeath: S Dillon 1-6, A Jones 1-6 (3f), L McCartan 1-1, L Archibold 1-0 (1-0 pen), F Claffey 0-2, T Dillon 0-1, C Blundell 0-1, A Connolly 0-1, K Hegarty 0-1. 

Scorers for Wexford: C Murray 0-2 (2f), S Hamilton 0-1, A Wilson 0-1, C Banville 0-1, E Tomkins 0-1.

WESTMEATH: L McCormack; N Spellman, L Duncan, T Fagan; F Coyle, A Brady, L Power; V Carr, T Dillon; F Claffey, L Archibold, A Jones; C Blundell, L McCartan, S Dillon. 

Subs: K Hegarty for Blundell (48), A Connolly for S Dillon (50), J Maher for T Dillon (50), E Kelly for Duncan (51), J Rogers for Brady (52).

WEXFORD: S Merrigan; L Doyle, A Halligan, S McCarthy; C Donnelly, S Murphy, S Harding-Kenny; K Kearney, R Murphy; S Hamilton, C Murray, C Banville; A Wilson, A Murphy, A Neville. 

Subs: D Doyle for McCarthy (35), J Rossiter for Wilson (37), E Tomkins for Neville (37), A Byrne for Hamilton (37), A Cullen for Murray (53).

Referee: Shane Curley (Galway).