Well timed goals help Westmeath breeze past Laois

Westmeath’s Luke Loughlin bids to break past Laois defender Alex Mohan in yesterday’s Allianz FL Division 3 clash at MW Hire O’Moore Park. Picture: Denis Byrne

Westmeath 2-11 Laois 0-11

Westmeath made it two wins from two in Division 3 of the Allianz League with a deserved six-point victory over Laois in O’Moore Park.

The visitors, who played against the wind in the first half, had a dream start when Luke Loughlin fisted to the net after a wayward John Heslin shot dropped short.

Laois were level by the 18th minute courtesy of a wonderful Danny Bolger free and two points from Eoin Lowry and Mark Barry.

It looked as if Westmeath would lead going into half-time but two further points from Lowry and another long-range Bolger free gave the home side a one-point lead at the whistle.

Westmeath were back level almost immediately after the restart when Conor McCormack fired over. Gary Walsh and Heslin traded points to keep it level, while Ronan O’Toole added to his tally with a well taken score off his right.

With the game in the melting pot, it was the Lake County who gained the momentum: They hit four unanswered points from David Lynch, Luke Loughlin, Heslin, and Alex Gardiner to move four clear.

Laois briefly reduced the margin to three when substitute Ross Munnelly fired over, but Kieran Martin had the last say when he bundled the ball home to ensure the two points would return to the Lake County.

Laois manager Billy Sheehan felt the game was a lot closer than the scoreline suggested: “It was a very poor performance all through. After the first half, I thought we should have had more on the scoreboard, I know we gave away a soft goal, but we missed opportunities too.

“It was no fault of the boys. There was only a score in it in injury time so there wasn’t that much between both teams and they just got that goal at the end when we had pushed up”.

Scorers for Laois: G Walsh (0-4, 3f) E Lowry (0-3), D Bolger (0-2f), M Barry and R Munnelly (0-1 each).

Scorers for Westmeath: L Loughlin (1-1), J Heslin (0-2f) and A Gardiner (0-3 each), K Martin (1-0), R O’Toole (0-2), C McCormack and D Lynch (0-1 each).

LAOIS: D Bolger; J Kelly, T Collins 7, A Mohan; S O’Flynn, J O’Loughlin, G Dillon; K Lillis, J Finn; B Byrne, E Lowry, P O’Sullivan; M Barry, E O’Carroll, G Walsh.

Subs: D Kavanagh for T Collins (Blood sub 14- 17), D Kavanagh for J Kelly (50) A Farrell for J Finn (54), D O’Reilly for B Byrne (57), C Murphy for J O’Loughlin (63), R Munnelly for M Barry (69)

WESTMEATH: J Daly; J Smith, K Maguire, R Wallace; D Giles 7, J Gonoud, N Harte; S McCartan; R Connellan; C McCormack, R O’Toole, D Lynch; L Loughlin, J Heslin, A Gardiner.

Subs: S Duncan for N Harte (54), J Lynam for C McCormack (60), K Martin for L Loughlin (67), D Seery and R Forde for D Lynch and A Gardiner (75).