Seventh heaven for Waterford against Westmeath as Aussie Gleeson makes return

A brief cameo by Waterford's Austin Gleeson got the biggest cheer of the afternoon.

Waterford manager Peter Queally said he hopes to have Tadhg de Búrca (on the left) back in action "in a couple of weeks". Pic: Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile

AHL Division 1B: Waterford 7-34 Westmeath 0-24 

“I’m very pleased overall. Our movement at times was good and our finishing was very good.” So said Peter Queally after his Waterford side had annihilated a weak Westmeath outfit in lovely conditions for hurling in Mullingar, with the winless home team now relegated to Division 2A for 2026.

Waterford had the aid of a strong wind in the first half, but Westmeath stayed well in touch for the opening ten minutes at the end of which they were on level terms (0-4 each).

However, when the outstanding Stephen Bennett superbly teed up Kevin Mahony for the visitors’ first goal in the 11th minute, the signs were already ominous for Seoirse Bulfin’s charges. A second goal in the 13th minute from the stick of Patrick Curran put the Deise men 2-6 to 0-6 ahead, Jack Prendergast providing the assist on this occasion.

Killian Doyle, as usual was his side’s top scorer, but he was still not as reliable as usual from placed balls, whereas Waterford were much more ruthless with chances from play and frees. They rattled over five points in a two-minute period at the start of the second quarter and further goals seemed inevitable, and they duly arrived in the 26th and 37th minutes, both courtesy of Charlie Treen. The contest was already well and truly settled at the interval, with Queally’s troops leading by 4-21 to 0-11.

The teams equally shared six points in the opening ten minutes of the second half, but Waterford then pounced for their fifth goal when a fabulous run by Jack Prendergast teed up Dessie Hutchinson for a well-taken three-pointer.

Westmeath had only pride to play for at this juncture, but despite picking up some good points, mainly from Niall O’Brien, they never remotely looked like eating into the yawning gap between the sides. The Munster men wrapped up a very facile win when sub Sean Walsh scored a quickfire brace of goals within 90 seconds of his introduction. Westmeath’s woes were compounded when Mark Cunningham picked up his second yellow card on the 70-minute mark.

Queally was understandably delighted with the brief cameo of Austin Gleeson, whose introduction garnered the biggest cheer of the afternoon. He added: “We also hope to see Tadgh de Búrca back in a couple of weeks. There’s competition for places which is what you want. I hope we’ll have a big support now for the Offaly game.” 

In relation to his side’s performance on the day, he opined: “Obviously, there were areas where we were still sloppy, even though we were totally on top in the full forward line, and we’ll have to knuckle down and work on them. They were still fairly clinical in front of goal. You don’t want to be making a hero out of the goalie.” 

Bulfin’s team have been a major disappointment in their campaign, and the losing manager stated: “It was a very difficult afternoon for us. Waterford are a Liam MacCarthy team. We found it hard to cope with their movement and their physicality. Maybe three of their goals could have been prevented.” 

One game remains away to Carlow and Bulfin looked ahead as follows: “We’ve all been in dressing rooms where we’ve suffered heavy defeats, but we just have to get ourselves right for the last game against Carlow and then the Joe McDonagh Cup. The league is done for us now, unfortunately.” 

Scorers for Waterford: S Bennett 0-10 (8f), C Treen 2-3, K Mahony 1-6, D Hutchinson 1-4, S Walsh 2-0, P Curran 1-2, J Prendergast 0-3, C Sheahan, S Bennett 0-2 each, P Fitzgerald, M Fitzgerald 0-1 each.

Scorers for Westmeath: K Doyle 0-11 (8f, 1'65'), N O'Brien 0-4, D Williams 0-3 (2f), M Cunningham, S Williams 0-2 each, D O'Reilly, E Cunneen 0-1 each.

WATERFORD: B Nolan; S Fitzgerald, C Prunty, I Kenny; G Fives, M Fitzgerald, K Bennett; K Mahony, C Sheahan; P Hogan, C Treen, J Prendergast; D Hutchinson, S Bennett, P Curran. 

Subs: S Bennett for Fives (h-t), D Lyons for Hogan (40), P Fitzgerald for Treen (50), A Gleeson for Curran (58), S Walsh for Prunty (63).

WESTMEATH: C O’Brien; C Gaffney, J Bermingham, G Greville; A Ennis, R Greville, E Keyes; P Clarke, D Glennon; D Williams, K Doyle, M Cunningham; E Cunneen, N O’Brien, D O’Reilly. 

Subs: T Doyle for Ennis (30), S Williams for G Greville (33), N Mitchell for Glennon (h-t), A Craig for Keyes (h-t), D McCormack for K Doyle (60).

Ref: T Gleeson (Dublin).