'We were probably written off a bit' - Westmeath make their point with stunning defeat of Meath

POINT PROVEN: Westmeath's Matthew Whittaker celebrates with Robbie Forde of Westmeath after the game. Pic: ©INPHO/Grace Halton.

Meath 0-25 Westmeath 4-18

This may have been pegged as the most open Leinster football championship in at least 15 years, but few neutrals seemed to think it extended to Westmeath having enough about them to take down Meath in Tullamore on Sunday afternoon.

All-Ireland semi-finalists last year, Division Two champions a few weeks ago: yeah, it was easy to see why Robbie Brennan’s side was so heavily favoured, but their neighbours were no mugs and so it proved with a superb all-round win.

“We were probably written off a bit like,” said forward Luke Loughlin. “A couple of us had probably points to prove. Myself, probably not playing as well as I had been. I don't want to say anyone else because they’ll think I'm putting them down.

“But lads probably had a bit to prove. You know, a couple of poor performances in Division Three and very inconsistent. So a lot of us [were] under a bit of pressure today to form, and hopefully, I think we done that.” Emphatically.

Loughlin’s point, that Westmeath had been a whisker away from promotion to Division Two last month, was echoed by Meath boss Robbie Brennan who added that they had needed a few last-ditch days to earn their spot in the top tier.

“So we knew there was no real gap in it,” said Brennan.

A five-point win for Westmeath was about right. Leading by six at the break, they had the gap up to eight three times in the third quarter, and it stretched to ten when Shane Corcoran claimed his second and their third goal with 17 minutes to go.

The St Malachy’s man had netted his first on the half-hour, not long after the superb Matthew Whittaker got the green flags waving for the first time with a skudder low to the bottom of Sean Brennan’s net.

There was a time when Westmeath were overly-dependant on Luke Loughlin for their profits. The Downs star hit 0-6 from play here before coming off in the 52nd minute with a hamstring injury he carried in to the game.

The hope will be that he hasn’t aggravated it before a semi-final in two weeks against Kildare but this is a team that spreads the load far more evenly under Mark McHugh whose reputation as an inter-county coach can only soar after this.

Whittaker was astonishingly good coming forward, Ray Connellan is a top midfield operator and Sam McCartan is a driver of all things good. This is a team that could, and absolutely should, be targeting a provincial title and more.

“I think that’s only the second time we ever bet them in Championship,” said Loughlin. “There's a lot of talk in Westmeath about that 2015 game, and we talked a bit about wanting to make a little bit of history. It's nice to have that.

“Ray was on the team in 2015. I was watching it in a bar. I didn't just make the cut back then. They were special times and this would be right up there with them. There were Westmeath people came up to me there that I hadn’t seen in a longtime. They were just so proud.” Meath will need time to get over this one.

They had eight scorers to Westmeath’s nine but keeping Jordan Morris to just the one point from play – and two frees – was a major part in the winning of this, even with Ruairi Kinsella and James Conlon picking up some of that slack.

To their credit, they clawed their way back from a double-digit deficit with time against them. Only two points separated them before Dan McCartan pounced for Westmeath’s fourth goal two seconds from time.

Their habit of leaking big scores had been a worry before this, and that sort of failing isn’t always going to be glossed over by what happens at the far end. The manner and amount of turnovers they conceded in the Westmeath third was extraordinary.

Brennan didn’t demur when it was suggested that Westmeath’s preliminary round win over Longford last week might have tipped the scales, but his first thought was that his own side just didn’t find the intensity levels required.

That they were still operating at league intensity.

It was Meath who ended Dublin’s dominance in Portlaoise last year but, like then, it is others who will profit in the weeks to come and in this bright new Leinster dawn. For them, Plan A is dead. Now on to Plan B.

“Well, we've got three competitions to enter. One was the league, one was Leinster, and the next one's the All-Ireland series. So it doesn't change much in that regard, apart from we've won one and lost one. Now we have to just reset and see can we go after the All-Ireland.”

Scorers for Meath: R Kinsella (0-6, 2 2-pts); E Frayne (0-4, 1 2pt); J Conlon (0-4); J Flynn (0-3, 1 2pt); J Morris (0-3, 2f); J O’Connor and A Lynch (both 0-2); B Menton (0-1.

Scorers for Westmeath: S Corcoran (2-2); M Whittaker and D McCartan (both 1-0); L Loughlin (0-6, 1 2pt); S McCartan (0-4, 3f); R Connellan (0-2); B Kelly (0-2, 1m); B Cooney, K O’Sullivan (both 0-1).

Meath: S Brennan; S Lavin, S Rafferty, B O’Halloran; D Keogan, S Coffey, C Caulfield; J Flynn, B Menton; J O’Connor, R Kinsella, C McBride; J Morris, E Frayne, A Lynch.

Subs: J Conlon for Lynch (37); C Hickey for McBride and K Smyth for O’Halloran (both 50); C Duke for O’Connor (54); K Curtis for Frayne (57).

Westmeath: C McCormack; D Scahill, C Drumm, T Baker; R Wallace, S Allen, M Whittaker; B Cooney, P Connellan; K O’Sullivan, S McCartan, C Dillon; S Corcoran, L Loughlin, B Kelly.

Subs: J Daly for McCormack (9); S Ormsby for Cooney (49); R Forde for Loughlin (51); T Molloy for Allen (53); D McCartan for Kelly (61).

Referee: B Cassidy (Derry).