Leinster SF FinalLaois 0-13 Westmeath 0-13 Football's futures market got another shake-up at Croke Park yesterday when outsiders Westmeath came within touching distance of a major surprise. Bank of Ireland Leinster football champions Laois have been spoken of increasingly as potential All-Ireland winners but traded a good bit below that sort of rating for most of the match.
It was a gritty and ambitious display by Westmeath and another feather in manager Páidí Ó Sé's by now quite garish hat. Leinster mightn't be what it used to be but the former Kerry manager has imparted the sort of assurance it had been hoped his appointment would bring.
They will probably be tortured by reflections on yesterday's match. They led 0-13 to 0-12 into the second of three minutes of injury-time. Laois had been wasting a stream of attacking possession and their grip on the Delaney Cup was slowly being prised loose when captain Chris Conway sprang on to a loose ball, rounded Donal O'Donoghue and edged good and close to goal before kicking the equaliser.
At that stage there was at least a minute on the clock but after a delay while Laois wing back Paul McDonald had an injury tended to, referee Pat McEnaney blew the whistle without adding anything further. The draw was a fair result but a Westmeath win would not have been unjust either.
The challengers' tactics dictated the game, closing down Laois's most dangerous attacking options, and created enough opportunities to lead the champions for most of the second half. Ó Sé's reconfigured defence was probably the most striking success. Donal O'Donoghue came out to centre back and played a stormer, Damien Healy moved back to pick up Beano McDonald and did a good job while John Keane was exceptional marking Colm Parkinson.
Ross Munnelly was unfortunate to take the usual number of belts - including a very late challenge by James Davitt that went unpunished - and in the process injure his ankle badly enough to have to go off and be a concern for next Saturday's replay.
With their scoring options severely curtailed and the attack denied the space to establish some sort of rhythm, Laois were in trouble despite their more obvious potential. At the back they were under pressure primarily from teenager Denis Glennon, who had a sparkling afternoon, ending with five points from play - a fair reflection of the ball he won and the chances he created.
Westmeath's expected threat, main strike forward Des Dolan played well after an awkward start when he missed opportunities that might have settled the team.
Laois made one switch from the start, moving Kevin Fitzpatrick from the corner to centre forward with Beano McDonald switching. The first quarter was promising for the champions. They moved fluently from defence to attack and took scores smartly. Five points from play, including an excellent kick from out on the left wing by Munnelly took Laois to a 0-5 to 0-2 lead.
Westmeath were under significant pressure, losing hands down at centrefield and failing to keep track of players coming through in support. Ó Sé made his first change on 20 minutes. Rory O'Connell, only available on foot of an interlocutory High Court injunction, took to the field in place of Gary Dolan.
O'Connell's arrival steadied the ship and Westmeath began to apply their own pressure, coming in numbers to break ball and snap up what went loose. So effective was the turnaround the match swung.
Four unanswered points pushed the challengers ahead and at one stage Laois goalkeeper Fergal Byron had to scramble to take charge of a ball that had been lofted in over him after he had ventured out of goal.
Beano McDonald pointed in injury-time to tie up the match. Up until this stage there were similarities between the final and the semi-final against Meath, which was also level 0-6 each at half-time. After the break Laois had hit the buttons and pulled away and there was a possibility that the same might happen this time.
But the marking was so good and the closing down of the attack so effective the champions struggled to get on top. A couple of early points gave them the lead on the restart. By this point O'Dwyer had reshaped his defence. Kevin Fitzpatrick had gone to centre back with Tom Kelly dropping back to full back in place of Colm Byrne, who had been on the receiving end from Glennon.
Westmeath responded by bringing in Joe Fallon and he added to their attacking menace with two points in an interesting battle with Joe Higgins. Fallon's first point was sandwiched by two Dolan frees to give the challengers the lead and initiate a period between then and the end of the match when they maintained the advantage without making it safe.
Laois were guilty of some wild shooting, which drew an exasperated response from O'Dwyer afterwards, and some bad decision-making in attack but in fairness to the champions they stuck to the game plan, kicking straight up into the forwards despite the tightness of the marking.
According to RTÉ's statistics possession was shared equally in the second half and despite Westmeath wringing 11 blissfully hopeful minutes out of Glennon's fifth point, possession of the Leinster title also remains 50-50 until next Saturday.
LAOIS: 1. F Byron; 2. A Fennelly, 3. C Byrne, 4. J Higgins; 5. D Rooney (0-1), 6. T Kelly, 7. P McDonald; 8. P Clancy, 9. N Garvan; 10. R Munnelly (0-2), 15. K Fitzpatrick (0-1), 12. C Conway (capt, 0-2); 13. I Fitzgerald, 14. C Parkinson, 11. B McDonald (0-4, two frees). Subs: 17. M Lawlor (0-1) for Fitzgerald (23 mins), 18. S Cook (0-2, frees) for Byrne (32 mins); 23. G Kavanagh for Munnelly (53 mins), 19. P Lawlor for M Lawlor (69 mins).
WESTMEATH: 1. G Connaughton; 6. D Healy, 4. J Keane, 2. J Davitt; 7. D Heavin, 3. D O'Donoghue, 5. M Ennis; 8. G Dolan, 9. D O'Shaughnessy (capt); 10. B Morley, 11. P Conway, 12. F Wilson (0-2, frees); 13. A Mangan, 14. D Glennon (0-5), 15. D Dolan (0-4, three frees). Subs: 30. R O'Connell for G Dolan (20 mins), 19. J Fallon (0-2) for Mangan (46 mins), 23. S Colleary for Wilson (57 mins), 18. D Mitchell for Morley (66 mins), 17. D Kilmartin for Davitt (73 mins).
Referee: P McEnaney (Monaghan)
