Sport

Westmeath survive tricky assignment

Westmeath 0-12 Tipperary 1-8: Tipperary almost pulled off the shock of the All-Ireland football qualifiers when they lost by…

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Mon Jun 20 2005 - 01:00

Westmeath 0-12 Tipperary 1-8: Tipperary almost pulled off the shock of the All-Ireland football qualifiers when they lost by a point to hot favourites Westmeath in a thriller at Thurles on Saturday evening.

The Leinster men were looking for a convincing performance after their disappointing defeat to Kildare and looked on course as they raced into a 0-5 to 0-0 lead after 19 minutes, with Dessie Dolan an inspiring figure.

It took 23 minutes before Benny Hickey opened Tipperary's account with a point but they then added three further points before half-time as Westmeath lost their way.

A shock looked on the cards when Tipperary talisman Declan Browne netted a penalty three minutes into the second half to put his side 1-4 to 0-5 ahead.

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However, Westmeath responded well with five points on the trot to establish a four-point lead.

But spirited Tipperary were not about to go down lightly. They piled on the pressure in an exciting last quarter and were only one point behind as the game went into injury-time.

In the fourth minute of injury time Browne had a chance to level the game but his free from 40 metres tailed wide and a relieved Westmeath were through to the next round.

Westmeath owed much to the leadership of Dessie Dolan who had to retire injured in the 62nd minute, but John Keane, Donal O'Donoghue, Fergal Wilson and Patrick Mulvihill also had big games for them.

For Tipperary, Brian Mulvihill was outstanding with Brian Lacey, Niall Curran, Kevin Mulryan and Robbie Costigan also to the fore.

WESTMEATH: G. Connaughton; J. McAteer, D. O'Donoghue, J. Keane; M. Ennis, D. Healy, P. Mulvihill (0-2); R. O Connell, D. O'Shaughnessy (0-1); D. Heavin (0-1), P. Conway, F. Wilson (0-3); A. Mangan, Denis Glennon, D. Dolan (0-5). Subs: G.Dolan for Glennon; David Glennon for Conway; D. Gilmartin for McAteer; Denis Glennon for D.Dolan; J. Fallon for Mangan.

TIPPERARY: P. Fitzgerald; D. Byrne, N. Curran, P. King; P. Morrissey, B. Lacey, R. Costigan; K. Mulryan (0-1), F. O Callaghan; G. Burke (0-1), L. England, C. Maher; B.Mulvihill (0-1), D. Browne (1-2), B. Hickey (0-2). Subs: D. O'Brien for England; N. Fitzgerald (0-1) for Mulryan.

Referee: H. Beirne (Roscommon).