Louth bow out of O'Byrne Cup after Westmeath defeat

Westmeath edged out Louth by six points in the Dioralyte O’Byrne Cup under the floodlights at Lakepoint Park, Mullingar, on Wednesday night.

The quarter-final tie ebbed and flowed throughout, with Louth’s accuracy from placed balls keeping them firmly in contention. Westmeath were quick to settle and opened the scoring inside two minutes when Luke Loughlin split the posts.

READ NEXT: Dundalk IT fall to TUD defeat in Sigerson Cup

That early advantage was short-lived, however, as Ryan Burns struck two-point free two minutes later to swing the momentum in Louth’s favour.

The opening exchanges were frenetic, with both sides testing the opposition defence and conditions clearly suiting attacking football. Brian Guerin drew the home side level on seven minutes when he fisted over from close range.

Gavin Devlin's men responded through Conall McCaul, who finished a neat move involving Emmett Carolan to edge the Wee County back in front.

Burns, Louth’s standout forward on the night, added another from a free to stretch the visitors’ advantage, but Westmeath’s response was decisive.

The game’s first goal arrived with a high ball from Ronan Wallace, which caused havoc in the Louth defence, and Guerin palmed the ball into the net.

Kevin O’Sullivan curled over a fine point off his left, and although Louth stayed in touch through Eoghan Callaghan and a moment of brilliance from Dylan McKeown in the corner, the hosts always looked more dangerous in open play.

That superiority was underlined midway through the half when Brandon Kelly struck Westmeath’s second goal when Kelly finished from close range to push the Lake County four points clear.

Louth rallied late in the half, with Burns landing another two-point free, but a tidy score from Tadhg Baker ensured Westmeath carried a three-point cushion into the break.

Half time: Westmeath 2-5 Louth 0-8

Louth emerged with renewed purpose after the restart and immediately set about closing the gap.Burns was again central to that effort, knocking over two frees to reduce the deficit to a single point.

However, Westmeath steadied themselves impressively. Loughlin restored daylight between the sides with a two-point free of his own before Kelly and Robbie Forde chipped in with important scores.

McKeown showed his range with a superb two-point free followed quickly by another placed ball to bring Louth right back into contention at 2-10 to 0-15.

It was Westmeath who finished stronger when Kevin O’Sullivan struck a vital point to halt Louth’s momentum, and when Tom Molloy sailed over a sublime effort from distance.

Further points from Forde and Loughlin closed out the scoring as Westmeath managed the closing stages with maturity and control. Westmeath will now progress to the last four, while Louth now turn their focus toward the National League opener.

Full time: Westmeath 2-15 Louth 0-15

Westmeath: Jack Connaughton; Jack Geoghegan, Darragh O'Keeffe, Charlie Drumm; Boidu Sayeh, Ronan Wallace, Brian Guerin (1-0); Jonathan Lynam, Harry Niall; Kevin O'Sullivan (0-2), Robbie Forde (0-3, 2f), Brandon Kelly (1-1); Tadhg Baker (0-1), Luke Loughlin (0-5, 1 2ptf), Kealan Connell.

Subs: Tom Molloy (0-2) on for Jack Geoghegan (36'), TJ Cox on for Kealan Connell (0-1) (42'), Eoghan Hogan on for Boidu Sayeh (50').

Louth: Tiernan Markey; Emmett Carolan, Peter Lynch, Padric Tinnelly; Conall McKeever (c), Eoghan Callaghan (0-1), Craig Lennon; Conor Early, Paul Mathews; Liam Jackson, Ciarán Downey, Ciarán Byrne; Dylan McKeown (0-4, 1 2tpf, 1f), Conall McCaul (0-2), Ryan Burns (0-8, 2tpf, 2f, 1 ‘45).

Subs: Seán Callaghan on for Ciaran Byrne (15'), Pearse Grimes-Murphy on for Liam Jackson (30'), Daire McConnon on for Ciarán Downey (HT), Leonard Grey on for Craig Lennon (33'), Darragh Dorian on for Ryan Burns (43'), James Maguire on for Conall McCaul (52'), Evan Whelan for Eoghan Callaghan (52).

Referee: Lar Murphy (Carlow).