Louth cruise to Leinster U20 victory away to Westmeath

Louth opened their Leinster U20 Football Championship defence with a composed and convincing victory over Westmeath under the lights at a bitterly cold Dovida Lakepoint Park tonight.

This refixed Round One tie drew a big crowd to Mullingar, but it was the visitors who settled quickest and never relinquished control.

Despite being without some experienced options, Louth played with assurance throughout and always looked the more dangerous side.

They were ahead inside a minute through an Adam Gillespie free, before Pearse Grimes-Murphy burst straight through the centre and finished confidently to the net after five minutes.

Further points from Gillespie, Conor McGinty and Andrew O’Reilly stretched the lead, while Westmeath struggled to find any rhythm up front.

Their first score didn’t arrive until the 14th minute through Neale Pierson, and even then Louth continued to dictate matters.

The visitors struck again for a crucial second goal after a well-worked move opened up the Westmeath defence and Shane Lennon finished from close range to leave nine between the sides.

Louth led by nine points at the break and could easily have been further ahead.

Half time: Westmeath 0-2 Louth 2-5

Any hopes of a Westmeath response faded almost immediately after the restart when Grimes-Murphy combined neatly with Lennon, who fired home his second goal to extend Louth’s advantage.

From there, Louth remained in control as Gillespie added an excellent two-pointer, while Cillian McQuillan and Tadhg Devaney kept the scoreboard moving.

Westmeath did enjoy a brief lift when substitute Seán Whittaker’s long-range effort dropped into the net, and Donnacha Maguire added a second goal late on, but the outcome was never seriously in doubt.

Louth responded to each Westmeath score with one of their own, with points from Grimes-Murphy, Lennon and Devaney ensuring they finished strongly to seal a deserved eight-point win.

It was an efficient and disciplined display from the reigning champions, who now look ahead to a meeting with Dublin in Parnell Park next Wednesday with confidence.

Full time: Westmeath 2-5 Louth 3-13 

Westmeath: James Mitchell; Taylor Slevin (0-1, 1f), Cian Whitney, Adam Glynn; Ty Masterson, Conor Daly, Brian Doyle; Donnacha Maguire (1-0), Criostoir Ormsby; Neale Pierson (0-1), Mikey Weir, Matthew Thornton (0-1); James McHugh (0-1, 1f), Kealan Connell, Will Scahill.

Subs: Paul Keegan on for Brian Doyle (25'), Ben Sheeran (HT), Seán Whittaker (1-0) on for Neale Pierson (35'), Henry Duncan on for Mikey Weir (41'), Brian Ronan (0-1) on for James McHugh (49').

Louth: Tiernan Markey; Michael McGlew, Micheal Reid, Daniel Craven; Donnacha Skinnader, Cormac McKeown (c), Tadhg Devaney (0-3); Colm Hackett, Conor McGinty (0-1); Andrew O’Reilly (0-1), Shane Lennon (2-1), Pearse Grimes-Murphy (1-2); Adam Gillespie (0-4, 1tp, 2f), Seán Flynn (0-1), Cillian McQuillan (0-1).

Subs: Tony McDonnell on for Cillian McQuillan (41'), Cian Spaight for Andrew O’Reilly (53'), Eoin McCoy on for Pearse Grimes-Murphy (55'), Donal McArdle on for Shane Lennon (57').

Referee: Kieran Olwell (Meath).