Joe McDonagh Cup

WESTMEATH 2-19 KILDARE 1-21

Kevin Egan at TEG Cusack Park

On paper it didn’t make any difference, but the passion of the crowd and the exciting hurling that led up to it meant that Derek McNicholas’ match winner at the end of this thoroughly enjoyable Joe McDonagh Cup fixture seemed like an All-Ireland winning score to the 30 players on the field at TEG Cusack Park.

Regardless of whether McNicholas’ fantastic strike from out on the left sideline traversed the crossbar or not, Westmeath were bound for the Joe McDonagh Cup final and Kildare were set to play a relegation final next Saturday. The Lily Whites needed a one-point win to avoid relegation or a four-point victory to sneak into the final, and as the four minutes of stoppage time had expired, that ship had just about sailed – but it was right in the balance up to the end, which is yet another marker of serious progress in Kildare hurling, following on from their big wins at minor and U-20 level during the week.

A strong surge at the tail end of their clash with Carlow at Netwatch Cullen Park last week suggested that Westmeath had turned a corner in their season after a difficult league campaign, but they took their time finding their feet on home soil this afternoon, falling 0-7 to 0-2 behind before finally rousing themselves to secure their place in the Joe McDonagh Cup final for the third time in four years.

Kildare were dominant in the middle third during the early stages of the contest, with midfielders Brian Byrne and Paul Divilly responsible for the first three points of the game between them. Defensively they turned over Westmeath a couple of times, Declan Flaherty, Cathal Derivan and Simon Leacy all making some excellent interventions, while Westmeath seemed sluggish and error-prone, not getting off the mark until the 10th minute through a Niall O’Brien free.

Inaccuracy hurt Kildare in that opening half, as did their inability to create chances close to goal (their inside forward duo of Jack Sheridan and David Slattery didn’t score from play between them until the second half), but they still led 0-7 to 0-2 after 20 minutes and looked good, before Westmeath hit their one purple patch in the game.

Niall Mitchell and Niall O’Brien both fired over points before Killian Doyle slotted the equaliser, and it could have been more if Mitchell’s pass to Davy Glennon across the 13 metre line had gone to hand.

Mitchell was a key man for Westmeath last week in Carlow – his output was a little bit more mixed here, but it was still notable that he was central to both Westmeath goals, scoring in the second half and setting up Ciarán Doyle on the half-hour mark.

1-9 to 0-9 at the interval became 1-10 to 0-14 after ten minutes, as Kildare again burst out of the blocks after half-time. Johnny Byrne and David Slattery hadn’t had much impact on the game up to then but they delivered excellent scores to ensure that this game was set to go down to the wire.

Ultimately, it hinged on one key swing moment – a fine save from Noel Conaty at one end to deny Brian Byrne prevented Kildare from going four up, and in the next three plays, we had points from Robbie Greville and Killian Doyle, then a well placed goal from Mitchell.

Again Kildare rallied to drag themselves back into the tie but Killian Doyle’s freetaking meant they were always two or three behind, until a great run from Shane Ryan set up Jack Sheridan for an equalising goal with three minutes to play.

After all that drama, the closing minutes didn’t disappoint. Killian Doyle edged Kildare in front, a superb strike from Paul Divilly levelled it, Doyle and Sheridan again traded points before McNicholas popped up right at the death for the winner.

Scorers for Westmeath: Killian Doyle 0-8 (0-4f), Niall O’Brien 0-5 (0-4f), Niall Mitchell 1-1, Ciarán Doyle 1-0, Josh Coll 0-2, Robbie Greville, Davy Glennon & Derek McNicholas 0-1 each.

Scorers for Kildare: Jack Sheridan 1-5 (0-4f), Brian Byrne 0-6 (0-4f, 0-1 65), Paul Divilly 0-3, James Burke & David Slattery 0-2 each, Cathal Dowling, Kevin Whelan & Johnny Byrne 0-1 each.

Westmeath: Noel Conaty; Darragh Egerton, Tommy Gallagher, Conor Shaw; Aaron Craig, Tommy Doyle, Shane Clavin; Cormac Boyle, Robbie Greville; Joey Boyle, Killian Doyle, Davy Glennon; Niall Mitchell, Niall O’Brien, Ciarán Doyle.

Subs: Alan Cox for Cormac Boyle (half-time), Josh Coll for Greville (50), Darragh Clinton for C Doyle (56), Derek McNicholas for Glennon (63), Jack Galvin for J Boyle (68)

Kildare: Paddy McKenna; Cathal Derivan, Rian Boran, Simon Leacy; Kevin Whelan, Declan Flaherty, Jack Travers; Paul Divilly, Brian Byrne; Johnny Byrne, James Burke, Colm Chan; Jack Sheridan, David Slattery, Cathal Dowling.

Subs: Sean Christianseen for Travers (43), Shane Ryan for J Byrne (45), Kevin Ahearne for Chan (51), Mark Delaney for Slattery (62), Caolan Smith for Dowling (68)

Referee: Cathal McAllister (Cork)