Westmeath 1-13

Meath 1-13

A John Heslin free in the fifth minute of injury-time earned holders Westmeath a draw with Meath in a typically tight O'Byrne Cup local derby at Lakepoint Park.

Eager to bounce back from their first round loss to Louth, the visitors led by 1-3 to 0-3 after 16 minutes thanks to a Donal Lenihan goal, but Westmeath - who beat Wexford in their opening game - hit back with a Callum McCormack major in the 27th minute to take a 1-7 to 1-5 lead into the break.

While Westmeath remain on course to retain the pre-season competition, the result ends Meath's hopes of progressing to the semi-finals early in the New Year.

Jack O'Connor and Bryan Menton posted the game's first two points before Heslin replied with three (two frees) on the trot to give Westmeath a 0-3 to 0-2 lead after eight minutes. But over the next 10 minutes, Bryan McMahon scored points either side of Lenihan's goal to propel the visitors into a 1-4 to 0-3 lead.

However, Westmeath reeled off 1-4 without reply per points from Heslin (two frees), Denis Corroon and Kieran Martin, and McCormack's goal, before a Shane Walsh free left two in it at the break.

Walsh and Martin exchanged points after the restart before three unanswered points from Cillian O'Sullivan (advanced mark), Thomas O'Reilly and Oisin O'Brien edged Andy McEntee's men back in front. Westmeath responded with three of their own from Heslin (free), Martin and Ronan O'Toole, only for the visitors to grab the next four through Walsh (two frees), Caolach Halligan and Brian Conlon to open up a 1-13 to 1-11 lead with four minutes of normal time remaining.

But a point from Tang's Adam Neary reduced the deficit to the minimum before O'Toole was fouled in front of the posts by James McEntee, and Heslin tapped over for his seventh point of the afternoon.

Westmeath - J Nugent; J Smith, B Sayeh, D Lynch; R Wallace, N Mulligan, C Coughlan; D Corroon (0-1), D Giles; K Martin (0-3), J Heslin (0-7, 6f), N O’Reilly; R O’Toole (0-1), C McCormack (1-0), L Dolan. Subs: K Daly for N Mulligan, A McGivney for C Coughlan, C Slevin for J Smith, J Halligan for L Dolan, A Stones for D Giles, A Neary (0-1) for C McCormack, C Dillon for N O’Reilly, N Harte for D Corroon.

Meath - H Hogan; R Clarke, C McGill, S Gallagher; J McEntee, E Lynch, R Ryan; B Conlon (0-1), B Menton; J O’Connor (0-1), S Walsh (0-4f), B Brennan; B McMahon (0-3), T O’Reilly (0-1), D Lenihan (1-0). Subs: C O’Sullivan (0-1m) for B Brennan, S Tobin for D Lenihan, T Murtagh for E Lynch, O O’Brien (0-1) for B McMahon, D Toner for S Gallagher, C Halligan (0-1) for B Menton, D Keogan for R Ryan, A Colgan for H Hogan.

Referee - F Pierce.

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