Niall O'Brien bagged 2-7 as Westmeath lifted the ESB All-Ireland minor hurling 'B' title at Kildare's expense in Navan on Saturday.

Westmeath 2-12
Kildare 1-12

Both of the Castletown-Geoghegan youngster's goals came in the first half which ensured the Lake County of a 2-4 to 0-8 interval lead. O'Brien's first major helped his side to a 1-2 to 0-2 lead after 11 minutes, but Kildare responded with five unanswered points, including two from midfielder Fergal Conway, to edge ahead by 0-7 to 1-3 after 21 minutes. However, O'Brien's second goal restored Westmeath's lead coming up to half-time.

O'Brien missed the chance to complete his hat-trick just after the restart when he drove a penalty over the bar. Kildare kept plugging away and levelled through Dean Farrell, but Westmeath then began to dominate and scored seven unanswered points per O'Brien (four), centre back Anthony Price (two) and Aonghus Clarke to open up a 2-12 to 0-11 lead.

Kevin Connor grabbed an injury-time goal for the Lilywhites, but it was a case of too little, too late as Westmeath held on for a deserved triumph. Tweet

Most Read Stories