Leinster MFC: late Shanley strike sinks Wexford
April 13, 2013
Westmeath's Matthew Darling clears his lines as Wexford's Owen Roche closes in during the Leinster MFC game at Cusack Park. Photo courtesy of Daniel Boyce Photography.
Wexford 0-10
Tommy Carr's Westmeath have qualified for the quarter-finals of the Electric Ireland Leinster MFC after staging a late rally to beat Wexford at Cusack Park, Mullingar.
The visitors led from the first minute until the 58th minute when man of the match Luke Loughlin brought Westmeath level before giving them the lead with a sublime point from 40 metres. Straight from Dylan Cloke's poorly-struck kick-out, the Lake County won possession again and substitute Kieran Shanley fired home the only goal to complete the comeback.
Pat O'Rourke's Wexford side dominated possession in the first half, but some terrible shooting meant they only led by 0-6 to 0-4 at the interval. Scores from Donal Shanley, Cormac O'Rourke and midfielder Jamie Carty - who was later forced to retire with an injury - eased them into an early 0-4 to 0-1 lead.
Two more Shanley frees and a Tom Byrne effort brought their total to six points before half-time, but a two-point advantage was scant reward for the amount of possession they enjoyed.
The Slaneysiders had extended their lead to 0-9 to 0-5 before Westmeath finally came to life in the final quarter. Substitute Robert Hickey made a big impact, but it was Loughlin who led the comeback with some well-taken scores.
When The Downs clubman made it 0-9 each, one got the feeling that there was only going to be one winner. Westmeath scored 1-5 without reply to lead by 1-10 to 0-9 in injury-time before the shell-shocked visitors managed a late consolation score.
Wexford now face Carlow in the first round of the losers' group section on Wednesday week, April 24, while Westmeath - who have a lot of improving to do - must wait to find out who their quarter-final opponents will be.
Westmeath - S Keenan; B O'Donohoe, M Darling, B Sayeh; D Giles, R Caffrey, L Beddows; D Lyons, T Watts; R Cunningham, A Hughes, J Scully (0-2); J Corbally (0-2), S Clavin, L Loughlin (0-5). Subs: R Hickey (0-1) for Clavin, G Murray for Lyons, C Shanley (1-0) for Sayeh.
Wexford - D Cloke; D Redmond, J Rossiter, J Reville; N Rossiter, G Staples, J McDonald; P Barden (0-1), N Hughes (0-1); B Cowman, O Roche, D Shanley (0-4); T Smith, J Carty (0-1), C O'Rourke (0-1). Subs: T Byrne (0-1) for Carty, J Bolger (0-1) for Smith, C Farrell for Cowman.
Referee - F Smyth. Tweet
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