Westmeath underage hurling received a significant boost last August when the county under 14 team won the Shield final at the Tony Forrestal tournament in Waterford. A 2-7 to 1-6 victory over neighbours Meath gave Westmeath their first success in the prestigious tournament since 1995. The victory was all the sweeter for the Lake County after they had lost to the same opposition in the qualifying rounds. Managed by county senior hurler Paul Williams, who was assisted by Aidan Davitt, Billy Foley, Billy Boyle, Thady Burke and Martin Healy, Westmeath warmed up for the Waterford tournament by travelling to Kilkenny in July for a week of intensive training and competitive games at the DJ Carey School of Hurling. The Lake County side recorded wins over Louth (6-10 to 1-2) and Wicklow (7-5 to 2-1) before taking on the home county. The Kilkenny team boasted plenty of household hurling names, including Henderson, Delaney and Lyng, but Westmeath were in no way overawed and were unlucky not to win. The Cats raced into a 1-1 to 0-0 lead before a well-taken Darren Flynn goal left the minimum between the sides at the break. Stephen Boylan brought Westmeath level immediately after the resumption, only for Kilkenny to reply with an unanswered 1-1. The visitors looked to be in trouble at this stage, but a goal from Southern Gaels' Joe Crampton and a late equalizing point from Alan McGrath earned them a share of the spoils, the final score being 2-2 apiece. In their final game, Westmeath made it three wins from four when overcoming Carlow by 2-3 to 1-2. The Barrowsiders led by 1-0 to 0-2 at half-time and they stretched their advantage to three points on the restart before Westmeath suddenly came to life. A Barry O'Meara goal brought them level and Alan McGrath quickly followed up with the lead point. The outcome remained in doubt until the closing stages when Stephen Boylan scored the insurance goal for Paul Williams' team. In addition to being the best team in attendance, Westmeath won two other accolades. Clonkill's Alan McGrath won the Skills competition and Stephen Boylan of Castlepollard was joint winner of the Wall Ball competition. The Tony Forrestal Shield success capped a very successful year for the young Westmeath hurlers. The Shield final was a thrilling encounter with Meath putting up a great fight. Meath led by 0-2 to 0-1 before Joe Crampton fielded 30 yards out and fed Barry O'Meara who eluded his marker and fired to the net. But the Royals replied with two quick points to restore parity at the interval, 1-1 to 0-4, Having played with a strong wind in the first half, the signs didn't look encouraging for Westmeath. But they rolled up their sleeves and absorbed everything that Meath could throw at them. Points from O'Meara and Darren Flynn were cancelled out by similar scores for Meath before O'Meara scored a second goal to put the Lake County in the driving seat. With five minutes remaining, Westmeath led by 2-6 to 1-6 but they were under intense pressure and substitute Adam Shields was called upon to make two very important interceptions. Westmeath eventually lifted the siege and when Darren Flynn gathered a bal in midfield and raced past two defenders before striking the ball on the run for a point, the Tony Forrestal Shield was theirs. Afterwards, Barry O'Meara was presented with the man of the match award before Darren Flynn lifted the Shield to rapturous applause. The victorious Westmeath team and subs were: Cormac Boyle; Shane McLoughlin, Conor Foley, Derek Healy; Colin O'Brien, Alan McGrath, Robert Vaughan; Phelim Burke, Shane Donagher; Darren Flynn (captain), Joe Crampton, Barry O'Meara; Scott Hogan, Stephen Boylan, Brian Fitzgerald. Subs: Adam Shields, Cormac Boyle, Cian Murtagh, Alan Murtagh, Andrew Murtagh, James Larkin, Owen Sullivan, Ronan Scally, Hugh Gaffney, Ger McGovern, Richard O'Neill, Eoin Whelan and Andrew Noone. Tweet

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