St. Patrick's Day celebrations were cut short for many Westmeath supporters after they witnessed a hugely frustrating extra-time defeat to Longford in the Leinster under 21 football championship at Cusack Park. Westmeath's heroics at under 21 level in 1999 and 2000 seem but a distant memory after they suffered an extra-time defeat to Longford in the Leinster championship quarter-final at Cusack Park on St. Patrick's Day last. And how ironic it was that the man who masterminded those triumphs, Luke Dempsey, was responsible for plotting the Lake County's downfall on this occasion. But the Rochfortbridge-based schoolteacher was quick to acknowledge that his new charges were extremely lucky to come away with the win. "My initial reaction is absolute joy," he said afterwards. "We might have stolen the game, especially with the goals. We got goals at very opportune times. I'm just overjoyed because I know how down Longford football was when I went down there first, and every win we get is another rung on the ladder." All told, this was a game Westmeath should never have lost. They dominated for long periods, but self destructed by shooting a string of bad wides and gifting Longford two goals. The game was still anyone's after Longford scored their second goal in extra-time, but two inexplicable misses by senior players Denis Glennon and Paddy Mulvihill in the second period let the visitors off the hook. Westmeath's preparations for the Leinster championship were not what they might have been due to the late appointment of Mullingar Shamrocks' Richie O'Donoghue as manager. The Hastings Cup, which Westmeath had won for the first time in 2004, brought little joy with only one victory being achieved at Leitrim's expense. With Longford and Leitrim contesting the final, Westmeath played Cavan in the Shield final. And just as they had done in an earlier meeting between the sides, the Breffnimen emerged victorious. In the weeks before the championship, Westmeath had mixed results in challenge matches. A 0-9 to 0-5 victory over Galway was followed by a 2-7 to 2-12 defeat to Tyrone in Omagh. Despite their indifferent form, Westmeath made the trip to Wexford Park for their first round game in an optimistic frame of mind. Played before a paltry attendance of about 200, the game never reached any great heights but the result was all that mattered for the visitors who were full value for their 2-13 to 2-7 victory. Westmeath showed no ill-effects of the long journey and were 1-2 to 0-0 in front after 13 minutes. Gavin Hoey and Peter Tormey had registered points before a tremendous move involving Graham Dillon and Paul Bannon culminated in Paddy Mulvihill blasting to the net. It was a score which should have settled the visitors but instead they allowed Wexford back into the game almost immediately when PJ Banville found himself in acres of space before crashing a low shot past Westmeath 'keeper Stephen Gallagher. Westmeath responded with a point from Mulvihill, only for the home side to reply with scores from Paddy Murphy and George Sunderland. But three points in the last five minutes of the half from David Glennon, wing back Graham Dillon and Mulvihill saw Westmeath in control at half-time. Wexford started the second half positively and midfielder Michael Doyle pointed to reduce the deficit. David Glennon and Adrian Flynn then traded points before Tormey scored a somewhat scrappy goal to give Richie O'Donoghue's men a 2-8 to 1-4 lead six minutes into the second half. A comfortable win looked to be on the cards for Westmeath, but after points from Mulvihill and Hoey had extended their advantage, Wexford were thrown a lifeline when Banville scored his second goal. The Slaneysiders now trailed by four points, 2-6 to 2-10, but Westmeath refused to panic and they wrapped up victory with points from Denis Glennon, David Glennon and Joe Clarke in the final quarter. Longford were always going to be a step-up in class for Westmeath, with eight of their starting team having won Leinster minor medals in 2002. Before the throw-in, Richie O'Donoghue was forced to reshuffle his line-up as Padraig Walsh was ruled out through injury. David Duffy came into the side at midfield, Denis Glennon moved to full forward, with Paddy Mulvihill switched to the wing. With a strong wind blowing in their favour in the first half, Westmeath made a blistering start and were four points to the good after eight minutes thanks to scores from Peter Tormey (two), David Glennon and Mulvihill. Longford halved the deficit with points from Francis McGee and Declan Farrell before Tormey hit another sweet point after good work by Mulvihill. When Gavin Hoey made it 0-6 to 0-2, the signs looked encouraging for Westmeath. But they then seemed to lose their way, kicking wide after wide. From limited possession, Longford pulled back two points through Paddy Dowd and Francis McGee. Then, deep into injury-time, Westmeath's two-point advantage was wiped out when a misunderstanding between Stephen Gallagher and Paul Bannon under a high ball saw the ball break kindly to full forward Farrell who fisted in from close range to give Longford a hugely flattering 1-5 to 0-7 lead at the break. The second half was riddled with mistakes by both sides, but the tactic of playing Peter Tormey in a sweeper role behind the midfield was working well for Westmeath and they seemed poised for victory when Mulvihill latched onto a superb pass from substitute Joe Clarke before slotting the ball past Longford 'keeper Pat Farrell with two minutes of normal time remaining. Longford were now two points in arrears, but they tapped over a free within a minute to reduce the gap to the minimum. Then David Glennon picked up possession and restored Westmeath's two-point cushion. But Longford weren't finished and after Kevin Smyth had halved the deficit once more, Francis McGee forced extra-time when he levelled from a 45 metre free four and a half minutes into injury-time. Westmeath almost scored a second goal two minutes into the additional period, but Mulvihill was brilliantly denied by Pat Farrell. The Garrycastle man edged the home side back in front with a pressure free, and Denis Glennon finally got off the mark to make it 1-12 to 1-10 at the half-way stage. Two minutes after the restart came the killer blow. Declan Farrell lofted another high ball into the goalmouth and Stephen Gallagher was beaten in the air by Longford substitute David Morgan. The net rippled and Longford were back in front. McGee followed up with his fourth free of the afternoon, and while Denis Glennon replied from a free, the visitors made victory safe when Sean McCormack pointed with the last kick of the game. The Westmeath under 21 team which lost to Longford was: Stephen Gallagher; Eoin O'Meara, Stephen Burke, Adrian Kelly; Michael Curley, Brendan Nannery, Graham Dillon; Paul Bannon, Denis Glennon; David Duffy, Declan McGuinness, Gavin Hoey; Peter Tormey, Patrick Mulvihill, David Glennon. Subs used: Joe Clarke, Fergal O'Reilly and Ronan Foley. Tweet

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