After capturing the Hastings Cup for the first time, Westmeath entered the Leinster under 21 football championship in a confident frame of mind. But their campaign failed to extend beyond the first round after a bitterly disappointing display against eventual champions Kildare. For a team that promised much, the Westmeath under 21 footballers proved a massive disappointment in the 2004 Leinster championship. After capturing the Hastings Cup for the first time in January, hopes were high that Westmeath could make a major impact on the championship and possibly emulate the feats of the successful teams managed by Luke Dempsey in 1999 and 2000. But when D-Day arrived, the team failed abysmally to live up to expectations and could have no complaints after their 1-5 to 1-11 defeat at the hands of Kildare on March 27 last. "The sad part is that we didn't do ourselves justice," said Westmeath manager Ambrose McGowan who, along with his co-selectors Eugene Dolan, Tommy McCormack, Garry Sammon and Ger Deegan, spared no effort in preparing the team. "It wasn't a lack of workrate, in fairness the players worked as hard as they could, but it just didn't work out for us. I'm sure it's very disappointing for the Westmeath supporters, so on the behalf of the players and management, apologies for that." The season couldn't have got off to a better start for Westmeath who defeated Roscommon by 0-14 to 0-10 to land the Hastings Cup. En route to the final which was played under lights at a bitterly cold Tubberclair venue on January 27, Westmeath recovered from a first round loss to Longford to defeat Leitrim and Cavan. They also drew with Roscommon. Despite being without the services of senior players Denis Glennon, Paul Martin and Donal O'Donoghue as well as PJ Ward who had just undergone an operation, Westmeath had things very much their own way in the decider. They played their best football in the opening 18 minutes when points from Francis Spollen, David Reynolds, Paddy Mulvihill, Alan Hickey and Aidan Finnan eased them into a 0-7 to 0-1 lead. Gavin Dolan replied with two fress for Roscommon before Spollen, Finnan and substitute Anthony Clinton added further scores to leave the home side perched on a 0-11 to 0-3 interval lead. With the wind to their backs in the second half, the visitors showed a big improvement and had reduced the deficit to four points with five minutes remaining. However, their comeback was effectively ended when Spollen - playing on his home patch - kicked a crucial point to push Westmeath five clear once more. Substitute Mark Shine managed an injury-time point for Roscommon, but it had no bearing on the outcome. A few weeks later, Westmeath's championship preparations were rocked by the news that inspirational captain Finian Newman would miss the Kildare game through injury. The Bunbrosna clubman suffered a broken jaw after being struck in an off-the-ball incident during a senior challenge between Westmeath and Cavan in Athlone and his loss to the under 21s would prove immeasurable. Despite that setback and the continued unavailability of the senior players, Westmeath's pre-championship form remained encouraging with wins being recorded over the likes of Kerry and Tyrone. But that form was sadly lacking when the real test came against Kildare in Newbridge. The Lilywhites - who had hammered Laois in an earlier round - led from start to finish on a day to forget for Westmeath football. Opting not to start senior players Paul Martin and Denis Glennon (the latter was introduced 10 minutes into the second half), the visitors struggled throughout and their return of 1-1 from play was never going to be enough against opposition that displayed a much greater appetite for the game. Kildare also held a significant advantage in terms of physique, particularly at midfield where Willie Heffernan and Darryl Heffernan lorded proceedings. In ideal conditions for football, the home side made a bright start with James Kavanagh and Adrian Kelly notching early points. Francis Spollen opened Westmeath's account from a free before Darryl Flynn restored Kildare's two-point advantage. On 10 minutes, Spollen brilliantly landed a free from close to the right sideline but Westmeath's hopes were dealt a major blow moments later when PJ Ward was forced to retire with a hamstring problem. Kildare moved 0-4 to 0-2 clear when Flynn scored an excellent long-range point before Spollen again replied with a pointed free to leave just the minimum between the sides at half-time. On the restart, Kildare surged into a 0-7 to 0-3 lead thanks to unanswered scores from Tommy Archbold, Ross Glavin and Derek McCormack. But the margin was back down to a point after 43 minutes when Paddy Mulvihill blasted to the net after fielding a high ball from Spollen. Now Westmeath had the chance to put real pressure on Kildare, but the equalizing point they so desperately sought just wouldn't come and in 47th minute, their hopes were all but crushed when another high ball caused consternation in defence and Kildare's Ross Glavin was on hand to score the goal that cancelled out Mulvihill's effort. Derek McCormack quickly added a point and although Aidan Finnan and Mulvihill (free) replied for Westmeath, the Lilywhites remained in total control. They put the result beyond all doubt when Glavin and Kelly tagged on late points. "We had a period after the goal and we should have done more with it but we didn't unfortunately. The next score was vital and we didn't get it," McGowan reflected. "When we got the goal, I thought at that stage we'd head for home but it didn't happen. A couple of wrong decisions on the ball at that stage cost us I'd say. "Kildare's goal was a killer because we were very close to scoring a goal ourselves in the first half. In fact, there were two goal instances in the first half and maybe if the luck had been running with us, we might have got them and they may have settled us a little bit earlier. "Having said that, I can't have any complaints about the scoreline. The better team won on the day. That was it." He added: "To win the Hastings Cup was nice but it was so long ago that it didn't have any bearing. But I was quite confident going into the game. The lads were in good form. I was happy enough with preparations. Unfortunate is too mild a word, it's a tragedy that it has happened. But it has happened and we have to move on." The Westmeath team which lost to Kildare was: Stephen Gallagher; Alan Fennell, Kenny Larkin, Stephen Burke; Daniel McDermott, Donal O'Donoghue, Graham Dillon; Paul Bannon, David Reynolds; Paul Dillon, PJ Ward, Aidan Finnan; Francis Spollen, Paddy Mulvihill, Alan Hickey. Subs used: Anthony Clinton, Denis Glennon, Niall McGurran, Damien Doyle and Jarlath Nohilly. Tweet

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