It was a torrid year for Westmeath underage football sides, with the minors and the under 16s both faring poorly in their respective campaigns. Westmeath's great underage football triumphs of the past decade seem but a distant memory after a year that will not hold many fond memories for followers of the county's minor and under 16 teams. The Lake County's underage fortunes plummeted to such an extent in 2003 that it would appear the Westmeath minor board has a genuine crisis on its hands. Three years ago, Westmeath came within a whisker of reaching the All-Ireland minor final. But it is quite clear that standards have slipped dramatically since then. While few believed that Westmeath had a team good enough to win a Leinster minor title last year, they were still expected to put it up to eventual All-Ireland champions Laois in the opening round of the championship at Cusack Park. But after matching their opponents stride for stride for much of the first half, Westmeath's challenge caved in completely following the restart and they were duly hammered on a 3-10 to 0-4 scoreline. The home side's second half display was so poor that it bordered on the embarrassing. In fairness to manager Frank Mescall, he was forced to select from a weakened panel and this made his task doubly difficult against a team who would prove themselves to be the best in the land. For some reason, several of the county's best minor players didn't give the necessary commitment. Mescall was not helped either by the large number of dual players involved in the squad, many of whom would admit that hurling is their preferred sport. Laois, who had an extended run in the Leinster League, looked the sharper throughout, although Westmeath competed well when favoured by the breeze in the opening half. Forced to field without the likes of Dwayne Maher, Conor Jordan, Andrew Heduvan and Alan Gordon, Westmeath fell behind to points from Donal Brennan and Brendan Quigley. The home side eventually opened their account in the 19th minute through Sean Maguire (free) and by the 30th minute, they had edged into a 0-3 to 0-2 lead thanks to further efforts from Ronan Moran and Maguire (sideline kick). However, the turning point came on the stroke of half-time when a quick Laois break out of defence culminated in Louth referee Gabriel McKenny awarding a dubious penalty (the foul appeared to have taken place outside the 13 metre line) which was expertly converted by Colm Kelly. So, instead of being in front at the interval, Westmeath found themselves 0-3 to 1-2 in arrears. The concession of a goal at such a critical stage obviously had a devastating effect on the home side's confidence as within four minutes of the restart, Laois pounced for their second goal through centre forward Ian Fleming. Thereafter, the floodgates opened as a rampant Laois added a further 1-6 to condemn Westmeath to one of their heaviest ever defeats in the minor championship. Colm Kelly, Chris Bergin, Donal Brennan and Barry Fitzgerald had tagged on points before Westmeath's misery was completed in the 55th minute when a weak kick-out by Stephen Gallagher went straight to Bergin who cheekily lobbed the ball over the St. Loman's goalkeeper's head and into an empty net. Two minutes later, Sean Maguire registered Westmeath's only point of the half, but by then Laois' thoughts had already turned to the next round. The performances of the county under 16 side were also a cause for concern. Between 1999 and 2001, Westmeath had a monopoly on the Gerry Reilly Cup and they also captured a Fr Manning Cup during the same period. But from contenders, Westmeath became also-rans in these two prestigious competitions last year. The tone for the Gerry Reilly Cup campaign was set when they were walloped by Meath in their first game. The Fr Manning Cup didn't bring much joy either. Encouragingly, Niall Lynch's charges showed a big improvement in the Leinster tournament which was played in October. Inspired by midfielder Philip Gilsenan, Westmeath opened the tournament with an impressive 4-8 to 0-9 victory over Laois. The St. Paul's man was at his brilliant best, scoring goals either side of half-time and also contributing four points from play. Westmeath led by 3-1 to 0-4 at the break with Ronan Foley and Niall Lynch jnr accounting for their other goals. In their second outing against Offaly, Westmeath struggled for long periods, but still came away with a 0-12 to 1-5 win. With Robbie Lynch in fine form, they enjoyed a 0-6 to 0-4 interval lead, but Offaly came back strongly in the third quarter and a goal from Derek Molloy propelled them into a 1-5 to 0-6 lead after 45 minutes. But Westmeath refused to panic and in the remaining time, Ian Lacey, Lynch and Gilsenan hit unanswered points to complete a fine recovery. Playing their third game in nine days, a lethargic Westmeath crashed to a 0-4 to 1-9 defeat to Limerick in their final game of the round-robin series. However, they still finished as group winners as the clash between Laois and Offaly ended in a draw. In the Leinster semi-final, Westmeath travelled to Baltinglass where they faced the challenge of Wicklow. A place in the provincial decider beckoned, but Westmeath failed to seize the opportunity, succumbing to defeat by 0-4 to 0-8. As was the case against Limerick, Westmeath's indiscipline cost them dearly. The visitors conceded far too many needless frees and were more often than not punished by the accurate Jonathan Kinch who accounted for 0-6 of Wicklow's tally. Westmeath started brightly with points from Philip Gilsenan and Conor Cosgrove giving them a 0-2 to 0-0 lead after 11 minutes. But Wicklow dominated the remainder of the half and were not flattered by their 0-4 to 0-2 interval advantage. Early in the second half, Wicklow had centre back Finian Doyle dismissed. But as so often proves to be the case, the team with 14 players took inspiration from the sending off and went on to record a four-point win. The Westmeath team which lost to Laois in the Leinster minor football championship was: Stephen Gallagher; Michael Curley, Conor Farrell, Adrian Kelly; John Brady, Patrick Ryan, Graham Dillon; Shane Leavy, David Duffy; Geoffrey Farrell, Paul Martin, Sean Maguire; Joe Clarke, Paul Greville, Ronan Moran. Subs used: David Boyce, Graham Whittaker and David Glennon. The under 16 team which succumbed to Wicklow in the Leinster tournament semi-final was: Donal Kenny; Willie Murtagh, Rory Reilly, Cian Murray; Declan Byrne, Aaron Purcell, Robert Dempsey; Philip Gilsenan, John Ahern; Paul Leonard, Ronan Foley, Robbie Lynch; Conor Cosgrove, Niall Lynch, Ian Lacey. Subs used: Philip Dully, Griffin Kearney and Mark McCormack. Tweet

Most Read Stories