Westmeath battle past Kildare in extra time to progress to first Leinster SFC final in a decade

May 03, 2026

Westmeath's Sam McCartan and Darragh Kirwan of Kildare during the Leinster SFC semi-final in Tullamore ©INPHO/James Lawlor

Westmeath will play in their first Leinster senior football championship final in a decade after coming out on top against Kildare (2-21 to 0-23) in a thrilling contest at Glenisk O'Connor Park this afternoon.

Brandon Kelly’s goal towards the end of the first-half of extra time proved crucial for the Lake men in finally seeing off the Lilywhites who had forced the added periods in Tullamore with an Alex Beirne point before the hooter sounded.

It was Brian Flanagan’s side that made the better start to this provincial semi-final, running up a 0-7 to 0-3 lead with the help of scores from Ben Loakman and Darragh Kirwan, but Westmeath would level matters by the 27th minute and move ahead through a Kelly point two minutes later.

Brian Cooney’s brilliant goal three minutes before the break put four between the sides before Darragh Swords landed a two-pointer at the other end and Eoin Cully added a point, leaving it at 1-8 to 0-10 when the sides went in.

Cully levelled the sides four minutes into the resumption, but Mark McHugh’s side would go up by four again prior to Beirne’s two-point free being backed up by the points of Kirwan and Kevin Feely.

Two scores from Sam McCartan, including a fantastic effort from beyond the arc, and a Shane Allen point looked like being enough to get Westmeath over the line, but Beirne would rescue extra time for his side.

Kirwan and Ronan Wallace traded the first two points of the added period and Brian McLoughlin would nudge Kildare in front again with a free ahead of 'Man of the Match' Kelly rattling their net.

From there, Westmeath outscored their opponents by 0-4 to 0-2 to seal the deal and secure a provincial final date against Dublin at Croke Park two weeks from today.


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