Westmeath and Offaly rack up wide-margin wins to book quarter-final spots
Offaly 2-25 New York 1-12
THERE WERE TWO landslide home wins in the preliminary quarter-finals of the Tailteann Cup today.
But while no-one will be hugely surprised by Offaly recording a comfortable victory over New York at Tullamore, Westmeath's crushing 17-point win over Laois in Mullingar has nailed down the Lake County as the team to beat in the second-tier competition.
Laois never reached the heights that they scaled in last Saturday's dramatic 3-18 to 3-16 win over Offaly, but Westmeath never allowed their fellow midlanders to get off the ground.
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Even on a day when Trevor Collins put in a superb performance to curb dangerman Luke Loughlin, the rest of the Westmeath team stepped up with a superb all round performance.
First among equals was midfielder Sam McCartan, who hoisted over two outstanding two-pointers in the first half and went on to score 0-8 from play in an outstanding effort. Team captain Ronan Wallace was also imperious, scoring 1-5, including goal after the first-half hooter that came from a move that began with a McCartan turnover.
Loughlin also found the net with a penalty, as Westmeath took a 2-12 to 0-7 lead into the dressing room.
The third quarter was a landslide, with Matthew Whittaker adding a third goal with a superb finish, while McCartan and Wallace both kicked highlight reel scores in a 1-10 to 0-2 run.
Laois were a broken team by the end, and Jonah Kelly's goal – also after the hooter – will be scant consolation at the end of a tough evening.
Offaly had a similar margin of victory as they went through the motions against New York. Dylan Hyland was their talisman, kicking 1-12, including a fortunate goal at the very end of their wind-assisted first half.
Given some of the comebacks that have been seen under the new rules, 1-14 to 0-2 at half-time might have been seen as retrievable because a deceptively strong breeze was set to favour New York in the second half, while Offaly racked up 11 first half wides and several other missed opportunities.
Instead Ruairí McNamee kicked 1-2 off the bench as they pulled 18 points clear before a New York rally late on, inspired by a goal of the season contender from Bobby O'Regan, salvaged something from the game for the Exiles.
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