February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
Westmeath had two Laois players in for the game, corner forward Tom Fitzgerald and center forward James Young. Young had trouble settling and missed his first three point tries. But once he got those early jitters out of the way, he didn’t miss much more on his way to scoring 1-13.
Young’s first point made the score 0-4 to 0-2 for the Midlanders. He would account for all but one point of Westmeath’s remaining first-half total with 1-5 in the second quarter.
Trevor Fletcher was keeping Tipperary close with three pointed frees and one from play and Tom Moylan was showing better form than earlier in the season. Westmeath led 0-9 to 0-2 with the half winding down. Westmeath center back James Moran set off on a great run, tapping the slithoar over a Tipperary defender before running on to his own pass and driving over a great point.
Then Westmeath got a huge break when emergency goalkeeper Sean Sheppard lost control of the ball and Young pounced on the miscue for a goal just before the halftime buzzer.
Westmeath built on that momentum extending their lead to 1-14 to 0-8 soon after the restart. Tipperary freed Sheppard from the goal at the break in a switch with cornerback Jimmy Lyons and Sheppard responded with a great long-range point.
Young continued to dominate and substitute Ronan Fagan chipped in with back-to-back points. Sheppard went to center back to try to curb Young and John Madden went up field to try his luck in the forwards.
Westmeath ended up giving the clever veteran far too much space in which to operate and Madden and Tipperary soon built an impressive comeback. First Fletcher found Madden unmarked and he buried this chance to bring Tipperary within two goals, 1-17 to 1-11 with 10 minutes to play. After Fletcher pointed twice he banged home a goal from a free. Westmeath were clinging somewhat desperately to a one-goal advantage, 1-19 to 2-13.
The action was all Tipp and Westmeath needed a score. Midfielder Ronan Potts had played very well to that point and now he stepped in when needed most. Showing great control, Potts carried through traffic and scored a great point with just three minutes left. Young followed with a pointed free and maybe Westmeath were home free.
But maybe not. Fletcher fed Madden and Madden shook the twines to bring Tipperary within a point. That was it though as time ran out, and Westmeath hung on.
Man of the Match: James Young
Westmeath: Dermot Dermody, Barry Smith, Peter Dalton, Collie Reilly, James Moran (0-1), John Dowdall, Alan Barry, Ronan Potts (0-2), Kevin Downs, James Young (1-13, 5 frees), Dermot Kenny, Lorcan Coll, Tom Fitzgerald (0-2). Sub: Ronan Fagan (0-2).
Tipperary: Sean Sheppard (0-1), Sean Quirke, Jim Lyons, Alan Slattery, John Madden (2-1), Denis Ryan, Tom Moylan (0-3), Mike O’Dwyer, Paul Brennan, Mike Kennedy, Trevor Fletcher (1-8, 1-6 frees), David Loughnane, Mike Maher. Subs: Paul Casey, Robbie Quinlivan.