Lake men spring a surprise
FORMER captain Ger Egan blasted 1-5 as underdogs Westmeath eased past Dublin to claim a first O’Byrne Cup title in 31 years.
Egan, Kieran Martin and Tommy McDaniel all excelled for last season’s tournament runners-up who made light of their underdogs tag.
Dublin, going with an experimental lineup again and managed by Paul Clarke, were tipped to back up their win over Meath last weekend. But they led only briefly early on as Westmeath set the agenda at Parnell Park.
But Dublin won’t be overly concerned if Jim Gavin can pluck a player or two from the rookie group for Allianz League duty. Aaron Byrne, Sean Bugler and Sean McMahon all stood out as from the pack.
Dublin named the same team that beat Meath after penalties in the semi-final but made two 11th hour alterations.
Wing-back Cian O’Connor and midfielder Darren Gavin, both of whom played for UCD in the Sigerson Cup yesterday, were replaced by Andrew McGowan and Jack Hazley.
McGowan and centre-back Conor Mullally were the only two Dublin starters that featured in last year’s Championship, both players coming on against Roscommon in the Super 8s.
Westmeath were closer to full strength and included 2018 vicecaptain James Dolan in the halfback line after missing last summer’s Championship to travel.
Like Meath, Westmeath were the dominant side early on and should have led by more than 0-5 to 0-4 at half-time.
They kicked five wides in the half and Noel Mulligan had a goal chance smothered by Dublin goalkeeper Andy Bunyan.
Westmeath regulars Egan and Martin provided the classy moments and contributed three of those first-half points.
The duo combined for a sumptuous 33rd minute score when Martin caught a kick-out and fed Egan who strode clear and split the posts.
Dublin struggled to break down Westmeath’s fortified defence with Byrne, the 2017 All-Ireland Under-21 Player of the Year, their best forward.
The Na Fianna man, a penalty scorer last weekend, hit two eye-catching first-half points.
Egan later upped the ante and curled over a beauty from distance after converting a free.
Dublin brought on Conor McHugh and Colm Basquel and McHugh duly cut the deficit with a 42nd minute point.
But another Egan point left Westmeath four clear again and Dublin looked in real trouble with 20 minutes to go.
Egan then slammed in Westmeath’s 58th minute goal.
Byrne, McHugh and Bugler picked off three points in a row but it was too little too late as Westmeath celebrated a rare final win. WESTMEATH: E Carberry; K Daly, R Wallace, B Sayeh; J Dolan, N Mulligan, D Lynch; S Flanagan (C Slevin 60), S Duncan; G Egan, C McCormack (T McDaniel 10, J Maxwell 70), N O’Reilly; J Halligan (G Leech 51), K Martin, R O’Toole (N Cully 73) Scorers: G Egan 1-5 (0-1f), T McDaniel 0-3, R O’Toole 0-2, K Martin, G Leech 0-1. DUBLIN: A Bunyan; N Doran (L Flatman 60), S McMahon, C Smith; A McGowan (D Monaghan 55), C Mullally, R McDaid; C Howley (L Galvin 60), J Hazley (T Lahiff h/ t); R Basquel (S Boland 50), A Byrne, S Bugler; C Pearson (C McHugh h/t), S Smith (C Diamond 60), O Lynch (C Basquel h/t). Scorers: A Byrne, S Bugler, C McHugh (02f) 0-3, S Smith 0-1 (0-1f). Referee: D Hickey (Carlow).