BATTER TO HAVE MART THAN NOT
Westmeath Cavan
2-14 1-13
BY PAUL KEANE
RONAN O’TOOLE says there’s no stopping ‘battering ram’ Westmeath attacker Kieran Martin once he gets going.
Powerhouse Martin (below) nailed the supersub role with a thrilling Croke Park cameo that yielded the match-winning goal.
The scores were tied at 1-13 apiece in the 67th minute when ex-captain Martin burst through the centre of Cavan’s defence and struck the net.
Ronan Wallace tagged on an insurance point as Westmeath came from behind with a 1-4 blast to claim the inaugural Tailteann Cup title.
O’toole grabbed the man of the match award with 0-5 but shifted the focus onto gamebreaker Martin.
He said: “It just shows the strength in depth that we have in the squad, to bring on a player like that. Kieran Martin went through there and he was like a battering ram.
“I don’t think anyone could have stopped him. I thought he was going to go through the net at one stage.
“It shows the character in the squad too, to come back like we did.”
O’toole showed he enjoys the big occasion too with another huge Croke Park performance.
He netted just seconds into the Leinster semi against Kildare there in mid-may and struck 0-4 against Offaly at GAA headquarters to reach the Tailteann decider.
The Mullingar man said: “I think every forward enjoys the place. There’s plenty of grass and space.”
The landmark win means Westmeath will avoid next year’s
Tailteann Cup – regardless of how they fare in the National League.
But they did it the hard way, coughing up a two-point half-time lead to trail by three approaching the hour.
Cavan reeled off 1-4 between the 39th and 56th minutes, the goal coming from Padraig Faulkner, before losing Thomas Galligan to a straight red card.
The 2020 All Star hit O’toole hard, high and late with a huge shoulder.
O’toole said: “I think I got to the ball first and then I got hit, I didn’t see where he hit me but it’s the ref’s decision.”
Cavan boss Mickey Graham said: “I thought Thomas was coming for a big hit, he probably just mistimed it more than anything else.” Graham described it as a big “opportunity missed” and the 2020 Ulster title winning manager will consider his position now after four seasons.
He said: “Sometimes change is good and I’ll have to sit down and talk to the players, maybe in a couple of weeks, and see what their thought process is but also myself, the inter-county management game is a tough gig.”
WESTMEATH: J Daly; J Gonoud, J Smith, K Maguire; R Wallace (0-1), D Lynch, J Dolan; R Connellan, S Duncan; S Mccartan (0-3, 1 45), R O’toole (0-5), J Lynam; L Loughlin (0-2), J Heslin (0-3, 2f), L Dolan (1-0). Subs: G Egan for Lynam 58, K
Martin (1-0) for L Dolan 60, A Gardiner for Loughlin 70.
CAVAN: R Galligan; N Carolan, K Brady, P Faulkner (1-0); J Mcloughlin (0-1), C Moynagh, C Brady; T Galligan, K Clarke; O Kiernan (0-1), G Mckiernan (0-3, 1f), G Smith (0-3); J Smith (0-1), P Lynch (0-3), C Madden. Subs: S Smith (0-1) for Madden HT, M Reilly for C Brady 51, L Fortune for Moynagh 66, C O’reilly for K Brady 71, C Madden for Clarke 71. REFEREE: B Cassidy (Derry).