Devine stands out for Lake men

WESTMEATH kept their 100pc record intact with a dogged victory at Corrigan Park, Belfast.

In an evenly matched but lacklustre opening half, only one of the first 11 scores came from play.

Derek McNicholas’ sideline cut drew Westmeath level, and kickstarted an unanswered run of 1-5 as the visitors led 1-9 to 0-6 at the break. Alan Devine scored the goal, getting on the end of a hopeful lob into the small square.

Antrim soon erased the deficit, thanks to a goal from Keelan Molloy, who finished one-handed, a pair of James McNaughton frees and a point from Kevin Rice, but another McNicholas sideline got the Lake Men going again.

They pushed on before Conor McCann and McNaughton cut the gap to the minimum, but a McNicholas free in injurytime secured the points.