Relief for Lake as Offaly fall
WESTMEATH finally won their Leinster Championship battle with Offaly but manager Tom Cribbin admitted injuries to three key players could affect the war ahead. John Heslin’s 1-6 haul and goals from Kieran Martin and John Egan were decisive in Mullingar where Westmeath beat Offaly at the second attempt to secure a Leinster semifinal clash with Dublin next Sunday. That will be a repeat of the last two Leinster finals and though Cribbin feels his group is stronger generally this year, he admitted that injuries to Paddy Holloway, Callum Mccormack and Denis Glennon are a major issue. “If I didn’t lose three of my key players today I’d say we’re 100 per cent a better side this year,” he said. “But look, we have a few very good young lads coming through and this will present them with opportunities to step up.” Offaly trailed just 0-13 to 0-11 with 54 minutes on the clock but Egan’s goal put Westmeath in the clear and they added late majors through Heslin and Martin. WESTMEATH: D Quinn; K Maguire, P Holloway J Dolan; K Daly, J Gonoud, M Mccallon; A Stone, G Egan (0-1); K Reilly, P Sharry (0-3, 2 45), A Gaughan; K Martin (1-2), J Heslin (1-6, 2f), C Mccormack (0-1). Subs: F Boyle (0-2) for Holloway 6, D Glennon for Mccormack 35+3, J Egan (1-0) for Reilly h/t, T Mcdaniel (0-1) for Glennon 48, D Lynch for Stone 50, N Mulligan for Daly 51-53, Mulligan (0-1) for Gaughan 69. OFFALY: A Mulhall; B Darby, E Rigney, S Pender; N Darby (0-1, 1f), P Cunningham (0-4), C Donoghue; C Mcnamee (0-1), D Hanlon; N Dunne (0-5, 2f), J Moloney, M Brazil (0-1); R Allen, G Guilfoyle (0-1), N Mcnamee. Subs: J Lalor for N Darby h/t, B Allen for N Mcnamee 41, A Sullivan for Brazil 48, J O’connor for Rigney 56, S Doyle (0-2) for Moloney 59, D Hogan for Hanlon 72. REFEREE: R Hickey (Clare).