WESTMEATH...0-11 OFFALY...0-10: Offaly have known happier finales in Croke Park; Westmeath probably haven't. Yesterday's Bank of Ireland Leinster football championship preliminary round ended in the sort of tense conclusion that usually goes against Westmeath.
But a man short, their once solid lead evaporating and under the hammer as Offaly having finally established what looked like killer momentum, surged forward, Páidi Ó Sé's team opted for a novel ending.
They held firm and in the 68th minute - just after a save by Gary Connaughton prevented a goal from Thomas Deehan and subsequent attempts at a score ended up wide - it was Michael Ennis, breaking from the back, who took on the shot after Brian Morley had created an opening. It sailed over to put Westmeath a point ahead, 0-11 to 0-10, and despite frantic efforts by Offaly, the gap couldn't be bridged.
The sepulchral gloom in the losers' dressing room reflected both the defeat and its agonising nature. At nearly all stages of the match, Offaly had the opposition within their sights but lack of concentration and an intolerable quantity of wides thoroughly undermined their chances.
It was to the winners' credit that they absorbed strenuous pressure at various stages but always managed to stay above water. In this respect the defence were excellent. In the first half the full backs were all over their opponents like a barrier cream.
So claustrophobic was the marking that frequently Offaly forwards had the ball knocked from their hands and were unable to compete physically. Donal O'Donoghue was immense at full back and well supported by James Davitt and John Keane. Offaly manager Gerry Fahy tried different combinations in an effort to unlock the defence but was unable to click the right digits in a line.
Yet again a match was vitally influenced by a red card issued to the ultimately successful team. In the 46th minute centrefielder Rory O'Connell was sent off by referee Paddy Russell after consultation with a linesman concerning an off-the-ball incident with Paschal Kellaghan.
No one acknowledged having seen the alleged offence but Ó Sé and Westmeath chairman Séamus Whelan separately said that O'Connell had vigorously disputed the red card but - unless exculpated by video evidence - he now faces at least a four-week suspension, which will keep him out of the quarter-final against Dublin on June 6th.
From the start Westmeath were the more urgent team. Offaly's defence gave their men a lot of room and for a time Denis Glennon and Des Dolan threatened to go to town before Conor Evans took a grip at full back. But when Offaly had possession at the other end they were unable to make it count let alone create any sort of platform.
For instance, before the break Offaly managed to conjure two goal openings. In the 30th minute Neville Coughlan went for a point and failed to achieve even that curtailed ambition and within seconds, replacement James Coughlan, the most menacing of his team's forwards, burst on to a break only for Connaughton to save the resulting shot.
Offaly got to half-time on a further downward note after captain Ciarán McManus - man of the match in the Division Two final - had kicked three wides, two from frees and one from a 45, all in the space of three minutes.
Trailing by 0-3 to 0-7, Offaly were out early for the second half and waiting so long for Westmeath to join them that Fahy reconvened the team huddle.
The restart was edgy with both teams missing chances. McManus set the umpires waving again whereas Des Dolan, in an eerie reprise of the kick that should have beaten Meath a year ago, put a 25-metre free off the post and wide.
Then Offaly ignited. Three sublime points in four minutes sent the temperature rising. Neville Coughlan got the first and James Coughlan the other two - one a slick finish to a move that swept from defence through the field in seconds and the other an uncanny shot from the tightest of angles.
Just after that O'Connell got the line. This looked like curtains for Westmeath. Having seen their decent half-time lead whittled down from four to one, they now had to contemplate the rest of the match without their main ball winner. But as so often happens in these situations, the matter worked in favour of the weakened team.
Offaly were patently confused about how to deploy the spare man - trying three players, Evans, Cathal Daly and Karol Slattery - whereas Westmeath went up a gear and began to resist the fight back. The did this so effectively that by the 58th minute they had restored the four-point lead at 0-10 to 0-6 and looked well on their way.
Again the unexpected: Offaly ran off another sequence of scoring that tied the match, culminating in an energetic run from centrefield and a 50-metre shot by McManus, which seemed to indicate that his own spell of ill-luck had been broken.
But it wasn't and as they chased the equaliser Offaly managed three bad wides from Kellaghan, McManus and Neville Coughlan, leaving Westmeath to celebrate a critical and ultimately deserved victory.
WESTMEATH: G Connaughton; J Davitt, D O'Donoghue, J Keane; M Ennis (0-1), D Healy, D Heavin; R O'Connell, D O'Shaughnessy (capt); B Morley (0-2), G Dolan, A Mangan; F Wilson (0-1), D Glennon (0-1), D Dolan (0-5, four frees). Subs: JP Casey (0-1) for Wilson (35 mins), P Conway for G Dolan (66), S Colleary for Mangan, J Fallon for Casey (both 73).
OFFALY: P Kelly; S Sullivan, C Evans, S Brady; B Mooney, C Daly, K Slattery (0-1); C McManus (0-1, capt), J Grennan (0-1); P Kellaghan (0-2) , R Malone, A McNamee; C Quinn, N Coughlan (0-1), N McNamee. Subs: J Coughlan (0-3) for Quinn (26 mins), M Daly for Malone (44), T Deehan (0-1) for A McNamee (56), B Malone for Sullivan (61), C Farrell for N McNamee (66).
Referee: G Harrington (Cork)
