Westmeath shattered Wicklow's unbeaten run in Division 2A of the National Football League with a fully merited five-point win in a incident-packed contest at Mullingar yesterday.

Controversy surrounded an incident in the tunnel as the teams made their way to the dressing room at half-time, which resulted in Westmeath goalkeeper, Dermot Ryan, receiving a serious facial injury and being replaced by Aidan Lennon.

Dessie Dolan with three points gave Westmeath a fine start, but Wicklow's Trevor Doyle hit back with an opportunist goal in the 13th minute. Shortly after Desmond Dolan had to retire injured following an accidental clash in the 15th minute.

Martin Flanagan scored a terrific 18th minute Westmeath goal as his team eased into a 1-7 to 1-2 lead. Wicklow kept very much in touch with a deft 25th minute Kevin O'Brien goal and late in injury time Kenny Lyons and Shane Colleary points gave Westmeath a narrow 1-10 to 2-5 half-time lead.

Referee Brian Crowe cautioned both teams prior to the restart and his intent to have a firm control resulted in Wicklow's Brian Whelan receiving the red card in the 39th minute.

Ger Heavin scored five points in the final quarter to put this game well beyond the reach of Wicklow.

WESTMEATH: D Ryan, A Lyons, D Murphy, D Brady, D Healy, D Mitchell, K Ryan, R O'Connell, D O'Shaughnessy, L Gillivan, P Conway, S Colleary (0-2), G Heavin (0-8), M Flanagan (1-2), D Dolan (0-3). Subs: J Cooney for D Murphy, K Lyons (0-2) for D Dolan, A Lennon for D Ryan.

WICKLOW: T Murphy, B O hAnnaidh, H Kenny, R Doyle, B Whelan, B O'Donovan, A Foley, D Coffey (0-3), F Daly, K O'Brien (1-2), S Byrne, T Doyle (1-0), D McMahon (0-2), R Coffey (0-1), C Daye (0- 1). Subs: D Gordon for H Kenny, M Murtagh for C Daye, T McGivern for D McMahon

Referee: B Crowe (Cavan).