Meath make early exit from O'Byrne Cup following Westmeath draw
John Heslin's converted close range free in the fourth minute of injury-time ended Meath's interest in the O'Byrne Cup and kept defending champions Westmeath on course for a place in the semi-finals following their 1-13 each draw at St Loman's Mullingar today.
Needing a win to maintain their push for a place in the last four and ensure the 4th January clash with Laois heldsome significance Meath looked on course for victory when they led by two points in the 66th minute.
However an adam Neary pointcut the deficit to one andd almost four minutesinto injury-time Offaly referee Fintan Pierce deemed ythat James Mcentee fouled Ronan O'Toole in front of the posts.
The call looked a harsh one as O'Toole was certainlylooking for the contact and hit the ground under pressure. To add insult to injury Pierce tried tojustify his call by issuing a second yellow card to McEntee and sent him off before Heslin pointed his sixth free, seventh point in total, to rescue the draw for Westmeath.
The opening half swung one way and then the other with Meath starting well before being pegged back. The visitors retook the initiative again, but Westmeath finished the half well to lead by two at the break.
Meath's bright start yielded a score for Jack O'Connor inside 15 seconds and a minute later Bryan Menton doubled the advantage.
With the advantage of the wind at their backs Westmeath rallied with John Heslin leading the charge as he converted two frees either side of one from play to open up a 0-3 to 0-2 lead after eight minutes.
After a spell of patient play Bryan McMahon was on hand to tap over the equaliser and in the 16th minute Meath blasted the first goal when a surging run by O'Connor set-up Thomas O'Reilly whose shot was saved by Jordan Nugent. The ball broke to Donal Lenihan who tmade no mistake from close range.
Just seconds later McMahon extended Meath's lead to four points, but then they failed to score for the next 19 minutes as the tide turned firmly in Westmeath's favour.
Two more frees from Heslin closed the gap to two points and when Denis Corron lofted over superbly the hosts were right back in contention.
Westmeath's one-point deficit quickly became a two-point lead as a stray kickout fell to Heslin and he picked out Callum McCormack who rifled to the roof of the net to give Harry Hogan no chance.
Kieran Martin added a point to his earlier yellow card to make it 1-7 to 1-4, but in the last minute of the half Meath ended their barren spell when Shane Walsh converted a free after O'Connor was fouled to close the gap to 1-5 to 1-7 at the break.
Walsh and Martin traded points in the first four minutes after the break as Westmeath maintained their two-point cushion, but three points in two minutes from Cillian O'Sullivan (mark), Thomas O'Reillyand Oisin O'Brien edged Meath into a 1-9 to 1-8 lead.
Heslin responded from a free before points from Martin and O'Toole restored Westmeath's two-point lead again.
Two more frees from Walsh had Meath level with 12 minutes remainin and when Caolac Halligan linked up well with O'Reilly to edge Meath ahead again they looked in a strong position.
Brian Conlon kicked a fine score to give Meath a 1-13 to 1-11 lead, but Westmeath kept pressing, reduced the advantage to one through Neary before the referee Pierce gifted Heslin the equalising point that ended Meath's hopes of winning their 11th O'Byrne Cup.
SCORERS
Meath – Shane Walsh 0-4 frees; Donal Lenihan 1-0; Bryan McMahon 0-2; Jack O'Connor 0-1; Bryan Menton 0-1; Cillian O'Sullivan 0-1 mark; Thomas O'Reilly 0-1; Oisin O'Brien 0-1; Caolac Halligan 0-1; Brian Conlon 0-1.
Westmeath – John Heslin 0-7 six frees; Callum McCormack 1-0; Kieran Martin 0-3; Denis Corroon 0-1; Ronan O'Toole 0-1; Adam Neary 0-1.
Full match report and reaction from Meath manager Andy McEntee in Tuesday's Meath Chronicle.