Leinster Senior Hurling Championship
GALWAY 6-33
WESTMEATH 0-17
After coming through two tough tests against Wexford and Kilkenny in the opening two rounds of the 2023 Leinster Senior Hurling Championship with three points on the board, Galway had a much more comfortable outing this evening in Mullingar, making light work of Westmeath in a devastating attacking display.
The home side showed plenty of resolve and fight in the opening quarter of an hour, but the floodgates opened after Conor Whelan fired in Galway’s first goal with 15 minutes on the clock, and the Kinvara attacker had completed his hat-trick ten minutes later.
Every starting forward for the Tribesmen had a productive evening, with only Cianán Fahy winding up with less than 0-4, but they were given every chance by some wonderful distribution and delivery from deep. Joseph Cooney didn’t put his name on the scoresheet but he had a wonderful game, getting on a lot of ball and picking out some sublime passes forward, while further back down the pitch, Daithí Burke, Gearóid McInerney and Darren Morrissey all dominated their own little turf wars.
Galway native Davy Glennon tried to lead the fight for Westmeath while Robbie and Gary Greville made positive contributions from the wing back positions, but there was just no stopping the bleeding, with Galway scoring 2-8 in total from the 25th minute onwards. Whelan completed his hat-trick, Brian Concannon rifled a wonderful shot into the top right corner of Noel Conaty’s net from 18 metres out, and Conaty also produced two excellent close-range saves to prevent even further damage.
Liam Collins’ was rewarded for a lively and wholehearted display with the last two points of the first half to make it 4-16 to 0-7 at half-time, and any notion that Galway might ease up after half-time was blown out of the water when Declan McLaughlin (who replaced Whelan ) came off the bench to score a wonderful point and help set up another for Evan Niland in the opening two minutes of the second half.
With 150 seconds gone in the period, Kevin Cooney had sprinted through the heart of the Westmeath defence for goal number five, and it was just a numbers game from then on.
McLaughlin certainly put his hand up for increased involvement in the coming weeks with an eye-catching performance that featured a wonderful goal, while Seán Linnane, Jamie Ryan and Martin McManus also added their names to the scorers’ list after coming on, reinforcing the idea that Henry Shefflin has a wealth of options at his disposal.
Westmeath did enjoy one brief purple patch where Niall O’Brien, Ciarán Doyle and Derek McNicholas all scored from play in quick succession, while players like Conor Shaw and Tommy Doyle continued to battle against the unending tide of Galway pressure, but there was no masking the gulf between two sides that now have very different priorities for the remainder of this provincial championship.
Scorers for Galway: Evan Niland 0-10 (0-6f, 0-1 65 ), Conor Whelan 3-1, Brian Concannon 1-3, Declan McLaughlin 1-2, Kevin Cooney 1-2, Liam Collins 0-4, Cathal Mannion 0-4, Daithí Burke 0-2, Pádraic Mannion 0-1, Cianán Fahy 0-1, Seán Linnane 0-1, Martin McManus 0-1, Jamie Ryan 0-1.
Scorers for Westmeath: Niall O’Brien 0-10 (0-9f ), Davy Glennon 0-2, Joey Boyle 0-1, Gary Greville 0-1, Derek McNicholas 0-1, Ciarán Doyle 0-1, Robbie Greville 0-1.
Galway: Éanna Murphy; Darren Morrissey, Gearóid McInerney, TJ Brennan; Pádraic Mannion, Daithí Burke, Fintan Burke; Cathal Mannion, Joseph Cooney; Cianán Fahy, Brian Concannon, Kevin Cooney; Evin Niland, Liam Collins, Conor Whelan.
Subs: Declan McLaughlin for Whelan (half-time ), Seán Linnane for J Cooney (43 ), Eoin Lawless for D Burke (43 ), Jamie Ryan for Concannon (53 ), Martin McManus for Collins (61 ).
Westmeath: Noel Conaty; Tommy Doyle, Conor Shaw, Johnny Bermingham; Robbie Greville, Aaron Craig, Gary Greville; Charlie McCormack, Cormac Boyle; Kevin Regan, Davy Glennon, Eoin Keyes; Niall O’Brien, Joey Boyle, David Williams.
Subs: Shane McGovern for Aaron Craig (half-time ), Ciarán Doyle for Regan (46 ), Derek McNicholas for Williams (46 ), Darragh Clinton for C Boyle (54 ), Peter Clarke for Keyes (68 )
Referee: Kevin Jordan (Tipperary ).
