Kildare 1-22
Westmeath 0-9

Kildare led from start to finish to hand Westmeath the wooden spoon in the battle of the relegated sides at Newbridge.

It was all so easy for the home side who were well on their way to a second win of the campaign when Cathal McNally's goal helped them to a commanding 1-9 to 0-3 interval lead.

It has been a torrid campaign for Westmeath, who have looked out of their depth in the top flight, and their manager Paul Bealin now faces a huge task to restore confidence ahead of next month's Leinster SFC opener against Louth - the winners of which will face Kildare in the quarter-final.

Darroch Mulhall, Niall Kelly and Fergal Conway were among the point-scorers as the Lilwyhites eased into a 0-7 to 0-2 lead after 27 minutes. And it was all over bar the shouting when McNally grabbed the only goal just before the break.

It continued to be one-way traffic in the second half as Kelly, Paddy Brophy, Sean Hurley and Mulhall scored at will to ensure Jason Ryan's men finished the campaign on a high.

Kildare - S Connolly; M O'Grady, M Foley, P Kelly; F Conway (0-1), G White, K Cribbin; T Moolick, H Lynch; C McNally (1-1), P O'Neill (0-2), P Cribbin; N Kelly (0-5), P Brophy (0-1), D Mulhall (0-7, 4f). Subs: S Hurley (0-3) for P Cribbin, F Dowling (0-1) for P Brophy, E Callaghan (0-1) for H Lynch, J Doyle for C McNally, E Bolton for F Conway, D Hyland for P Kelly (BC).

Westmeath - S Gallagher; S Gilmore, K Gavin, K Maguire; S Flynn, P Sharry, K Daly; D Duffy, R Connellan; C McCormack (0-1), G Egan (0-3, 1f, 1'45), K Martin; J Dolan, D Dolan, D Glennon (0-4, 3f). Subs: J Gilligan for K Gavin, A Giles (0-1) for D Dolan, J Gonoud for S Gilmore, D Harte for K Daly, D McCormack for K Martin, R Foley for C McCormack.

Referee - D O'Mahony. Tweet

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