Westmeath 1-11
Leitrim 1-7

All-Ireland intermediate champions Westmeath secured back-to-back promotions when they proved too good for Leitrim in last night's National League Division 3 final replay in Killoe, Co. Longford.

The victory completed a memorable day for the Lake County whose senior hurlers and minor footballers also enjoyed fine Leinster championship victories. As in Parnell Park a week ago, there was little to choose between the sides until four unanswered points in the closing stages - including two from substitute Emma Morris - saw Westmeath claim their fourth piece of silverware in 12 months.

Leitrim, who missed a couple of guilt-edge goal-scoring chances in the first half, were over-reliant on the brilliant Aine Tighe, who scored 1-6 - 1-5 of which came in the opening period. Tighe's heroics helped the Connacht side to a 1-5 to 1-4 interval lead after a Karen Hegarty goal had given Westmeath an early 1-2 to 0-1 advantage.

The Ridge County had Lorraine Brennan sin-binned early in the second half, but Westmeath could only outscore their opponents by 0-2 to 0-1 in the same period. It looked as though Alan Mangan's charges would pay for their profligacy - they hit a massive 18 wides - until their storming finish gave them the spoils.

Scorers - Westmeath: K Hegarty 1-1, M.A. Foley (3f) & R Kearney 0-3 each, E Morris 0-2 (1f) E Finn and L Walsh 0-1 each. Scorers for Leitrim: Á Tighe 1-6 (0-4f), N Tighe 0-1.

WESTMEATH: C Warburton; A Martin, C Finch, A Brady; K Boyce-Jordon, J Rogers, K McDermott; M.A. Foley, R Kearney; E Finn, F Claffery, J Maher; L Walsh, K Hegarty, C Blundell. Subs: T Fagan for McDermott (41), E Morris for Blundell (51), S Kelly for Maher (56), L Brennan for Foley (57).

LEITRIM: M Guckian; M Stenson, E McWeeney, S Kerrigan; K Gilgunn, S Tighe, L McWeeney; S Fowley, D Ward; N Tighe, S McManus, K Keegan; L Brennan, E Farrell, Á Tighe. Subs: S Clancy for Farrell (44), L O'Dowd for Keegan (53), A.M. Gallagher for McManus (54).

Referee: PJ Rabbitte (Galway). Tweet

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