Westmeath's hopes of marking the 10th anniversary of their only All-Ireland under 21 football triumph with similar success this year were dashed by Dublin at the provincial semi-final stage on March 21 last. Following emphatic victories over Offaly and Kilkenny, Westmeath had realistic hopes of winning this year's Leinster under 21 football championship, but a below-par performance against Dublin in the semi-final made for yet another disappointing exit. The defeat means that Westmeath must wait at least another year to end their long wait for under 21 honours. Ten years ago, the Lake County celebrated an historic All-Ireland under 21 final victory over Kerry, while the Leinster title was successfully retained in 2000. But since then, it has been one disappointment after another in the grade, leading to questions about preparation and the quality of footballers the county is producing. On paper, this year's team looked to be the best the county has produced in a number of years. The team that faced Dublin boasted up to 10 players who have sampled senior experience either this year or in the recent past, including Kieran Gavin, Aidan Browne, Niall Kilcoyne, Conor Lynam, Conrad Reilly, Thomas McDaniel, Kieran Martin, John Connellan and James Durkan. But when it came down to it, many of these marquee names didn't perform and Westmeath could have no excuses after their four-point defeat. Once again, senior manager Tomas O Flatharta doubled up as under 21 boss, and was assisted by former county players Colm Murphy (Tyrellspass) and David Mitchell (St. Mary's). While there was some criticism of the fact that Westmeath played only two challenge matches against Sligo and Athlone IT, six of the team played in Division 1 of the National League and could not have asked for better preparation going into the Parnell Park fixture. It all looked so promising for Tomas O Flatharta's charges after they hammered Offaly by 0-19 to 0-8 in the opening round at O'Connor Park at the start of February. While Offaly football was admittedly in the middle of a major crisis at the time and this may have seeped through to their under 21 players, it was still a mightily impressive showing from Westmeath at a venue which traditionally hasn't been a happy hunting ground for them when the Faithful County have been the opposition. Backboned by players who appeared in the 2006 and 2008 Leinster minor finals, Offaly had good reason to fancy their chances, but were blown away by a rampant Westmeath side who posted a huge tally, despite the heavy underfoot conditions. The visitors did the simple things very well, and apart from a brief spell in the third quarter, were completely on top. While this was an excellent team performance from Westmeath, Athlone sharpshooter John Connellan caught the eye with a personal tally of 0-8, 0-5 of which came from play. It was undoubtedly his best performance in a Westmeath jersey since 2006 when he was called up to the senior squad while still a minor. Despite playing against the wind in the first half, Westmeath settled to their task very quickly with Connellan opening his account inside the first minute. As Offaly struggled to get out of their own half, Thomas McDaniel, Connellan, Niall Kilcoyne and Conrad Reilly kept the scoreboard operator busy as the visitors surged into a 0-7 to 0-0 lead. It took all of 26 minutes for Offaly to open their account through substitute Willie Mulhall before Ken Casey added their second point three minutes later. However, Thomas McDaniel then registered his third point to give Westmeath a 0-8 to 0-2 lead at half-time. Much like the first half, the maroon and whites came out firing on all cylinders at the start of the second half and four points in quick succession from Kilcoyne, Connellan, Conor Lynam and Andrew Whitney gave them a 10-point cushion, 0-12 to 0-2. After Casey and Connellan swapped points, Offaly enjoyed their best spell which saw them close the gap to just six points, 0-7 to 0-13. However, that was as close as they came as Westmeath stepped on the gas again with further scores from Connellan, Lynam, Kilcoyne and substitute Niall Bannon to seal a facile win. A quarter-final joust with Kilkenny at Nowlan Park offered Westmeath the chance to get in more target practice before they faced the Dubs. No fewer than 11 players in maroon got on the scoresheet as the visitors coasted to an entirely predictable 2-18 to 1-2 victory. Before a mere handful of spectators, Westmeath raced into a 0-4 to 0-0 lead after five minutes thanks to points from Thomas McDaniel (two), Niall Kilcoyne and Conrad Reilly. John Mulhall got the Cats off the mark in the seventh minute, only for Kieran Martin to reply almost immediately for the visitors. The first goal arrived a short time later when Martin rifled home and then Connellan coolly slotted home a penalty following a foul on the Maryland youngster The home side staged a mini-revival late in the first half which yielded 1-1 from placed balls, but they weren't to score again with Westmeath going on to lead by 2-8 to 1-2 at half-time. It continued to be one-way traffic in the second half, with the visitors chalking up 0-10 without reply. Substitute Callum McCormack made his mark with a couple of points, while Denis Corroon - who replaced the college-tied Andrew Whitney at centre back - also got on the scoresheet. But despite the facile nature of their victory, this was not a good performance from Westmeath who showed signs of complacency throughout. The biggest concern Westmeath fans had in the build-up to the Dublin game was the team's lack of competitive games. By contrast, Jim Gavin's side had been pushed to the pin of their collar by Meath in their quarter-final and this undoubtedly stood to them in a game they never looked like losing. The visitors held their own in the opening stages, and drew first blood when Thomas McDaniel broke free and pointed from the right wing. Dublin replied with two points in quick succession from senior star Paddy Andrews and Paddy O'Connor before John Connellan - whose participation had been in doubt due to a horse riding accident - levelled for Westmeath. However, the game took a huge turn in Dublin's favour in the ninth minute when Andrew Whitney gave away a ball in defence and Luke Sweetman took advantage to set up Dean Kelly, who fired past Darren Quinn in the Westmeath goal. The Metropolitans never looked back after that, and added five more points without reply per Dean Rock, Paddy O'Connor, Barry O'Rorke, Andrews and O'Connor to open up a 1-7 to 0-2 lead. A John Connellan free ended an 18-minute scoring drought for Westmeath before Brendan Kelly reduced the margin further. Andrews and Kelly then exchanged points to leave it 1-8 to 0-5 in Dublin's favour at the interval. The visitors resumed with three pointed frees by Connellan to leave just a goal between the sides after 43 minutes. But Dublin responded with efforts from Dean Rock and Paddy O'Connor, and a late Connellan free wasn't enough to save Westmeath. A disappointed Tomas O Flatharta said: "Dublin had a good start in fairness to them and they found the goal and I suppose we were chasing the game after that. We probably kicked away a lot of ball to them throughout the match, but we came back fairly well in the second half, but there was too much of a gap in it for a long time. Then we started kicking the ball away to them and that was the trend of the game I think." He added: "We brought it back to three points at one stage and it looked as if we could sneak a goal but in fairness to Dublin they are a big strong physical team and they seemed to be very well organised and played well even though they missed a few scores in the second half, but they are a good team and they should progress well in this competition." Tweet

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