Westmeath senior hurling manager Michael Ryan says he had anticipated a big performance from the county's U21s this summer.

Last night saw Adrian Moran's side pull off a remarkable 1-11 to 0-12 victory over colossal favourites Kilkenny in Mullingar to advance into the semi-finals of the Leinster U21HC and Ryan had huge praise for the players when speaking to Newstalk Radio earlier today.

"In fairness to the guys, they turned in a fantastic performance last night," said Ryan.

"They took the game to Kilkenny from the very start and hurled really well over the pitch...Our resources are small, but they have very big hearts. I'm really delighted for them. They deserved to win, no doubt about that."

He added: "They are training with the senior team. We will always have 15-a-side games in training. They are very competitive. Sometimes a crop of players come along together...They're really proud of playing for Westmeath. They like representing the county."

The Lake County now face the winners of Dublin and Wexford, who meet next Wednesday, in the last four and Ryan added that there will be "no room for complacency" on June 15th.

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