Westmeath's poor record in under 21 hurling continued last April when a first round defeat to Laois in the Leinster 'B' championship at O'Moore Park, Portlaoise made for a shortlived campaign. And while it wasn't the embarrassment of 2005 when a patchwork Westmeath outfit suffered a drubbing at the hands of Carlow, the Lake County were disappointed not to have put up a better showing against a Laois side that ran out comfortable winners by 2-14 to 2-1. A few weeks earlier, Seamus Qualter's charges had given a good account of themselves in a challenge match against Galway, only losing by three points, but the promise they had shown on that occasion was nowhere to be seen when it really mattered. The O'Moore County's victory was their second over Westmeath in three days, having also won the corresponding fixture in the Leinster minor championship at Cusack Park. Played in cold but dry conditions, the game was slow to come to life. However, points from Sean Lowry, Cahir Healy and John Walsh settled the home side and they went on to lead by 0-5 to 0-0 at the end of the first quarter. Joe Clarke eventually got Westmeath off the mark with what would prove to be their only point of the game. Scores from Damien Bergin, Colin Delaney and John Brophy extended Laois' lead before both sides were reduced to 14 men following the dismissals of Blaine Lahart (Westmeath) and Paul Phelan (Laois). When play resumed, the home side launched another attack which culminated in Colin Delaney firing to the net from close range. At half-time, Laois were perched on a 1-9 to 0-1 lead and it was clear that the visitors faced a huge task to turn things around. Westmeath looked like making a fight of it when Derek McNicholas goaled immediately after the restart. But it proved to be a false dawn as Laois hit back with points from Lowry and former St. Kieran's College All-Ireland winning captain Walsh. The Lake County side never gave up, but too often their shooting let them down and they registered seven wides in the second half alone. And their fate was sealed 13 minutes from the end when midfielder David Phelan pounced for Laois' second goal. With time almost up, Westmeath won a close-in free and Derek McNicholas sent a rasping shot to the roof of the net to put a better complexion on the scoreline. "We missed a lot of scores and were forced into going for goals," Westmeath boss Seamus Qualter ruefully reflected after the game. "Laois scored a goal before half-time and that was a killer blow as it left us eight points down and under heavy pressure. But players like Antoine Savage and Anthony Doyle played very well and Killian Cosgrave (injured) was a huge loss to us." Qualter went on to highlight the difficulties he faced in preparing the team. These included the unavailability of dual players and the postponement of planned challenge matches due to waterlogged pitches. "I'm not looking for excuses, but we ran into a lot of problems. Having said that, we scored a goal after half-time and had a lot of chances in the second half which could have made a big difference. "Maybe if we got a first round game under our belts, we would have been in a better position to have a crack at teams like Laois, but that wasn't the case. We're disappointed with the result, but there needs to be more work put into this grade if Westmeath is to make progress," he added. The Westmeath under 21 hurling team that lost to Laois was: Jimmy Greville; Anthony Doyle, Paul Greville, Antoine Savage; Dermot Faulkner, Conor Jordan, Michael Garvin; Brian Smyth, Martin Egan; Michael Curley, Joe Clarke, Francis Boyle; Derek McNicholas, Blaine Lahart, Eamonn Og Clarke. Subs used: Cian Cooney, Sean Maguire, Adam Price and Luke Folan. Tweet

Most Read Stories