A promising Leinster championship campaign ended in abject failure for the Westmeath under 21 footballers when they came a cropper against Dublin on April 12 last. It was hurtful. I felt for the supporters who travelled in such huge numbers and were badly let down." So said a bitterly disappointed Ambrose McGowan after Westmeath had made a disastrous exit from this year's Leinster under 21 championship. The Westmeath manager was literally in a state of shock after his side's woeful 0-3 to 0-9 defeat to Dublin in a forgettable provincial under 21 semi-final at Navan on April 12 last. Having taken the scalps of Laois and Offaly in earlier rounds, Westmeath entered the Dublin clash in a confident frame of mind. Westmeath fully expected to win - after all, they had beaten Dublin in a thrilling Leinster minor final three years ago. But the Metropolitans hadn't read the script and, displaying a far greater hunger for battle, they trampled Westmeath's championship hopes into the ground. On a day when goalkeeper Robbie Wallace performed heroics in keeping a clean sheet, most of his outfield colleagues failed to make any sort of an impact. While an over-worked defence did well to restrict Dublin to four points from play, midfield and attack proved to be hugely problematic areas for Westmeath. So devoid of creativity and gusto were Westmeath up front that they failed to score from play. The Westmeath half forward line was particularly poor and the entire line was substituted at half-time - a searing indictment of Westmeath's attacking performance. What could only have added to the frustration felt by supporters was that Dublin looked there for the taking. Despite the dominance they exerted throughout the field, a 10-minute burst from Westmeath might have been enough to topple them. While not absolving himself and his fellow selectors Eugene Dolan, Tommy McCormack and Ger Deegan from the painful post-mortem, Ambrose McGowan felt that there was something seriously lacking in Westmeath's performance. "There is a collective responsibility there, but we just didn't perform," he lamented. "I've looked at the video and I'll look at it again. It was anaemic, there was no passion, it was really abysmal. "Apart from Doran Harte early on, we had no injuries. It's a physical contact game and we hardly had a player who took a proper belt. That's an indictment. I hope the players are asking themselves questions - as the management team are - as to whether they put in as much effort as they could have. "There was no fight, no pride in the jerseys and players will have to look at themselves in the mirror. Maybe the players were over-confident and got caught with this thing that they are a nice team and that they don't have to work." It was almost tragic that what had been a promising campaign should end in such dismal circumstances. For three-quarters of their opening championship assignment against Laois at Cusack Park, Westmeath had looked just as poor as they had against Dublin. But a whirlwind finish saw the Lake County turn a five-point deficit into a five-point victory, 0-14 to 0-9. Westmeath, who had turned in a number of good performances in challenge matches in the lead-up to the championship, looked completely out of sorts in the first half as Laois controlled the vital midfield sector. Colin Whyte kicked two early points for the home side, but points from Ross Munnelly, Paul Lawlor and Patrick 'Junior' Harding propelled the O'Moore County to a 0-8 to 0-3 lead at half-time. Westmeath introduced PJ Ward to the full forward line at half-time, but Laois still held a five-point advantage, 0-9 to 0-4, as the game ticked into its final 15 minutes. By adapting a more direct approach, Westmeath finally came to life. Points in quick succession from Denis Glennon (two) and Colin Whyte (two) had reduced the deficit to the minimum before the game's defining moment arrived after 54 minutes. A defensive blunder handed Laois substitute Christopher Bergin the opportunity to kill off the game, but he was denied by a brilliant save from Robbie Wallace. In a flash, Westmeath swept forward and another substitute Liam O'Reilly was on hand to kick the equalizing point. Once parity had been restored, Westmeath never looked like losing and they went on to secure a memorable victory with a late flurry of points from Whyte, Duffy, Ward and Glennon. Next up for Ambrose McGowan's charges was a local derby clash with Offaly at Cusack Park. Offaly fielded five of the senior team which had beaten Westmeath in the National League the previous weekend, but as it transpired, the Lake County's under 21s exacted sweet revenge with a 2-10 to 0-10 victory. Forced to field without the injured Colin Whyte, Westmeath won with surprising ease. At half-time, concern was expressed that Westmeath's lead was only a point, 0-5 to 0-4, despite having had a huge amount of possession. Within two minutes of the restart, however, Denis Glennon netted the opening goal to send the home side on their way. Three points in as many minutes saw Offaly reduce the deficit to two, but a second goal midway through the half from PJ Ward put Westmeath back in the ascendancy. Substitute Alan Mulhall tried his best to rally the visitors, but further scores from Alan Hickey, Glennon and Ward capped a fine performance by Westmeath. Expectant supporters looked forward to a similar gutsy performance against Dublin but it sadly never materialized. After an early spell of Westmeath pressure which yielded nothing in terms of scores, Tommy Lyons' side took control and they had built up a 0-6 to 0-1 lead by half-time. A PJ Ward free reduced the leeway on the restart, but it failed to ignite a leaden-footed Westmeath. A glorious goalscoring opportunity did fall to substitute Dermot McManus, but he failed to take it and with it went Westmeath faint hopes of victory. The Westmeath team which lost to Dublin was: Robert Wallace; Gary Glennon, Ken Larkin, Finian Newman; Doran Harte, Alan Lambden, Donal O'Donoghue; Padraig Leavy, Gary Flanagan; Ciaran Kilmurray, Niall Duffy, John Shaw; PJ Ward, Denis Glennon, Alan Hickey. Subs used: Niall Kilmartin, Dermot McManus, Colin Whyte, Liam O'Reilly and Thomas Browne. Tweet

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