The Westmeath minor footballers blew a glorious chance to reach their first Leinster final since 2000 when they suffered a shock defeat to Carlow in the quarter-final last May. Here, we reflect on a disappointing campaign for Dermot Brady's charges. What a difference a year can make! In 2006, Westmeath hammered Carlow by 5-17 to 0-5 in the round-robin series of the Leinster minor football championship. But the Barrowsiders exacted revenge in the sweetest possible fashion on May 12 last when they sent the Lake County crashing out of the Leinster championship with a thoroughly deserved 2-13 to 0-13 victory. While it was clear from their previous outings that Carlow would provide far sterner opposition than they had 13 months earlier, Westmeath were still expected to come out on top. A 1-16 to 1-5 first round victory over Wexford suggested that Westmeath were in fine fettle, but their weaknesses were badly exposed by an under-rated Carlow team that led from start to finish. The defeat was a huge blow to Westmeath and their manager Dermot Brady, who will be frustrated by his failure to deliver tangible success in his three years at the helm. In both 2005 and 2006, his teams suffered cruel defeats to Offaly and Dublin respectively. Indeed, the 2006 campaign was completely overshadowed by the tragic death of corner back Darren Price following a road accident. The former Railway Cup player was given the green light to continue for a third year in 2007, and he must have felt his luck had changed for the better when Westmeath were handed a favourable draw. The Westmeath team wasn't considered to be as strong as 2006, but they were still fancied to go far given that Laois, Dublin, Offaly, Meath and Kildare were all on the opposite side of the draw. Westmeath would have met Meath, who has suffered a first round defeat to Dublin, in the quarter-final if they had managed to come through the qualifier series, but it was Carlow who emerged instead to end the Lake County's hopes for another year. With Louth awaiting Carlow in the semi-final, it was hard to ignore the belief that Westmeath had missed out on a glorious opportunity to reach their first provincial final since 2000 when Dublin were defeated in memorable circumstances. The involvement of five Westmeath schools in the Leinster Colleges SF 'A' championship meant that the management had to make do without several key players in the early part of the year. As part of the team's championship preparations, a number of challenge matches were organised. Ominously, Westmeath's final run-out before they faced Wexford resulted in a heavy defeat to Clare in Tubberclair. Just as their under 21 counterparts had done a few weeks previously, Westmeath made the long trip to Wexford Park for their championship opener. With the Clare defeat still fresh in their minds, Westmeath couldn't afford to take anything for granted but as it transpired, they enjoyed a comfortable if somewhat flattering 11-point win. Forced to line out without St. Loman's midfielder Mark Flanagan who had rugby commitments, Westmeath struggled in the early stages. However, the introduction of James Durkan - who saw senior action in 2006 - midway through the first half at centre forward allowed Conor Lynam to switch to midfield and he soon began supplying quality ball to a Westmeath forward line in which Ian Coffey was outstanding. On a perfect day for football, Wexford hit the ground running and Gavin O'Toole had their first point after just 11 seconds. Kieran Martin levelled for Westmeath and it was nip and tuck until Durkan's arrival sparked the visitors into life. Two points from Coffey and another from Joe Kenny in a six-minute spell saw the Lake County surge into a 0-6 to 0-4 lead. Coffey added a '45' before he converted a 29th minute penalty, which had been awarded for a foul on David Tone by the Wexford goalkeeper, to give Westmeath a 1-7 to 0-4 interval lead. Kenny extended the visitors' advantage on the restart, only for Wexford to get themselves back into contention thanks to a Jamie O'Grady penalty. The margin was now down to four points and Wexford could have reduced it to the minimum but for a smart save by Darren Quinn from Richard Dunne. Following that let-off, Westmeath hit a purple patch which yielded a flurry of points from Thomas McDaniel, Coffey, Kenny, Conor Lynam and impressive substitute John Egan. This scoring burst ended the game as a contest, but Wexford never gave up and could have scores a couple of goals in the closing stages. "It's a good start. It was great for the young lads to play football on a day like that and now we have a month to look forward to the next one," the Westmeath manager said afterwards. Amazingly, Westmeath could have met Wexford again in the quarter-final if they had beaten Carlow in the losers' group. Carlow, who were first round losers to Longford, staged a late rally to win by four points, having undoubtedly gained huge confidence from their shock win over Meath in the previous round. Their improving form indicated that Westmeath would have a fight on their hands when they travelled to Dr Cullen Park for the second year in succession. And so it proved. Westmeath may have been the more impressive winners overWexford, but the extra games had galvanized Carlow. Battle-hardened and brimming with confidence, Carlow made a dream start when a 50-metre free from centre back Daniel St. Ledger deceived Westmeath goalkeeper Darren Quinn and ended up in the net. Just three minutes had elapsed and the visitors were already on the back foot. Con Murphy extended the Carlow lead before points from James Durkan and Tubberclair sharpshooter Coffey helped to steady the Westmeath ship. A Conor Lynam point left the minimum between the sides after 10 minutes but, on a day when their half forward line failed to function, Westmeath could not get level and Carlow took control once again. With midfielder Brendan Murphy to the fore, the Barrowsiders dominated the remainder of the half territorially, but their seven wides allowed Westmeath to hang in and the visitors only trailed by three points, 0-7 to 1-7, at the break. Points from McDaniel and Lynam saw Westmeath close the gap after the restart, only for Bill O'Connor to hammer over a Carlow point in response to keep that goal difference between the teams. Another Lynam point had Westmeath just two adrift, 0-12 to 1-11, with a quarter of an hour remaining, but the goal which the visitors so desperately sought never looked like materialising, although James Durkan did come close in the 51st minute when he fired across the face of goal. Sensing danger, Carlow lifted themselves once more and in the 54th minute, substitute Jordan Lowry set up Bill O'Connor for the decisive second goal. That left the score reading 2-13 to 0-12 and there could be no way back for Westmeath after that. Ironically, the last time Carlow reached the last four of the Leinster minor championship was in 1994 when they also beat a Westmeath team that included future senior stars such as Martin Flanagan, Damien Healy and Damien Gavin. The Westmeath team that succumbed to Carlow was: Darren Quinn; Donal McGovern, Darryl O'Toole, Timmy Mescall; Denis Corroon, Ronan Doyle, Mark Dunne; Mark Flanagan, Conor Lynam; Kieran Martin, David Tone, Joe Kenny; James Durkan, Ian Coffey, Thomas McDaniel. Subs used: John Egan, Ger Keegan, David Keenan and Lorcan Smyth. Tweet

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