Westmeath 2-16
Kerry 1-18

Substitute Andrew Dermody's snatched 71st minute winner for Westmeath, to earn the Lake County their third Christy Ring Cup title, at Croke Park.

Kevin Martin's charges were forced to withstand a strong closing spell by Kerry, after the Kingdom had trailed by four points with 15 minutes remaining; but broke ahead in the 67th minute, following a John Griffin score.

Indeed Kerry were unlucky not to be further ahead at this stage, after a 65th minute goal opportunity was ruled out by referee Tony Carroll due to a square ball.

Westmeath battled hard until the finish, with a fourth point from the stick of Brendan Murtagh tieing the contest with a minute and a half left on the clock.

Dan Carthy broke through for a late goal chance, but the Westmeath corner-forward watched his close range effort dribble over the line; before Dermody proved to be the Lake County's saviour with his last gasp score.

This game was keenly contested throughout, with a fast paced encounter produced, as both sides were certainly eager on making the step up to Liam MacCarthy Cup hurling next year.

Kerry raced 0-4 to 0-1 clear in the ninth minute, thanks to a brace of Darragh O'Connell frees, with scores also from James Flaherty and Shane Nolan; but Westmeath upped the anti with Blain Leharte, Stephen Bardon and Joe Clarke among those on target.

Kerry opened up an 0-11 to 0-6 lead with three and a half minutes remaining in the opening half, after O'Connell fired his fourth point; but Westmeath bounced back before the interval.

Kevin Martin's charges were strong in defence, where Eoin Price and Ronan Whelan made some fine clearances, while upfront Murtagh was among those who pressed hard for the game's opening goal.

Murtagh and Enda Loughlin were among those met with a firm Kerry rear-guard in the first quarter, but Westmeath eventually penetrated the Kingdom goal-mouth with Dan Carthy's 32nd minute goal cutting the deficit to two points.

The sides were evenly matched in the closing stages of the first half as Griffin and Paul Greville exchanged points to ensure the Kingdom shaded the half-time score-line by 0-12 to 1-7.

Kerry shaded the early exchanges on the restart, with Darragh O'Connell raising white flags, either side of a Carthy point.

Paul Greville's goal drew the contest in the 39th minute, with the sides level on two further occasions inside five minutes.

Westmeath gained the initiative thanks to points from Stephen Bardon (2), Carthy and Clarke; to ensure a 2-14 to 0-16 lead in the 56th minute.

But Kerry substitute Shane Brick wasn't keen to let this game slip from his side, with a rasping 60th minute goal strike, through a crowded Westmeath defence cutting the gap to the minimum.

Kerry continued to press strongly, with points from Michael Boyle and Griffin edging them ahead in the 67th minute.

But Westmeath pushed hard in the closing stages, and when it looked as though extra-time might be required, Dermody showed great composure to slot over the winner into Davin Stand end.

Scorers for Westmeath: D Carthy, P Greville 1-2 each; B Murtagh (1f) 0-4; S Bardon 0-3; J Clarke 0-2; E Loughlin, A Dermody, B Leharte 0-1 each

Scorers for Kerry: D O'Connell (5f) 0-7; J Griffin, J Egan 0-3 each; S Brick 1-0; J Flaherty, M Boyle 0-2; S Nolan 0-1.

Westmeath - P Burke; A Price, J Shaw, E Price; R Whelan, A Mitchell, D McCormack; J Clarke, L Smyth; S Bardon, B Murtagh, E Loughlin; P Greville, B Leharte, D Carthy. Subs: P Dowdall for Leharte (34); C Jordan for G McCormack (HT); A Dowdall for Loughlin (52); A Dermody for Bardon (65)

Kerry - B Rochford; C Harris, T Murnane, J Fitzgerald; J Godley, L Boyle, A Healy; M Conway, J Griffin; J Egan, M Boyle, D O'Connell; J Flaherty, G O'Brien, S Nolan. Subs: S Brick for Flaherty (48); C Harty for Nolan (60); J McCarthy for Fitzgerald (60)

Ref - Tony Carroll (Offaly) Tweet

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