Holders Westmeath will face Jim Greene's Carlow in the Christy Ring Cup final after their semi-final wins over Derry and Mayo respectively. Westmeath remain on course for their third success in four years following a 1-19 to 0-12 victory over Derry at Cusack Park. The visitors were well in contention at half-time when they trailed by 0-9 to 1-10, but they could only manage a further three points in the second half as Johnny Dooley's men pulled away for a comfortable victory. The impressive Derek McNicholas gave the Lake County an ideal start when he scored the only goal after nine minutes. But with under 21 star Michael Kirkpatrick and Paddy McCloskey showing up well, Derry stayed in touch for the rest of the half. However, McNicholas and the ever-dependable Brendan Murtagh proved a handful for the Oak Leaf defence and the second half proved to be a one-sided affair. Carlow got out of jail in Castlebar when an injury-time goal from Robert Foley handed them a 1-16 to 0-17 victory over a plucky Mayo side. The home side led for most of the game, only to be caught by Foley's late sucker punch. Five points from Adrian Freeman had Mayo 0-10 to 0-6 in front at the interval. However, a hat-trick of points from Rory Dunbar closed the gap to the minimum after the restart. The Pete Finnerty-coached Westerners kept their noses in front until the 71st minute when Foley's major snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and put the Barrowsiders through to their second final in three years. Tweet

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