Westmeath's Leinster minor football championship campaign didn't extend beyond 60 minutes in 2002, much to the disappointment of the players, management and supporters. Westmeath's confident hopes of making an impact on the 2002 Leinster minor football championship were dashed at the Fingallians grounds in Swords on May 18 last when, after a bright opening 30 minutes, they succumbed to a superior Dublin by 3-4 to 1-16. The defeat was a huge disappointment and, even now, supporters are still asking themselves what went wrong in the second half. Westmeath looked to be in a strong position when they led by 3-3 to 0-9 at the break, but Dublin completely dominated the second period, outscoring the visitors by 1-7 to 0-1 to run out comfortable winners. Those who had followed Westmeath's progress in their pre-championship games could not have envisaged such a spectacular collapse. While it must be acknowledged that the draw was not the kindest with Dublin boasting a number of the side which had lost the previous year's All-Ireland final to Tyrone, Westmeath had genuinely expected to come away from Swords with a victory under their belts. That they failed to do themselves justice was a source of major frustration for joint-managers Pat Casserly and John Fagan. After an indifferent start to the year which included a shock defeat to Dublin's under 17 team in a Leinster League fixture (hardly a good omen for the real thing), things started to pick up for Westmeath when they recorded an impressive 3-14 to 2-13 win over a highly-rated Laois in the same competition at Rochfortbridge on April 13. An early goal from David Windsor gave the home side the perfect start, but Laois gradually took over and two goals in quick succession had them in front after 25 minutes. However, another goal from Windsor and a penalty from Paul Martin gave Westmeath a 3-6 to 2-7 lead at the interval. Westmeath increased their advantage to four points on the restart, but Laois battled back to restore parity with 10 minutes remaining. Westmeath had the stronger finish, though, with late points from Peter Tormey, Ray Sheridan and Martin (two) sealing the win. That victory kick-started a run which saw Westmeath chalk up four wins and one draw in the lead-up to the Dublin game. The highlight of that unbeaten run was undoubtedly a 2-13 to 0-11 victory over reigning All-Ireland champions Tyrone at Kingscourt on April 20. Both teams were short a number of regulars, but it was Westmeath who clearly possessed the greater strength in depth. Despite losing centre back Stephen Burke through injury in the opening quarter, the maroon and whites raced into an early 0-5 to 0-1 lead. They were 0-8 to 0-4 in front at the break thanks to points from Paul Martin, David Windsor and Michael Duffy. Tyrone reduced the deficit to two points shortly after the restart, but Westmeath refused to panic and a 45th minute goal from substitute Joe Clarke put them firmly in control. Paddy Mulvihill added a second goal near the end to put the seal on an excellent win. Westmeath completed their championship preparations with a 2-13 to 3-10 draw against Down at Castletown. Co. Meath on May 11. Despite an injury to corner back Niall McGurren - which didn't prevent him from lining out against Dublin - the Westmeath management took a lot of positives from the game and felt confident that the right result could be achieved the following weekend. The players themselves were also in upbeat mood, with many of them having already tasted victory over Dublin in the successful Gerry Reilly campaign of 2000. But there is a world of difference between the under 16 and minor grades as they were about to find out to their cost. Fielding just four survivors from the previous year's minor panel (Stephen Burke, Ray Sheridan, Denis Glennon and David Windsor), Westmeath made a whirlwind start with Paul Martin blasting to the Dublin net inside 20 seconds after Glennon had won possession from the throw-in. Centre back Bryan Cullen, who was a member of the Dublin senior panel last year, replied with a point from a '45', but Peter Tormey restored the visitors' three-point cushion with a delightful effort from out on the right flank. Towering midfielder Declan O'Mahoney registered Dublin's second point before Westmeath swooped for their second goal. A high punt into the goalmouth was punched to the net by the lurking David Windsor, in what was a real horror moment for Dublin goalkeeper Paul Thompson. Despite that setback, the home side outscored the visitors 0-5 to 0-1 over the next 10 minutes or so to reduce the deficit to the minimum, 0-7 to 2-2. But just when it seemed Dublin were about to draw level, overlapping half back Ray Sheridan got on the end of a pass from Paddy Mulvihill before rifling home goal number three in the 22nd minute. Another half back, John Molloy, followed up with an excellent point and, suddenly, Westmeath were 3-3 to 0-7 in front. James Brogan and the skilful Ruairi Rainor responded with points to leave three between the sides, 0-9 to 3-3, at the half-way stage. Another closely contested half looked to be in prospect, especially when Martin added to his tally in the 34th minute, but, remarkably, that proved to be Westmeath's only score of a disastrous second period. Dublin took a stranglehold at midfield where John Coughlan and Declan O'Mahoney were dominant, with the result that Westmeath were unable to get out of their own half for long periods. The Dublin pressure was relentless and inevitably, it yielded a hatful of scores which killed off the Westmeath challenge. The turning point arrived when Aidan Relihan finally beat Sean Lynam after the St. Joseph's netminder had saved his initial effort. Substitute Conor Noone tagged on two points from long range to leave his side with a very healthy 1-14 to 3-4 advantage on entering the final 10 minutes. Matters were compounded for Westmeath when Relihan added two more points to put the result beyond all doubt. On the evidence of their second half display, Dublin looked like All-Ireland contenders, but, to the surprise of many, they succumbed to Longford in the next round - not a result which reflected favourably on the Westmeath minor class of 2002. The Westmeath minor football team which lost to Dublin in the Leinster championship quarter-final was: Sean Lynam; Ronan Moran, Stephen Burke, Niall McGurren; Ray Sheridan (1-0), Enda Leonard, John Molloy (0-1); James Tobin, Denis Glennon; Michael Duffy, Paul Martin (1-2), Paddy Mulvihill; Alan Kelly, Peter Tormey (0-1), David Windsor (1-0). Subs used: Joe Clarke, Rory McGowan, Paul Hickey and Robbie Daly. Tweet

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