Louth 1-14 Westmeath 0-10
A lot of water will pass under the bridge before these sides meet in the Leinster Championship on May 17, but Louth came out on top of a low-key dress-rehearsal in atrocious conditions in Drogheda.
Both sides have left plenty of room for improvement over the next three weeks, but Aidan O’Rourke will be relieved to have a broken his 2014 duck nonetheless.
After conceding early points to Alan Giles and Gavin Hoey, his team kicked 1-3 without reply against a gale-force breeze to take control.
Wing back Liam Shevlin ghosted forward to plunder the goal on five minutes and it was this purple patch that ultimately allowed the hosts to reach the half-time interval on level terms, 1-5 to 0-8.
Louth swiftly opened a three-point lead after the restart, with scores from Kevin Rogers, Declan Byrne and Liam Shevlin. As the breeze stiffened Westmeath could only manage two second-half points as Louth landed five without reply.
LOUTH: S McCoy; P Rath, D Finnegan, K McLaughlin; A Reid (0-1), D Crilly (0-2), L Shevlin (1-2); P Keenan, R Brodigan (0-1); D Byrne (0-2), G Connolly, B Duffy; W Woods, K Rogers (0-3 frees), D Maguire (0-2). Subs: C Judge for G Connolly (half-time), A McDonnell for R Brodigan (half-time), S Campbell (0-1) for Woods (38 mins), D Clarke for K Rogers (60 mins), R Brennan for A Reid (60 mins), P Sheelan for Judge (66 mins, black card).
WESTMEATH: S Gallagher; S Gilmore, K Maguire, Damien Dolan; D Harte, F Boyle, R Foley; D Duffy, D Corroon (0-1); G Hoey (0-1), C McCormack (0-2), L Smyth (0-1 free); A Giles (0-2), Dessie Dolan (0-2 frees), T McDaniel. Subs: D Glennon (0-1) for McCormack (16 mins), J Gilligan for F Boyle (half-time), D McCormack for L Smyth (59 mins), K Daly for McDaniel (59 mins), K Gavin for D Harte (65 mins), D Lynch for G Hoey (70 mins).
Referee: M Deegan (Laois).
