Offaly 2-15 Westmeath 1-10

Offaly pulled away in the second half to record an ultimately comfortable win over Westmeath in Tullamore last night, though the 2-15 to 1-10 final scoreline flattered them a bit.

In a dogged encounter, Offaly laid the foundations when playing against the wind in the first half. They made a dreadful start, conceding a long distance goal to Darragh Clinton straight from the throw in and they were on the back foot early on.

A seventh minute Emmet Nolan goal cut the deficit to 1-2 to 1-1 and had a steadying effect on Offaly. At half time, Offaly led by 1-7 to

1-6 and they always looked like winning in the second half.

A fortunate goal from Adrian Cleary two minutes after the restart gave them a 2-7 to 1-6 lead and Westmeath never looked like they had the fire power to haul in that deficit.

Both sides finished with fourteen men with Conor Doughan and Niall O'Brien receiving second yellows with eleven and eight minutes left, respectively.

OFFALY: K O'Connor; D Corbett, C Kiely (0-1), P Rigney; G Crowe, C Doughan (0-1, f), D Doughan; K Dunne (0-1), P Guinan; M Maloney, J O'Toole-Greene, J Maher; A Cleary (1-3), E Nolan (1-2), D Murray (0-6, 6f). Subs - C Molloy for D Doughan (42m), A Connolly for Maher (51m), S Guinan for O'Toole-Greene (57m), E Cahill (0-1, f) for Murray (58m).
WESTMEATH: W Casserly; C Shaw, T Gallagher, G Greville; M Heeney, L Varley, T Egan; M Daly (0-1), R Greville; C Doyle (0-5, 3f), D Clinton (1-2, 1f), E Corrigan; N O'Brien (0-2, 1f), N Mitchell, K Doyle. Subs - L Cassidy for Heeney (43m), B Doyle for Mitchell (55m), F Deegan for C Doyle (57m). Referee: B O'Leary (Wexford).