A day we could have made history': Westmeath gutted as 'delighted' Cork survive storm
A mucky and miserable Mullingar workout for Cork, one which Kieran Kingston’s charges were most fortunate to escape from with a win.
No question but Westmeath let slip here a very real opportunity to spring an upset, to record a first ever league win over Cork.
The body language of Shane O’Brien’s players at the final whistle said it all. Mass disappointment. Frustration. Regret.
Westmeath, having played into a “hurricane” in the first half, found themselves just three adrift at the break. They had Cork in their crosshairs. They had Cork rattled. The sense of there being a shock in the making was as tangible as the rain dancing on the roof of the main stand.
But no scalp could Westmeath take. They never even managed to sneak their noses in front throughout a second half where Cork teetered on the brink of what would have been a most discomfiting defeat for Kieran Kingston and his management team.
If Westmeath players were privately cursing themselves at having failed to capitalise on this rare chance to take down a top-tier side, Cork, at the other end of the long corridor in Cusack Park, were breathing a sigh of relief at having got out of jail.
Twice in the second half, when the gap stood at two, Westmeath had the platform to get back on level footing, if not surge ahead.
The door first lay open to them following their quickfire 1-1 response to Patrick Horgan’s sweetly struck 37th minute penalty after the same player had been hauled onto the soaking wet canvas.
Horgan’s goal moved the visitors six clear, but Cork’s green flag was immediately cancelled out as an Allan Devine 65 went all the way to Patrick Collins’ net. It should have been kept out. Such juvenile errors, however, were a dime a dozen on an afternoon where horrible weather conditions made the execution of basic skills less than straightforward. The small crowd was treated to far more rucks than scores from open play.
As it was, a Derek McNicholas point, added to Devine’s goal, left the scoreboard reading 1-8 to 1-6. Momentum sat with Westmeath and on 43 minutes, it appeared they had been handed numerical advantage when referee Liam Gordon sent off Damien Cahalane for a challenge on Aaron Craig. But arising from the same shemozzle, Gordon, much to the disgust of the home management, flashed a second yellow to half-forward Joey Boyle.
“I didn’t see [the incident], but I know there are a lot of people from Westmeath unhappy with the refereeing decisions,” said manager Shane O’Brien afterwards.
Though Boyle’s dismissal temporarily deflated the Lake County men (they went 10 minutes without scoring), a first Division 1 victory of the new season still remained a live possibility for Westmeath when Devine converted his third free on 54 minutes to make it 1-10 to 1-8.
Then arrived a gut punch. Bill Cooper’s delivery into the danger zone popped out of the hand of Westmeath ‘keeper Aaron McHugh and into the net. It was a stroke of good fortune which Cork so needed. It was also their only score from play from the 10th minute onward.
Westmeath rallied through points from Devine (free) and a belter from distance courtesy of Aonghus Clarke. But a second Horgan penalty, which had its roots in a fine bit of creativity from Declan Dalton to create the goal-scoring opportunity for the fouled Seamus Harnedy, decided Westmeath’s faith and, in the process, saved Cork’s bacon.
“Today was a day that got away from us. Today was a day where we could have made history,” O’Brien lamented.
You’d have to be hugely proud of that performance, but naturally, we are disappointed with the result. We felt that game was there for us, at half-time in particular.
“We were 0-7 to 0-1 down at one stage in the opening half while against the wind. But no heads dropped. They stayed positive. The character of the group was clear to everybody. It is frustrating the small little errors that cost us at this level.”
Cork boss Kingston was both “delighted” and grateful for the character his players displayed when matters got hairy in the second half.
Having forged six clear by the 21st minute, Cork, supported by the elements, then went scoreless for 17 minutes. It was a period Westmeath got back within two, and should have levelled matters but for a string of poor wides.
“We were a little bit complacent after the start we got,” Kingston acknowledged.
“We conceded a huge amount of frees and made a lot of simple errors. We should have pushed on, but didn’t. At half-time, we regrouped. We knew we were in a battle. Normal hurling skills go out the window. This was just a fight. I was delighted with the character they showed in the second half, facing the breeze, when we had to battle hard for the two points.”
A second league win for Cork, but hardly a convincing one.
Scorers for Cork: P Horgan (2-8, 2-0 pen, 0-8 frees); B Cooper (1-0); C Lehane (0-2); T O’Mahony (0-1 sc), L Meade (0-1 each).
Scorers for Westmeath: A Devine (1-8, 1-0 ‘65, 0-7 frees); D Clinton, D McNicholas (0-2 each); A Clarke, J Boyle (0-1 each).
CORK: P Collins; S O’Leary Hayes, E Cadogan, C Spillane; T O’Mahony, B Cooper, D Cahalane; C O’Leary, L Meade; C Lehane, P Horgan, A Walsh; D Dalton, S Harnedy, J O’Connor.
Subs: S Twomey for Lehane (12 mins, inj); R Downey for Twomey (49); N O’Leary for Walsh (52); B Turnbull for J O’Connor (60).
WESTMEATH: A McHugh; A Ennis, T Doyle, C Shaw; A Craig, A Clarke, L Varley; C Boyle, E Price; J Boyle, R Greville, D McNicholas; A Devine, N Mitchell, C Doyle.
Subs: A Cox for Greville (nine-12 mins, blood); D Clinton for Mitchell (45); Killian Doyle for Ciaran Doyle (52); A Cox for Shaw (54); S McGovern for Greville (58); B Doyle for Ennis (65).
Referee: L Gordon (Galway).
How they lined out
Patrick Horgan’s second penalty strike nine minutes from the end of regulation time. Handed Cork a six-point buffer, one which proved sufficient in withstanding a late, late Westmeath charge.
The sickening sense of opportunity lost for the home side. They won’t get a better chance this spring, nay year, to take down a top-tier side.
Patrick Horgan. Even on this most horrible of afternoons, his class shone through.
Victory aside, there was little to admire about this Cork performance. That they managed just one score from play between the 10th minute and Liam Gordon’s final whistle says everything about this below-par effort.
Westmeath pulled their full and half-forward lines out the field in the first-half to crowd the middle third, a ploy which worked well given Cork’s futile insistence on engaging in a short-passing game.
Conor Lehane strained his hamstring early in the first-half and, as a result, will miss Sunday’s visit of Limerick to Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
Leaving aside Horgan’s dead-ball heroics, there was nobody on either side who stood out.
Liam Gordon issued a straight red card to Damien Cahalane for his late involvement in a second-half shemozzle. Joey Boyle picked up a second yellow card for his participation in same.
Cork host Limerick on Sunday, winless Westmeath make the trip to Tipp the same day.
