We knew of John Heslin’s ability to cause havoc but Kieran Martin came to the party and danced on the tables before tipping them over.
At 2:23pm, on Sunday, Westmeath were well on their way to a drubbing by their [geographically] close rivals, Meath. 0-8 to 0-1 down, the men from the Lake County were up against it.
17 minutes later, by half-time, Tom Cribbin’s men trailed 2-12 to 1-7. It was all too much for one Westmeath fan, who bailed out of Croke Park and sought watering hole solace in The Big Tree.
Within the space of 35 minutes, in the second-half, the Royal County managed to score only six points. They ran out of steam. More importantly, however, they simply could not contain their opponent’s two scoring threats.
John Heslin
While the RTE pundits gave Westmeath nothing more than an outside chance, before the match, Heslin was highlighted as the county’s main scoring weapon. So it proved, once the ball was thrown in.
His man-of-the-match performance was a slowburner, however.
Heslin operated well back in the half forward line and often drifted back into his own half in search of the ball. His free-taking abilities were just about keeping the scoreboard ticking over.
Graham Reilly’s black card, 46 minutes in, came with his Meath side leading by six points. His departure was a blow and, all of a sudden, Meath could not staunch the maroon and white flow.
Heslin came into his own. Following Kieran Martin’s second goal, Meath sat back rather than pressing for scores to kill their foes off. Heslin was all over the attacking third and his ability to shoot off either foot was proving a menace.
This link up play Heslin and two of his team-mates – all with slick hand passes – shows just how hard it was to pin him down.
With two quick hand passes, three Meath men are taken out of play.
End result: Another point closer to Meath.
Donnacha Tobin’s black card, soon after this score, cost Meath their most experienced defender and the reckless fouls crept in.
In the 70th minute, Westmeath went ahead for the first time – courtesy of Martin – but the killer blow came from Heslin.
Showing all the energy of a freshly turned 23-year-old, he burst through on O’Rourke in the Meath goal. The easy option was to take the point and make it a two-point game.
Heslin was not having that. He drove in on goal and hammered home an emphatic three-pointer.
Kieran Martin
Wearing the No.6 jersey, Martin began the match as Westmeath’s sweeper. He was supposed to be dropping back from midfield to cut off Meath’s attacks but was often AWOL as the Royals made hay.
Cribbin took the hint and pushed Martin further up-field. Common sense was rewarded and Martin proved just as unstoppable as he did against Wexford two weeks ago.
His direct running had resulted in 1-1 during the first half and his team-mates, recognising the changing tides, fed him with plenty of ball.
With Reilly black-carded and on the sidelines, Westmeath were steaming upfield. On 50 minutes, Paul Sharry outpace two men and laid a pass in for Dennis Glennon. Martin, circled below, was part of a 2-on-2 but Meath boss Mick O’Dowd would have expected his defence to hold up.
Glennon fed Martin, who spun and shrugged his marker, Conor McGill, off with ease before firing home an unstoppable shot. As a left-footer, he should have been forced inside but he was allowed to bump off an over-eager McGill, gain a yard and rifle Westmeath right back into the match.
Thereafter, imbued with confidence, Martin was everywhere. He played a part in three more Westmeath scores and was such a thorn in Meath sides that he drew the foul from Paddy O’Rourke that saw the goalkeeper sent off, late in the piece.
Heslin’s final point, from the resulting free, book-ended his scoring contribution perfectly.
Dublin await in the Leinster final and, all of a sudden, they have more than one scoring threat to worry about.
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