Westmeath climbed into third place in NFL Division 2 as they powered past Roscommon at Kiltoom this afternoon.
The switch from Dr Hyde Park to Kiltoom, due to flooding, failed to put Dessie Dolan and company off their stride. They led 1-07 to 0-03 after a free-flowing first half.
The lively Denis Glennon stuck away the visitors' goal, while David O'Gara, Ger Heneghan and Jonathan Dunning kicked Roscommon's points in the opening 35 minutes.
Dolan landed 0-08 in all and defender Michael Ennis also chipped in with two late Westmeath points as the Rossies remain rooted to the bottom of the table.
The throw-in at Kiltoom was delayed by 10 minutes as thousands poured into the intimate venue.
Westmeath wasted little time in setting about their task of recovering from their 0-11 to 0-09 defeat to Cork a fortnight ago.
Dolan, a talismanic presence in the visitors' attack, claimed their first two points with a brace of frees from the hand.
The Lake county missed some decent scoring chances though, with Alan Mangan wayward with a free, Ennis struck a post after a pacy run forward and the woodwork also came to Roscommon's rescue when a goal looked on.
Dolan's third successful free arrived in the 13th-minute and Denis Glennon got off the mark before the Rossies, with a number of Under-21 players in their line-up, notched their first point in the 17th-minute.
O'Gara was the scorer as he pointed from far out on the left, but just when it looked like John Maughan's would settle, a high ball in was claimed by Glennon who picked his spot to beat Roscommon goalkeeper Geoffrey Claffey from close range.
With Martin Flanagan and David Duffy pulling the strings at midfield, Westmeath pulled further clear with a Glennon point from play and another from Mangan, set up by the hard-working Flanagan.
Heneghan and Dunning responded for the home side who leaked an injury-time free to Dolan which put Tomas O'Flatharta's men into a seven-point lead.
The Rossies offered hope of a more competitive game in the second half when Gary Cox popped a free through the posts and did likewise a couple of minutes later.
That cut the gap to five points but Westmeath never looked like being overhauled. Heneghan registered the Rossies' sixth and final point while Dunning slipped at a crucial moment when the goal came within sight.
Frankie Dolan, Dessie's cousin, was also thrown into the fray by Maughan but he had a poor miss from a free and had little in the way of a contribution.
Ennis, arguably the man of the match, dashed forward to pick off two late points and together with Damien Healy, he offers Westmeath plenty of added options in attack.
