An empty O'Moore Park and the type of cold November rain that was once made famous by the band Guns’n’Roses is not the usual environment for championship football, but while some things were very unusual about tonight’s Leinster championship quarter-final in O’Moore Park, in other areas it was very much business as usual.
The last five years have seen plenty of occasions where Dublin have shown more style and panache than they put on display tonight, but when it comes to the business of winning football matches, this was everything that Dessie Farrell would have wanted as his charges shut down Westmeath’s resistance before it ever got going.
The Leinster and All-Ireland champions had four points on the board in the space of six minutes, with man of the match Ciarán Kilkenny already wreaking havoc with his tireless energy and flawless use of the ball.
Dean Rock (twice) Seán Bugler and Kilkenny were all on the scoresheet early on and while Westmeath rallied with some excellent scores from John Heslin and Luke Loughlin, Dublin’s attack never wavered and by the water break, they led by five, 0-07 to 0-02.
On the Westmeath kickout, Dublin were imperious. They pressurised Jason Daly’s restarts and forced a huge number of 50/50 balls down the centre, where their half back line in particular was superb at gobbling up the breaks.
Quick transition and direct running yielded good quality chances, with eight Dublin players in total getting on the scoresheet in the first half – and out of those, none could be described as low percentage, lottery shots. Only when the target was almost unmissable did Dublin pull the trigger, as evidenced by the half-time ratio of 15 points to two wides.
There were bright moments for the midlanders, most notably a stunning score from Ray Connellan right on the stroke of half time, but they couldn’t compete with a balanced Dublin side that saw eight players register at least one score from play in the opening 35 minutes.
From half time, a combination of the increasingly heavy rain, the deteriorating playing surface and the inevitability of the outcome meant that the contest lost more than a little of the snap and energy that it possessed in the first half.
Westmeath, who had now dropped John Heslin back to midfield, found possession a little bit easier to come by but still struggled to create good chances, often resorting to low percentage efforts from bad angles or long distances. Dublin’s form dipped too, with good scores like those kicked by James McCarthy and Robert McDaid becoming more like occasional treats rather than a staple diet.
Westmeath’s lack of penetration and Dublin’s aversion to risk meant that goal chances were almost non-existent, the only exceptions a Dean Rock flick that as cleared off the line by Ronan Wallace, and at the other end a shot from roving wing back James Dolan that was blocked by Jonny Cooper.
Not the stuff of highlight reels, but the stuff on which championship runs are made nonetheless.
Dublin: Stephen Cluxton; Michael Fitzsimons, Jonny Cooper (0-01), Eoin Murchan (0-01); JamesMcCarthy (0-01), John Small, Robert McDaid (0-01); Brian Fenton, Tom Lahiff; Niall Scully (0-01), Ciarán Kilkenny (0-05), Seán Bugler (0-02); Paddy Small (0-02), Con O'Callaghan (0-01), Dean Rock (0-07, 0-06 frees).
Subs: Brian Howard for Bugler (49), Cormac Costello for P Small (51), David Byrne for Fitzsimons (55), Aaron Byrne for Scully (60), Eric Lowndes for Murchan (66).
Westmeath: Jason Daly; Boidu Sayeh, Kevin Maguire, Jack Smith; Jamie Gonoud, Ronan Wallace (0-01), James Dolan; Ray Connellan (0-02), Sam Duncan; David Lynch, John Heslin (0-02, 0-01 free), Killian Daly; Ronan O’Toole (0-01), Luke Loughlin (0-02), Kieran Martin (0-03, 0-02 frees).
Subs: Conor Slevin for K Daly (49), Callum McCormack for Lynch (52), Lorcan Dolan for Martin (54), Anthony McGivney for Loughlin (60), Brandon Kelly for O’Toole (70).
Referee: Martin McNally (Monaghan)
