Thirteen-man Waterford survived the mother of all scares to see off Westmeath by three points at a wet and windy Walsh Park.
Killian Doyle's late goal had put just two points between the teams with very little left on the clock, but the home side did enough to see off a spirited performance from the visitors to spare their blushes.
It was the home side who started the brighter, Patrick Curran nailing the opening score from a close range free, before Niall O'Brien cancelled that out with a dead ball of his own.
A fine score from DJ Foran followed by two successive Curran frees set the Deise wheels in motion, before a lovely Peter Hogan score following dogged work by Mikey Kearney made it 0-05 to 0-01 after the opening six minutes.
Cormac Boyle calmed any early Westmeath nerves with a well-taken point, before Curran and O’Brien traded two frees apiece, either side of a great piece of defending from Robbie Greville, who shut the door on Curran when he was played in by a Michael Kiely handpass. O’Brien made the most of a free from the right hand flank, but it did not take long for the first goal of the afternoon to arrive.
Westmeath failed to avail of multiple opportunities to clear the ball, and following a ruck of sorts, Billy Power sprayed the ball out to Mikey Kearney, who jinked inside his marker before firing low under the body of Eoin Skelly and into the bottom right corner - handing the home side a five-point advantage.
The Lake County responded well with a fine long-range effort courtesy of Killian Doyle, but that was soon cancelled out by a superb individual effort from Jack Prendergast. Doyle then attempted to significantly close the deficit with an effort toward goal, but that was blocked bravely by the impressive Shane Fives. Curran knocked over a sixth point from a free, before Doyle split the posts from well inside his own half.
A wonderful quick-taken free out of the back saw Seamus Keating make a run out of the half-back line, and he rose highest before finding the sweet spot from the left-hand sideline.
His partner in defence, Dungarvan’s Kieran Power - also got on the scoresheet with a well-driven effort, before DJ Foran caught O’Brien’s puckout and split the posts from an acute angle as the Deise moved 8 clear.
Westmeath did finish the half strongly however, with Aonghus Clarke and Davy Glennon strikes keeping Sean O’Brien’s side in touch - 1-12 to 0-09 at the interval.
The second half started as did the first with two Patrick Curran frees responded to in turn by two from O’Brien, before a great point from Davy Glennon on the right flank. Curran pointed from the dead ball once again before a frantic minutes’ action saw a Josh Coll effort on goal blocked well by Seamus Keating, and a Michael Kiely attempt hooked away by Aonghus Clarke.
Jack Fagan received his marching orders for a second yellow card in the 40th minute, and confidence grew within the Westmeath ranks that they could make the most of that numerical advantage. Waterford responded well to that blow, with Curran, Billy Power and a superb point from Foran pushing the boat out further.
Killian Doyle won a free which he sent flying over the bar, before substitute Josh Coll capitalised on a poor pass from goalkeeper Shaun O’Brien to make it 1-18 to 0-14 going into the final quarter.
The impressive Glennon pointed again to reduce arrears to six, before Doyle (2) and Curran traded further dead balls.
It looked as if it would be plain sailing in the driving rain for Liam Cahill’s Waterford when Westmeath midfielder Cormac Boyle was given a straight red card by referee Cathal McAllister - but just two minutes later and five minutes from time, Killian Doyle’s free wormed under the Waterford defenders on the line and into the net to make it a two-point game.
An inspirational point by veteran Kevin Moran gave Waterford breathing space, as did two of the same from Ballysaggart man Kieran Bennett when he was found in acres as the visitors lost their shape.
There was time for further drama as substitute Darragh Lyons received a red for his charge on Aonghus Clarke. Killian Doyle added two more points as Westmeath threw the kitchen sink in search of a point - but they could not get a crucial second goal as the home side held out.
Waterford: Shaun O’Brien, Ian Kenny, Shane Fives, Tom Barron, Seamus Keating, Iarlaith Daly, Kieran Power, Peter Hogan, Billy Power, Jack Fagan, Patrick Curran, DJ Foran, Jack Prendergast, Michael Kiely, Mikey Kearney.
Subs: Jake Dillon for Billy Power (45); Kevin Moran for Kieran Power (54); Kieran Bennett for DJ Foran (54); Dessie Hutchinson for Michael Kiely (54); Darragh Lyons for Peter Hogan (63); Conor Sheehan for Patrick Curran (68); Conor Prunty for Tom Barron (68)
Scorers: Patrick Curran (0-11; 11f); DJ Foran (0-03); Mikey Kearney (1-00); Kieran Bennett (0-02); Kevin Moran, Peter Hogan, Billy Power, Seamus Keating, Kieran Power, Jack Prendergast (0-01 each)
Westmeath: Eoin Skelly, Darragh Egerton, Tommy Doyle, Conor Shaw, Aaron Craig, Aonghus Clarke, Shane Clavin, Cormac Boyle, Robbie Gleville, Joey Boyle, Ciaran Doyle, Davy Glennon, Niall O'Brien, Niall Mitchell, Killian Doyle.
Subs: Tommy Gallagher for Shane Clavin (HT); Josh Coll for Joey Boyle (HT); Brendan Doyle for Conor Shaw (45); Shane Williams for Niall O’Brien (49); Darragh Clinton for Ciaran Doyle (53); Jack Galvin for Davy Glennon (66)
Scorers: Killian Doyle (1-07, 1-5 f); Niall O’Brien (0-06, 6f); Davy Glennon (0-03); Josh Coll, Aonghus Clarke, Cormac Boyle (0-01 each)
Referee: Cathal McAllister (Cork)
