Allianz National League

Division 3

Sligo           1-11

Westmeath 1-10

@Markievicz Park by Gavin Cawley

Sligo got their first win of 2016 on the back of a hard fought contest and a great display from the entire panel. The game’s turning point came halfway through the second half when debutante and teenager Kyle Cawley found the back of the Westmeath net following a ‘flicked’ pass from Brian Egan.

The Yeats’ men came into the match on the back of a disappointing result against Clare while Westmeath had also come up short in their Kildare encounter. This meant it was an important contest for both teams in a wet and windy Markievicz Park.

Sligo was captained by Mark Breheny who was declared fit to start after recent injuries and this was a massive boost for the home side. The Yeats’ men began brightly and opened with a two point lead early on; both from the boot of Niall Murphy but John Heslin responded with a fine score after good work from Paul Sharry. It was Sligo who dominated proceedings for the next 20 minutes as Murphy and Mark Breheny were proving very accurate in front of the posts. Brendan Egan also scored an excellent point off his left foot and the home-side went 0-08 to 0-01 in front. Westmeath’s revival in the final five minutes of the half brought them back into the match with points from Heslin and Ray Connellan, who recently had an AFL trial, bringing them to within four points.

It got better for the visitors when a great run from Ger Egan was cut short by Brendan Egan resulting in a black card being shown to the later Egan and a penalty being converted by the former as Ger stepped up and sent Aidan Devaney the wrong way. Remarkably Westmeath had reduced the margin to one point; 0-08 to 1-04 in the course of five minutes.

Mark Breheny got Sligo’s first score of the second half from a free but Westmeath responded with two Heslin points (seven in total) leaving the sides level. The visitors were starting to come into the match even though the Sligo defence was working very hard and both Neil Ewing and Noel Gaughan were performing well and stopping the supply.

 The Yeats’ men went two points in front again when Murphy and Gerard O’Kelly-Lynch, who was excellent throughout the game, scored but this game was far from over as the sides were soon level again with Heslin, in particular, in excellent form. The game’s key score came when Kyle Cawley netted 15 minutes from the end as Sligo went in front by three points.

Westmeath tried hard in the closing ten minutes and scored two points, the best of which came from Kieran Martin, but that still left them short at the final whistle.

Niall Carew will be delighted that Sligo held on for this priceless victory

Sligo Aidan Devaney, Johnny Kelly, Kevin McDonnell, Eoin Flanagan, Keelan Cawley, Brendan Egan(0-1), Gerard O’Kelly Lynch(0-1), Eoin McHugh, Cian Breheny, Neil Ewing, Noel Gaughan, Mark Breheny(0-4,4fs), Brian Egan, Niall Murphy(0-5,1f,45), Kyle Cawley (1-0),  Subs Used : Adrian McIntyre for Brendan Egan(BC half time), James Hynes for Kyle Cawley(61mins), Criostoir Davey for Noel Gaughan (64 mins), Padraic Clarke for Mark Breheny (72mins), David Rooney for Neil Ewing (73 mins)

Westmeath Darren Quinn, Jamie Gonoud, Alan Stone, Kevin Maguire, John Egan, Paddy Holloway, Killian Daly, Ray Connellan(0-1), Frank Boyle, Ger Egan(1-0), Paul Sharry, Kieran Martin (0-1), Callum McCormack, John Heslin(0-7,5fs), John Connellan

Subs Used: Shane Dempsey(0-1) for Callum McCormack (half time), James Dolan for Killian Daly (43mins), Denis Corroon for John Egan, (47mins), David Lynch for Jamie Gonoud (63 mins), Ronan Foley for Alan Stone(68 mins)

Referee : Shaun McLaughlin (Donegal)