Fermanagh ease past Westmeath in All-Ireland SFC qualifiers
Saturday 25 July 2015 21:42, UK
Fermanagh took control after the restart at Kingspan Breffni Park to book a place in the quarter-finals of the All-Ireland SFC for the first time since 2004 with an emphatic 1-13 to 0-7 win over Westmeath.
Fermanagh did not lead for the first time until three minutes into the second half but, not for the first time this season, they showed a great ability to take control of a game and finish strongly.
They will now move on to Croke Park and a date against Leinster champions Dublin after Tomas Corrigan proved to be the decisive figure in this one.
Sean Quigley, the top scorer in the championship, had an off-day but Corrigan, son of former manager Dom, took over and got them in front before shooting the game’s only goal to wrap it up six minutes from time.
They outscored Westmeath by 1-8 to 0-2 in the second half. Tom Cribbin’s men, already without their best forward John Heslin, then lost John Connellan for the second half after he limped off after making a big impression.
Fermanagh’s ill-discipline and dreadful accuracy up front in the opening half meant they were fortunate to go in level at the break.
Pete McGrath’s men kicked 10 wides to Westmeath’s seven in that opening period, but most of the Fermanagh misses were from good positions with even Quigley shooting three frees wide, before Corrigan was handed the task.
The sides were level three times in the opening half, with Shane Dempsey and Quigley exchanging points in the opening three minutes, while John Connellan and Declan McCusker then did likewise.
But Fermanagh, who conceded 13 frees to Westmeath’s six in the first half, paid a big price for their ill-discipline with wing-back Marty O’Brien black carded after 19 minutes for hauling down Kieran Martin, and he was followed to the sideline nine minutes later by centre-back Ryan McCluskey for another reckless challenge.
By then Westmeath had opened up a three-point lead thanks to three efforts from John Connellan, two of them from play inside a minute, to lead by 0-5 to 0-2 approaching the interval.
But Fermanagh finally got their act together and Tomas Corrigan hauled them back into contention with three points in succession.
He ended a 23-minute barren spell with a point from distance, followed it up with one from the left and then tapped over a close-range free to send them in level at the break.
Westmeath suffered a blow just before the break when John Connellan limped off and he was replaced by captain Ger Egan for the second half.
Corrigan, who had been joined on the field by brother Ruairi in the opening half, put Fermanagh in front for the first time after 38 minutes and while Denis Glennon responded inside a minute, Westmeath did not score again for 27 minutes.
Ryan Jones, Eoin Donnelly and Richard O’Callaghan took over around the middle of the field for Fermanagh and Westmeath were just unable to penetrate their defence.
Quigley hit a superb point from the outside of the boot from distance after 40 minutes and that was a lead Fermanagh never surrendered.
Niall Cassidy, Corrigan and Declan McCusker all landed points to lead by 0-10 to 0-6 after 53 minutes.
Westmeath lost goalkeeper Darren Quinn to injury and Gary Connaughton, their sub goalie and a selector, wound back the clock to take over between the posts 11 years after winning a Leinster SFC medal.
But a fairytale finish was never on the cards as Corrigan landed a couple of points before running on to a flicked pass from O’Callaghan and neatly chipping the ball over the advancing Connaughton and into the top right corner of the net to seal another impressive victory.
Fermanagh: T Treacy; M Jones, T Daly, N Cassidy (0-1); M O’Brien, R McCluskey, J McMahon; E Donnelly, R O’Callaghan; B Mulrone, R Jones, D McCusker (0-2); P McCusker, S Quigley (0-2, 1f), T Corrigan (1-7, 0-5f).
Subs: D Kelly (0-1) for O’Brien (19), R Corrigan for McCluskey (29), C Jones for Donnelly (44), C Cullen for Csssidy (70).
Westmeath: D Quinn; K Maguire, K Gavin, F Boyle; K Daly, P Holloway, J Dolan; D Corroon, P Sharry; J Gilligan, R Connellan (0-1, f), K Martin; J Connellan (0-4, 2f), D Glennon (0-1), S Dempsey (0-1).
Subs: G Egan for J Connellan (36), D Lynch for Maguire (41), D Daly for Dempsey (46), G Connaughton for Quinn (55), L Smyth for Glennon (57), P Greville for Holloway (58).
Referee: Padraig Hughes (Armagh).
