Westmeath 2-14 Cavan 1-13: Lake County claim inaugural Tailteann Cup title

Westmeath are the inaugural winners of the Tailteann Cup, after a 2-14 to 1-13 win over Cavan in the final at Croke Park.

Their first piece of championship silverware since 2004, the Leinster side are now guaranteed a place in the Sam Maguire Cup in 2023.

Trailing by three points in the second-half, Westmeath were forced to dig deep. Buoyed by Cavan being reduced to 14 players, they kicked on and a late goal from Kieran Martin sealed a famous triumph for the county.

Cavan looked to counteract the threat of John Heslin in the first-half, with Killian Brady and Killian Clarke sharing the duty, depending on where the St Loman's star roamed.

However, they failed to account for Ronan O'Toole, who kicked four excellent first-half points to lead the Lake County charge.

Up the other end, two points apiece from Gearóid McKiernan and Gerard Smith kept the Breffni County's score ticking.

The first significant blow was landed in the 28th minute, when Luke Loughlin played it into the path of Lorcan Dolan, who finished first time off the ground straight into the top corner to give his side a 1-6 to 0-8 lead.

Cavan appeared to have justified complaints that Loughlin's hand-pass was played on the ground.

Nonetheless, Jack Cooney's side took a 1-8 to 0-9 lead into the break.

Both sides struggled for scores after the restart. Heslin kicked three successive wides, but Westmeath kept their noses in front.

In the 52nd minute a James Smith shot dropped short, and Pádraig Faulkner reacted quickest, fisting it into the net. Gerard Smith and Paddy Lynch added further scores to establish a 1-13 to 1-10 lead, as the Ulster side built on their purple patch.

However, they were built a hammer blow in the 59th minute when Thomas Galligan mistimed a challenge on Ronan O'Toole, and was shown a straight red card.

Battling their numerical disadvantage, Cavan's scoring dried up, and Sam McCartan levelled it at 1-13 apiece.

The match needed somebody to grab it by the scruff of the neck, and that's exactly what happened. Substitute Kieran Martin turned for goal in the 67th minute, beating a host of Cavan defenders, and the Westmeath stalwart rattled the net.

Cavan did have a chance to hit back when Conor Madden had a shot on goal, but his effort was blocked.

Try as they might, the Breffni men couldn't find another score, and Ronan Wallace fisted over a late point to seal the victory.

Referee: Barry Cassidy (Derry)

Scorers

Westmeath: Ronan O'Toole (0-5), Lorcan Dolan (1-0), Kieran Martin (1-0), Sam McCartan (0-3, 0-1 '45), John Heslin (0-3, 0-2f), Luke Loughlin (0-2), Ronan Wallace (0-1).

Cavan: Pádraig Faulkner (1-0), Paddy Lynch (0-3), Gearoid McKiernan (0-3, 0-1f), Gerard Smith (0-3), Jason McLoughlin (0-1), James Smith (0-1), Stephen Smith (0-1), Oisin Kiernan (0-1).

Teams

Westmeath:

1. Jason Daly

2. Jack Smith
3. Kevin Maguire
6. Ronan Wallace

4. Jamie Gonoud
7. Nigel Harte
5. James Dolan

8. Jonathan Lynam
9. Ray Connellan

10. Sam McCartan
11. Ronan O'Toole
12. David Lynch

13. Luke Loughlin
14. John Heslin
15. Lorcan Dolan

Subs
Ger Egan for Jonathan Lynam (59)
Kieran Martin for Lorcan Dolan (60)
Alex Gardiner for Luke Loughlin (70)

Cavan

1. Raymond Galligan

20. Niall Carolan
4. Killian Brady
3. Padraig Faulkner

12. Conor Moynagh
7. Conor Brady
2. Jason McLoughlin

6. Killian Clarke
8. Thomas Galligan

10. Gerard Smith
11. Gearoid McKiernan
5. Oisin Kiernan

9. James Smith
14. Paddy Lynch
15. Cian Madden

Subs
Stephen Smith for Cian Madden (ht)
Martin Reilly for Conor Brady (51)
Luke Fortune for Conor Moynagh (66)
Cormac O'Reilly for Killian Brady (71)
Conor Madden for Killian Clarke (71)