Dublin Senior Hurlers claim a spot in the Dioralyte Walsh Cup Final following victory over Westmeath

DUBLIN 3-24 

WESTMEATH 2-14

Dublin advanced to the final of the Dioralyte Walsh Cup when overcoming Westmeath by thirteen points at Parnell Park on Sunday afternoon. 

After away wins against Carlow and Wexford over the previous week, the Dubs enjoyed the more familiar environs of Donnycarney as they booked a showdown with Galway in next weekend’s decider. 

The writing was on the wall at half-time as goals by Cian O’Sullivan, Conor Donohoe and Davy Keogh propelled the hosts into a 3-12 to 0-11 interval lead. 

There was a slight wobble in the third quarter as they conceded goals to Eoin Keyes and David Williams but they regrouped sufficiently well to finish on the front foot, scoring the last four points of the game.  

Despite falling behind to an early Josh Coll point, Dublin settled into the encounter through an O’Sullivan free and an Ollie Gaffney point before Eamonn Cunneen levelled matters for the visitors in the 4th minute. 

Tom Brennan and Cathal Kennedy added points before the hosts struck for the game’s opening goal in the 8th minute as Keogh found O’Sullivan twelve metres from goal and the All-Star made no mistake with a powerful, rising shot. 

Westmeath responded well to this setback courtesy of three points on the bounce from Darragh McCormack, Coll and Peter Clarke before points by Donohoe and O’Sullivan (free) pushed Dublin four points clear by the end of the first quarter. 

A brace of Killian Doyle frees halved the away deficit but that proved a brief respite for Westmeath as normal service was resumed thanks to points in quick succession by Kennedy, James Madden and Donohoe. 

The latter enjoyed a hugely influential first-half and found space in the 24th minute to cut inside and fire a low shot to the net from eight yards. 

Late replacement Keogh was another to shine and after another powerful surge down the heart of the Westmeath defence, his low shot from fifteen yards raised a third green flag in the 29th minute, leaving his side ten points clear at the turnaround.

The hosts pushed on in the early stages of the second-half with Gaffney adding a quickfire brace before a fine surge from Keyes culminated in a kicked finish beyond replacement goalkeeper Eddie Gibbons in the 43rd minute. 

Williams added 1-1 from placed balls in the immediate aftermath to trim Dublin’s lead to six points but frees from Darragh Kenny and Donohoe saw Dublin regain control of matters. 

As is customary, the bench was emptied with Liam Mostyn of Faughs showing well once again with a two-point salvo while Neil Hogan and Séan Gallagher also added scores to complete a relatively routine victory.    

Scorers – Dublin: C Donohoe 1-4 (0-1f), C O’Sullivan 1-3 (0-2f), D Keogh 1-2, D Kenny (2f), O Gaffney 0-3 each, C Kennedy, L Mostyn 0-2 each, C Boyle (f), S Gallagher, T Brennan, N Hogan, J Madden 0-1 each. Westmeath: D Williams 1-3 (1-3f), E Keyes 1-0, K Doyle 0-3 (3f), E Cunneen, J Coll, D McCormack 0-2 each, P Clarke, J Gillen 0-1 each.

Dublin: S Brennan; N Clerkin, J Bellew, C Kennedy; D Lucey, P Smyth, S Gallagher; B Hayes, C Donohoe; D Keogh, D Power, D Kenny; O Gaffney, T Brennan, C O’Sullivan. Subs: J Madden for Hayes (15), E Gibbons for Brennan, L Mostyn for O’Sullivan, E McLoughney for Bellew (all h-t), C Murray for Lucey, C Groarke for Smyth (both 41), C Boyle for Brennan (51), N Hogan for Donohoe (56), L Dunne for Gaffney (61).

Westmeath: E Aughey; D Smith, C Shaw, C McKeogh; B McCabe, J Berminghan, R Keyes; K Doyle, E Cunneen; D Williams, Marc Cunningham, J Coll; E Keyes, D McCormack, P Clarke. Subs: S Williams for Smith (11), K Regan for McCabe (24), P Murphy for Coll, S Jackson for Aughey (both h-t), Matthew Cunningham for Doyle, J Gillen for Cunneen (both 48), J Fry for Shaw (54), D Ennis for Clarke (56).

Referee: Conor Daly (Kildare).