Kildare 2-15

Westmeath 2-7

KILDARE BLEW AWAY Westmeath to win the Leinster minor football title in Croke Park this afternoon.

Goals from captain Mark Sherry and Chris Healy in the space of five second-half minutes clinched Kildare’s sixth provincial title at this level and their first since 1991.

Westmeath finished with 14 men after substitute Darragh Clinton was sent off but Tommy Carr’s side still managed two late goals to cut the final margin to a more respectable eight points.

It was Westmeath who started strongest and led by 0-2 to 0-0 after seven minutes through two points from the boot of Luke Loughlin, a late addition to the starting 15 at full-forward.

They would be their only scores until the 29th minute as Kildare took control with a dominant display. Four brilliant points in the space of four minutes from the livewire Wayne Fitzpatrick, each better than the last, helped them into an 0-5 to 0-2 lead with 13 minutes played.

Healy and Neil Flynn also kicked points from play before substitute Liam Cassidy ended Westmeath’s long run without a score, cutting the deficit to four a minute before the break.

But another point from Fitzpatrick in stoppage time stretched Kildare’s advantage to five at half-time, 0-8 to 0-3.

For all of Kildare’s dominance in that first half Westmeath had reeled them back to within three points by the 38th minute, Darren Giles’ pointed free quickly followed up by a point from play by Clinton.

But that was as close as the Maroons ever came as Kildare sealed their win in five devastating minutes. A superb ball from centre-back Paul Mescal dropped over the head of his opposite number Bryan O’Donoghue and captain Sherry was on hand to hammer home the game’s opening goal.

Neil Flynn and Cian McMonagle added a point apiece before Healy struck for Kildare’s second goal in the 43rd minute. Again Sherry was in the thick of the action, fielding a high ball which fell to the alert Healy who struck it low past Joe Hyland in the Westmeath goal.

That made it 2-11 to 0-6 in Kildare’s favour and they had stretched their advantage to 13 points by the time Clinton was given his marching orders for a shoulder charge on Cian McConnell in the 52nd minute.

Ryan Houlihan’s foul on Robert Hickey gave Luke Loughlin the chance to score from the penalty spot with eight minutes to play before Andrew McCormack forced home Westmeath’s second through a crowded goalmouth in stoppage time.

Scorers for Kildare: C Healy 1-3, W Fitzpatrick 0-6 (2f), M Sherry 1-0, N Flynn 0-2 (1f), P Connell, L Flynn, C McMonagle, B Byrne all 0-1.

Scorers for Westmeath: L Loughlin 1-3 (1-0 pen, 1f), A McCormack 1-0, L Cassidy, I Ilunga, D Clinton, D Giles (1f) all 0-1.

Kildare: Sean Dempsey; Cian McConnell, Niall Fleming, Jamie Connolly; Jamie Flynn, Paul Mescal, Ryan Houlihan; Paschal Connell, Luke Flynn; Neil Flynn, Mark Sherry (c), Tommy Cribbin; Wayne Fitzpatrick, Cian McMonagle, Chris Healy.

Substitutes: Brian Byrne for T Cribbin (33), Darren Maguire for J Connolly (47), Michael Kelly for C McMonagle (52), Rory McDermott for R Houlihan (54), Mark Byrne for M Sherry (56).

Westmeath: Joe Hyland; Matthew Darling, Israel Ilunga, Boidu Sayeh; Andrew McCormack, Bryan O’Donoghue, Darren Giles; Ryan Caffrey (c), Sam Omokuro; Ruairi Cunningham, Alan Hughes, Ciaran Shanley; John Corbally, Luke Loughlin, Liam Varley.

Substitutes: Liam Cassidy for J Corbally (26), Darragh Clinton for A Hughes (26), Darragh Lyons for C Shanley (47), Robert Hickey for R Cunningham (47), Shane Clavin for B O’Donoghue (51).

Referee: David Gough (Meath)