Louth 1-14
Westmeath 1-9
TEENAGE SUB RYAN Burns was the hero for Louth in Mullingar when he fired home the goal which sent Aidan O’Rourke’s men on their way to a Leinster Senior Football Championship victory and set up a Croke Park date with Kildare next month.
Westmeath seemed poised for victory when they pulled two points ahead thanks to a goal from Kieran Martin and a point from James Dolan.
Dessie Dolan made it 1-9 to 0-10 with 14 minutes remaining, but despite wind advantage, Paul Bealin’s men failed to score again and continue without a single win in 2014 in any competition.
Louth also went through the league without a win, but when a ball broke kindly for Burns, the minor raced through and dispatched the ball to the net 11 minutes from time.
Louth never looked back after that and with Westmeath shooting some dreadful wides, O’Rourke’s men polished off the win with a flurry of points from impressive corner-forwards Declan Byrne and Derek Maguire.
Louth had wind advantage in the opening half but found themselves 0-3 to 0-0 adrift after 12 minutes, before they rallied and benefited from using the ball directly.
The sides were level three times in the opening half but Louth finished strongly with a couple of points from Byrne and one from Andy McDonnell.
Skipper Paddy Keenan kept Louth in touch when Westmeath enjoyed their best spell in the third quarter, but it was Burns who clinched the win with his goal.
Louth could not be stopped and not even a black card to Brian White — the first in the championship — could stem the flow.
Scorers for Louth: Derek Maguire 0-5; Ryan Burns 1-0, Declan Byrne 0-3 (2fs), Paddy Keenan 0-3; Andy McDonnell 0-2; Shane Lennon 0-1.Scorers for Westmeath: Kieran Martin 1-1; John Heslin 0-3 (2fs); Ger Egan 0-2; James Dolan, Denis Glennon and Dessie Dolan all 0-1.
Louth: Neil Gallagher; Padraig Rath, Dessie Finnegan, Gary O Hare; Derek Crilly, John O’Brien, Adrian Reid; Paddy Keenan (c), Mick Fanning; Derek Maguire, Brian White, Andy McDonnell; Shane Lennon, Conor Grimes, Declan Byrne.
Subs: Ryan Burns for Lennon (57mins); Brian Donnelly for Fanning (57); James Stewart for White (62); Patrick Reilly for Reid (67).
Westmeath: Darren Quinn; Damian Dolan, Kevin Maguire, Kieran Gavin; Ronan Foley, Paul Sharry (c), James Dolan; David Duffy, Ray Connellan; Kieran Martin, Callum McCormack, Ger Egan; Denis Glennon, John Heslin, Dessie Dolan.
Subs: David McCormack for Connellan (29mins); Doran Harte for Damien Dolan (61), Alan Giles for McCormack (64); Jamie Gonud for Foley (68).
Referee: M Deegan (Laois).
