Westmeath hit Laois U-20 footballers for six in Andrew Corden Cup defeat

Westmeath produced a ruthless performance in front of their home crowd in Kinnegad to cruise past Laois with a dominant victory in difficult conditions.

Westmeath 6-13

Laois 0-7

The hosts wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, with Kaelan Connell opening the scoring inside the first minute. Laois had an early opportunity of their own through Ryan Little, but his goal-bound effort was smothered by a swarm of five Westmeath defenders.

Patient in possession and sharp in their build-up, Westmeath doubled their lead after eight minutes through Finn Duffy. He nearly added a goal moments later, but Laois goalkeeper Ben Dillon pulled off a strong save. That chance came after a superb catch by Shane Ormsby, who soon had a goal chance of his own. His dropping shot slipped through Dillon's hands but was eventually scrambled out for a 45 that came to nothing.

Shane Corcoran then struck Westmeath’s third point, and Duffy added his second to make it 0-4 to 0-0 by the quarter-hour mark.

Paddy Fitzpatrick offered a spark for Laois, chasing down his own short effort, only to be denied by Westmeath keeper Luke Nicholson. In worsening weather, with driving rain and water splashing off the turf, the hosts coped far better with the conditions.

Ronan Murphy stretched Westmeath’s lead before Corcoran delivered a hammer blow, cutting in from the sideline and rifling the ball into the top corner to raise the game’s first green flag. That made it 1-4 to no score after 22 minutes.

Laois finally got off the mark through Fitzpatrick on 25 minutes, followed shortly by a Jeremy Kelly free after Westmeath fouled the ball. But just before the break, disaster struck again for the visitors. Dillon saved well from Ormsby, but Jack Duncan pounced on the rebound and buried it to leave Westmeath leading 2-5 to 0-2 at the half.

Laois restarted brightly with a booming point from wing-back Jack Julian, and Fitzpatrick soon added his second. However, Westmeath hit back quickly, Duncan and Duffy tapping over a point each to regain control.

Moments later, a Laois kick-out went astray and Duncan pounced to hammer home his second goal. Kelly responded with a two-point score for Laois, but Westmeath were relentless. Corcoran added to his tally, before another breakdown on a Laois kick-out led to Tadhg Baker blasting home a fourth goal to make it 4-8 to 0-6 after 45 minutes.

Westmeath’s hunger showed no signs of easing. Duncan completed his hat-trick after a fumble from Dillon, the full-forward punching the ball to the net for their fifth goal. Matthew Thornton added a point, and while Fitzpatrick responded for Laois, Westmeath struck again, this time substitute Tiarnan O’Donovan palming the ball in to bring their goal count to six.

Substitute Conor Callaghan chipped in with two frees, Thornton notched his second point of the day, and O’Donovan rounded off the scoring with a well-taken point, capping a commanding performance from The Lake County.