Westmeath v Dublin, Leinster final, 2pm, RTÉ 2

Nib

Hard to see Westmeath winning this game but hopefully they can compete with the Dubs.

Leinster football really need a good final.

Fireball07

Hard to see them even getting close tbh, but I really hope they do.

Kerrydude1981

Strange day,Brolly and Spillane agreeing with each other

Dirty Dingus McGee

Hope I'm wrong but Dublin should win by close to 20.

Westmeath have to play an almost complete blanket and then bomb long balls in on top of John Heslin.

Any fluting around from Westmeath and Dublin will destroy them.They're unbelievable at dispossessing teams in the middle third and breaking on them.

mattser

Kerrydude1981 wrote: »

Strange day,Brolly and Spillane agreeing with each other

O'Rourke after giving the two of them both barrels for talking their usual sh1te.

Brolly replies with " Meath will be looking for a manager soon ".

Absolutely no class whatsoever JB.

BunkMoreland

Lots of dirty body checks and high tackles from the Dubs. Filth

recylingbin

Blow it up ref ffs

Fireball07

Westmeath started well enough but need to take every single opportunity.

BunkMoreland

More filth from the Dubs, punished this time.

Nib

How is that not a red? Disgusting tackle!

happyoutscan

Ref not seeing frees for Westmeath.

Nib

Joe McQuillan is a dreadful referee. How did he not spot that pick up from Brogan?

Westmeath playing against 16 men here.

caff

Yet again straight into the goalies hands

pmasterson95

Ref doing his best to get Dublin a solid winning margin.

Say Your Number

Dublin are beginning to pull away, wonder will Westmeath try a more offensive formation or will they be happy just not to take a heavy beating.

happyoutscan

Say Your Number wrote: »

Dublin are beginning to pull away, wonder will Westmeath try a more offensive formation or will they be happy just not to take a heavy beating.

If there's only a few in it at halftime I'd hope Westmeath would go for it in the 2nd half.

keeponhurling

Is it just me or does it seem like McQuillen is referee for every Dublin game ?

BunkMoreland

Ah **** off ref

Fireball07

Westmeath staying in touch, they're doing alright. Probably won't be enough but I expected a hammering tbh.

Westmeath would probably need at least two goals to win.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Westmeath are doing OK.Dublin have been sloppy but thats to be expected as they know they are going to win before the match has started.At least they've been competitive unlike the other teams Dublin have faced this year.

Westmeaths finishing is letting them down but I think the effort in getting the ball close to goals has them bolloxed and their don't have the energy to finish off their moves.

keeponhurling

Some of the kicking and shot selection is fairly poor from both teams.

There's generally not too much of a breeze in Croker

Slattsy

Very comfortable for Dublin, Westmeath playing to keep the score as tight as possible without trying to win the game.
Good test for Dublin the way Westmeath are set up with a view to playing the nordy counties later on, better for us than winning by 30 points tbh.

Hopefully we'll get out of first gear in the 2nd half and push on a bit.

Uncle Ben

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

Westmeath are doing OK.Dublin have been sloppy but thats to be expected as they know they are going to win before the match has started.At least they've been competitive unlike the other teams Dublin have faced this year.

Westmeaths finishing is letting them down but I think the effort in getting the ball close to goals has them bolloxed and their don't have the energy to finish off their moves.

Dublin to win by 23 points. Normal day at the office.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Slattsy wrote: »

Very comfortable for Dublin, Westmeath playing to keep the score as tight as possible without trying to win the game.
Good test for Dublin the way Westmeath are set up with a view to playing the nordy counties later on, better for us than winning by 30 points tbh.

Hopefully we'll get out of first gear in the 2nd half and push on a bit.

Westmeath can't put too much emphasis on attack now as they will be destroyed.

Their trying to do what Laois did in the quarter finals a few years ago.Hold Dublin for as long as possible and hit them in the last 10 minutes.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Uncle Ben wrote: »

Dublin to win by 23 points. Normal day at the office.

Probably but at least they are still somewhat close at half time

keeponhurling

It still annoys me that the analysis of the game is done by "experts" who aren't even at the game.

It's a pet hate but ridiculous that Brolly and co. have to travel to Thurles

keeponhurling

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

Westmeath can't put too much emphasis on attack now as they will be destroyed.

Their trying to do what Laois did in the quarter finals a few years ago.Hold Dublin for as long as possible and hit them in the last 10 minutes.

True, even Donegal just sucked it up for a while last year and then hit them later on

my friend

Score line much tighter than I expected, Westmeath have schooled a few seasoned Dubs so far, if Brogan doesn't step up Gavin will sub him, Kilkenny only Dub performing to ability

Coillte_Bhoy

keeponhurling wrote: »

True, even Donegal just sucked it up for a while last year and then hit them later on

Donegal rode their luck big style though, they were cut open at will, Westmeath havent been to the same extent

Say Your Number

Westmeath have a chance if Dublin keep up that shooting

keeponhurling

Shocking wide by Rock

Nib

Dean Rock is so poor, hard to believe Alan Brogan can't get in ahead of him.

Connolly again has been brilliant. Probably the best player in the country at the moment.

Say Your Number

Game over

Say Your Number

Ah for f*cksake

Hammer Archer

How predictable.

Slattsy

We're into 2nd gear now.

caff

Well that's that so.

Poor_old_gill

45 with his bad leg? Jeez Connolly theres no need to be such a pr*ck!

Uncle Ben

caff wrote: »

Well that's that so.

Game over as a contest.

Poor_old_gill

This Paul Greville guy who has come on for Westmeath is poor, very poor

The Showstopper

Watching grass grow is more entertaining than this dross.

sligeach

Meath would have given Dublin a much better game had they not so spectacularly imploded and lost the plot a couple of weeks ago.

Say Your Number

Last two Dublin scores were brilliant

Westmeath did as well as they could, not much else they could do really

sligeach

6 points scored by Westmeath today. That's dreadful by any standard. Had that Westmeath and Meath gone to a replay, Meath would have trounced them. It would have been the first half x2. Who would fear Westmeath after today?

Poor_old_gill

sligeach wrote: »

6 points scored by Westmeath today. That's dreadful by any standard. Had that Westmeath and Meath gone to a replay, Meath would have trounced them. It would have been the first half x2. Who would fear Westmeath after today?

At least they are still in contention to be feared- where are Meath again?
Are they not out already? Didnt they lose 2 of 3 games and scrape past a very weak Wicklow in the other match?

recylingbin

If that prick of a ref had blown it up after 2 minutes like I asked, we'd be Leinster champions now.

Rock 1234

Westmeath were no match for Dublin full stop, no matter what management tactics Westmeath used it just was not going to work. But there is always a chance of a win in the future I hope.

sligeach

Poor_old_gill wrote: »

At least they are still in contention to be feared- where are Meath again?
Are they not out already? Didnt they lose 2 of 3 games and scrape past a very weak Wicklow in the other match?

They won by 4 points and take away the 2 penalties and it would have been a more realistic face on the scoreline in Aughrim. And again lost to Tyrone yesterday, the difference? Another penalty in Tyrone. That's the luck of the draw. I guarantee Westmeath would lose by more than 2 points to Tyrone.

Poor_old_gill

sligeach wrote: »

They won by 4 points and take away the 2 penalties and it would have been a more realistic face on the scoreline in Aughrim. And again lost to Tyrone yesterday, the difference? Another penalty in Tyrone. That's the luck of the draw. I guarantee Westmeath would lose by more than 2 points to Tyrone.

Sure we'll never know as they beat Meath

Paulzx

Was at the game today. Really disappointed with Westmeath. They had no interest in having a go at winning the game. If i was a westmeath fan i'd much rather be beaten by 20 points whilst trying to win the game than being happy shipping a defeat of 13 points whilst never attacking.

Even when the game was gone they never seemed to have more than one attacker within 20 metres of the Dublin goal. Blanket defence is all well and good but you still need some sort of plan to score. I don't expect them to go man to man but jesus show some sort of appetite to attack when you have the ball


Leinster finals have been few and far between for Westmeath and their management team accepted defeat before the throw in.

keeponhurling

From the TV it looked like Westmeath had a plan but ultimately were outgunned.
Remember that there are some players on the WH team who probably wouldn't even make the Dublin panel.

I guess they were hoping for a better return from their forwards, in the first half they dropped 5 or 6 into Cluxton's hands plus Martin missed a scorable free, so they could have been closer at half time.

They played some cross field balls into Martin and Heslin which didn't come to anything, plus Egan, Sharry, even the wing backs joined in the attack at times.

To win they needed to keep Dublin from scoring goals and hope for some luck or brilliance upfront which didn't work out.