Kildare fall to a late Westmeath two-pointer

Kildare coughed up an eight point lead after 41 to fall to a late Luke Loughlin two-pointer toas Westmeath captured the 2026 O'Byrne Cup on a final score line of Westmeath 1-18 Kildare 1-16.

While Westmeath fully deserved their win Kildare will wonder how they let this one slip, on more than one occasion they looked to have this in the bag but a magnificent display from wing back Ronan Wallace who destroyed Kildare, hitting 1-7 and with Luke Loughlin adding 0-8 Kildare paid the penalty for some atrocious shooting in the opening half.

That opening half saw Kildare hit three wides and a short inside the opening five minutes before finally finding the range with three two-pointers in a row from Kevin Feely, Brian McLoughlin and Ben Loakman to lead 0-6 to 0-1, Danny McCartan opening for Westmeath.

The home side hit three wides on the trot and two before the break as Westmeath worked their way into the game with points from Luke Loughlin (2) and Ronan Wallace to reduce the lead to two.

Kildare upped their game again as we approached half-time, adding points from Brian McLoughlin and Eoin Cully to lead at the break 0-8 to 0-4.

Scorers: Westmeath, Ronan Wallace 1-7 (3 two-pointers), Luke Loughlin 0-8 (3 two-pointers, 45), Danny McCartan 0-2, Senan Baker 0-1 (free).

Kildare, Brian McLoughlin 0-4 (1 two-pointer), Alex Beirne 0-5 (1 two-pointer, 45, free), Ben Loakman 0-3 (two-pointer), Liam Kelly 1-0, Kevin Feely 0-2 (two-pointer), Eoin Cully 0-1, Calum Bolton 0-1.

KILDARE: Cian Burke; Harry O'Neill, Michael Spillane, Ryan Burke; James Harris, Eoin Lawlor, Brian Byrne; Kevin Feely cpt, Brendan Gibbons; Brian McLoughlin, Alex Beirne, Callum Bolton; Sam Doran, Ben Loakman, Eoin Cully. Subs: Liam Kelly for Sam Doran (half-time); Mick Spillane for Eoin Lawler (44 minutes); Darragh Swords for Padraic Spillane (52 minutes); Daragh Mangan for Brendan Gibbons (56 minutes);

WESTMEATH: Jack Connaughton; Tadhg Baker, Charlie Drumm, Boidu Sayeh; Ronan Wallace cpt, Danny Scahill, Jonathan Lynam; Harry Niall, Ray Connellan; Senan Baker, Brian Guerin, Brendan Kelly; Danny McCartan, Luke Loughlin, Matthew Whittaker. Subs: Brian Cooney for Brian Guerin (half-time); Eoghan McCabe for Harry Niall (half-time); Tom Molloy for Danny McCartan (42 minutes); TJ Cox for Senan Baker (42 minutes); Robbie Forde for Brnadon Kelly (42 minutes); Jack Duncan for Jonathan Lynam (51 minutes);

REFEREE: Kevin Williamson.