Down Win All Ireland U17's - Seamus Heaney Cup

Saturday 8th June 2024

Down 4-13   Westmeath 1-18

A  Paul McGovern penalty with less than five minutes to play saw Down take a two point lead for the first time in a game, in a game that saw the Mourne county win a third successive title at underage in as many weeks.

Down struggled in the first half and were turned over too easily as Westmeath built a five point lead half way through the opening 15mins, thanks mainly to the dead ball accuracy of Westmeath’s James McHugh. Down’s Paul McGovern made it a two point game when his rebounded shot gave him a second chance to finish to the net. Barra McEvoy added Down’s second goal on 26 minutes but they still trailed by a point at the break, knowing their best football was yet to be played.

Westmeath opened the second period with scores from McHugh, O’Brien, Henson & Scahill as they looked to have taken control of the contest, but when McEvoy picked up a pass from outside the 45m line he only had one thought in his head as he placed a low shot to the right corner of Adam Buckley’s net to level matters. Westmeath did manage to get a goal of their own minutes later through William Scahill, but Down grabbed the game by the scuff of the neck to out score their opponents by 1-7 to 0-3 over the remaining fifteen minutes as McGovern got Down’s forth goal from a penalty with five minutes to go.

Scorers:

Down: B McEvoy 2-4, P McGovern 2-3, L Blaney 0-2, D Poland 0-2, A McCann-Gibbs 0-1, J O’Hanlon 0-1

Westmeath: J McHugh 0-11, A Henson 0-3, D O’Brien 0-3, W Scahill 1-0, D Lough 0-1