Galway  6-33

Westmeath 0-17

THE Leinster senior hurling championship has become littered with mis-matches since the robin-robin series started, but the chasm between the big guns and the minnows was never more starkly illustrated than at Cusack Park, Mullingar on Saturday evening.

This proved a humiliating experience for everyone associated with Westmeath hurling. They were out of their depth against a very slick Galway outfit which was in no mood to show any mercy in sauntering to a record-breaking 34-points win since first heading east in 2009.

Having bravely rallied to force a draw against Kilkenny the previous weekend, the Tribesmen kicked on in ruthless fashion against the hapless Midlanders. With Conor Whelan bagging a hat-trick of goals in a devastating ten-minute period in the opening half, they cut loose with a vengeance on an evening when they had 13 scorers.

But how can we offer a meaningful assessment of Galway’s achievement given the poverty of their outclassed opposition? All can observe is that they were extremely sharp and cohesive, while the way Henry Shefflin’s charges repeatedly cut the Westmeath defence to pieces is a confidence boost if nothing else.

Westmeath have endured some bad maulings over the years but tend not to be embarrassed too often on their home turf. Unfortunately, their injury-hit team had no answers in their third outing of the round-robin series.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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