Jackies grab Leinster title in rout over Westmeath

Dublin are TG4 Leinster ladies senior football champions for the sixth successive season.

The Sky Blues demolished Westmeath by 3-18 to 0-8 in yesterday's provincial decider at Netwatch Cullen Park in Carlow.

Mick Bohan's charges had the damage done in the first-half, as they established a 3-8 to 0-3 interval lead.

Dublin notched early scores from Noelle Healy and Carla Rowe, before Fiona Claffey opened Westmeath's account in the ninth minute.

Dublin's opening goal arrived in the 17th minute, with Healy on target, and the Jackies pushed on to establish that 14-point interval lead.

Struck

Lauren Magee scored their second goal six minutes before the break and it was effectively game over when Healy struck again in stoppage time.

Dublin were content to keep the scoreboard ticking over in the second-half, as Bohan took the opportunity to give his bench a run.

They're now straight through to a quarter-final, but Westmeath must head for the qualifiers and a date with Armagh.

Healy top-scored for Dublin with a 2-3 haul, as Magee added 1-1, but the winners had nine different scorers on the day.

Meanwhile, Graham Shine hailed his TG4 Munster champions after Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh scored two late points to seal victory for Kerry over Waterford in Saturday's Mallow decider.

With the sides level late on, Ní Mhuircheartaigh took matters into her own hands to drag the Kingdom across the line, as they ran out 1-14 to 3-6 winners against gritty Waterford.

In a gripping finish, Waterford moved ahead with a run of 1-1 without reply, Grainne Kenneally scoring a vital goal to help establish a 3-5 to 1-10 lead.

Ní Mhuircheartaigh then levelled matters with a free before Maria Delahunty inched Waterford, who had beaten Kerry in the round-robin series, ahead again.

That proved to be Waterford's last score as Laura Rogers levelled matters, before Ní Mhuircheartaigh's late brace sealed the deal.

Shine said yesterday: "We had a good night in Killarney! We had to dig deep, we knew that, we knew they'd be a hungry team, hard to break down with that defensive system.

"We got caught on the counter-attack and let in a couple of soft goals. There's a lot to work on, but we won't be going with stats today - it's all about the win."

Meanwhile, Tipp retained their intermediate title, scoring a 4-9 to 1-14 victory over Clare, in what was a repeat of last year's decider.

Indo Sport