Louth U20s Begin Title Defence with Impressive Win Over Westmeath

Dalata Leinster U20 Football Championship 2026

Group 1 Round 1

At Davida Lakepoint Park, Mullingar

Louth 3-13 Westmeath 2-5

Louth began their Leinster U20 Football Championship defence with a composed win over Westmeath at Dovida Lakepoint Park. The visitors started sharply, with Adam Gillespie opening the scoring before Pearse Grimes-Murphy sprinted through for an early goal.

Louth maintained control throughout the first half, adding a second goal through Shane Lennon to take a commanding 2-5 to 0-2 lead into the break.

Any hopes of a Westmeath comeback faded early in the second half when Lennon struck again, extending Louth’s advantage. Gillespie added a two-pointer as Louth continued to dictate the tempo.

Late goals from Westmeath added some respectability to the scoreboard, but Louth remained comfortable winners, showing efficiency and maturity ahead of the Round 2 clash with Dublin on Wednesday 1st April at Parnell Park.

Louth Team: Tiernan Markey; Michael McGlew, Micheal Reid, Daniel Craven; Donnacha Skinnader, Cormac McKeown, Tadhg Devaney (0-3); Conor McGinty (0-1), Colm Hackett; Andrew O’Reilly (0-1), Shane Lennon (2-1), Pearse Grimes Murphy (1-1); Adam Gillespie (0-4, 4f), Sean Flynn (0-1), Cillian McQuillan (0-1, 1f).

Subs: Tony McDonnell for Cillian McQuillan (41’), Cian Spaight for Andrew O’Reilly (53’), Eoin McCoy for Pearse Grimes Murphy (56’), Donal McArdle for Shane Lennon (57’).

Westmeath Team: James Mitchell; Taylor Slevin (0-1, 1f), Cian Whitney, Adam Glynn; Ty Masterson, Conor Daly, Brian Doyle; Donnacha Maguire (1-0), Criostoir Ormsby; Neale Pierson (0-1), Mikey Weir, Matthew Thornton (0-1); James McHugh (0-1, 1f), Kealan Connell, Will Scahill.

Subs: Paul Keegan for Brian Doyle (25′), Ben Sheeran (HT), Seán Whittaker (1-0) for Neale Pierson (35′), Henry Duncan for Mikey Weir (41′), Brian Ronan (0-1) for James McHugh (49′).

Referee: Kieran Olwell (Meath).