By Shaun Casey

Monaghan 1-28 Westmeath 2-18

A strong second half display saw Monaghan overcome Leinster champions Westmeath with seven to spare as they booked their place in the All-Ireland quarter-finals.

The sides were all square when the half time hooter sounded in a predictable nip and tuck first half, but the home side were much better after the turnaround and comfortably pulled away in the second period.

The first half was a tale of goals and two-pointers with Westmeath rattling the back of the net twice while Monaghan raised the orange flag on five occasions.

Rory Beggan was the man in front of the posts as he converted three frees from outside the arc while Mícheál McCarville and Andrew Woods also landed two-pointers in the first 35 minutes.

At the other end, rampaging wing back Matthew Whittaker blasted home a brilliant goal while the dangers Brandon Kelly did the same, after Mark McHugh’s men had overturned a Monaghan restart.

Kevin O’Sullivan and Kelly grabbed the final two scores of the opening period and that left the sides tied at the halfway point, 0-15 to 2-9.

Both sides started the second half brightly and kicked three-points at either end before Monaghan kicked three on the bounce to give them some breathing space.

A goal from Jack McCarron at the end of the third quarter opened up a five-point gap and Gabriel Bannigan’s side never really looked back.

Westmeath did grab a couple of two-pointers late on, but the damage had already been done and Monaghan will take on either Galway, Cork, Louth or Tyrone in the All-Ireland quarter-finals next weekend at Croke Park.

Monaghan: Rory Beggan 0-6 (3tpf), Ryan Wylie, Killian Lavelle, Dylan Byrne, Dessie Ward 0-2, Ryan O’Toole, Conor McCarthy 0-1, Mícheál McCarville 0-2 (1tp), Karl Gallagher, Aaron Carey, Mícheál Bannigan 0-3, Stephen O’Hanlon 0-3, Jack McCarron 1-5, Andrew Woods 0-2 (1tp), Stephen Mooney 0-3. Subs: Aaron Carey for K. Gallagher, David Garland 0-1 for A. Woods, Ryan McAnespie for A. Carey, Kian Mulligan for R. Beggan, Robbie Hanratty for K. Lavelle.

Westmeath: Jason Daly, Adam Treanor, Charlie Drumm, Tadgh Baker 0-1, Ronan Wallace 0-4 (1tpfd), Shane Allen, Matthew Whittaker 1-2, Brian Cooney, Shane Ormsby, Kevin O’Sullivan 0-1, Sam McCartan 0-1, Conor Dillon, John Heslin 0-2, Seanan Baker, Brandon Kelly 1-3. Subs: Robbie Forde for B. Cooney, Shane Corcoran 0-3 (1tp) for S. Baker, Ray Connellan for J. Heslin, Jack Duncan for K. O’Sullivan, Daniel Scahill for A. Treanor.