A POINT from Vinny English in the first minute of added time gave Carlow a deserved draw against Westmeath in the opening round of the Guinness Leinster senior hurling championship, at Castletowngeoghegan, yesterday.
While Westmeath raced into an early lead, it was Carlow who looked the better and more committed side in the first half as midfielders Pat Coady and Declan Kavanagh and half backs Martin Farrell and Johnny Nevin dominated proceedings.
Yet, by the break, the sides were on level terms - Westmeath 1-4, Carlow 0-7. The Westmeath goal was scored by Robert Galvin in the 21st minute.
The third quarter was evenly contested and points from Robert Galvin and Sean McLoughlin gave Westmeath a 1-10 to 0-10 lead.
At this stage, Carlow's man of the match, Niall English, really came into his own. English, the Carlow centre half forward, finished with a personal tally of 1-9 and his goal in the 62nd minute looked to be a match winning score.
Six minutes later, Westmeath regained the lead when Sean McLoughlin blasted a 20 metre free to the net to leave his team a single point in front. With the game well into injury time. Vinny English became a Carlow hero when popping up from defence to shoot over the equaliser.
