Despite fielding a team weakened by the absence of seven regulars, Offaly made a successful first defence of the O'Byrne Cup in Tullamore when they led all the way in defeating Westmeath by 0-9 to 0-6.

A big attendance in excess of 4,000 turned up for this first game of 1998 at the venue, but they must have been disappointed by the quality of the fare on offer under the experimental rules.

Poor finishing was common to both sides in a scrappy and free-ridden first half during which Offaly were wind-assisted. 17 minutes elapsed without a score, with Westmeath looking the sharper side outfield. However, once Ciaran McManus broke the scoring deadlock with a fine point from far out, Offaly gained the upperhand and by half-time they were ahead by 0-5 to 0-0.

The visitors improved on the change of ends, but poor finishing continued to let them down. Their misses even included an early penalty, with Ger Heavin's poorly-struck ground shot posing no problem for Ken Furlong.

Although reduced to 14 men by the 44th minute dismissal of Seamus Hynes for a second bookable offence, Westmeath succeeded in getting within a point of the holders at 0-7 to 06 with four minutes remaining, but Offaly always had that little bit in reserve and late points by Shane Manley and Barry Mooney saw them through to a semi-final meeting with Wicklow.

Offaly - K Furlong; J Brady, B Malone, D Foley; P O'Reilly, J Ryan, T Coffey; J Grennan, C McManus (0-1); C Quinn (0- 1), D Reynolds (0-2), R Mooney (0-1); K Claffey, R Malone, S Manley (0-2). Subs: L Carroll for Claffey, B Mooney (0-2) for R Malone, B Wynne for Coffey, M Daly for Reynolds, K Kellaghan for Manley.

Westmeath - D Ryan; D Brady, D Murphy, D Healy; S Hynes, J Murray, D Keane; D Hughes (0-1), P Conway; D Martin, M Murtagh, M Staunton; G Heavin (0- 3), K Lyons, M O'Reilly (0-1). Subs: D Mitchell for D Keane, C Keane for Martin, J Deehan for Murtagh, E Casey (0-1) for O'Reilly.

Referees: S McCormack and P Fox (Meath).