Ger Egan remembers Westmeath's solitary Leinster football title and Páidí Ó Sé like those pushing 40 remember Italia 90 and Jack Charlton.
“It’s a dream come through,” said the Westmeath captain of the county’s first victory over Meath, which ensured a return to their first provincial final in 11 years.
“2004? The interest in football wasn’t that high as I was only 13.”
Trend Still, Egan understands the history. “About 80 years of not beating Meath. Hopefully we can start a trend of our own now.”
There is an unmistakable spirit in this Westmeath side. Even when Meath punched themselves into a 0-8 to 0-1 lead or, worse still, the 2-10 to 1-3 margin on 30 minutes, they kept playing, kept running off the shoulder.
Kept hope alive.
Everyone else in Croke Park last Sunday was content to talk among themselves in anticipation of the Kildare Christians being served to Dublin lions.
Then a seemingly inconsequential passage of play occurred. Shane Dempsey kicked a score a few seconds after Meath made a mess of the kick-out following a John Heslin point.
Stubborn pack
Meath were double their opponents score, while two quick points from Eamon Wallace and Graham Reilly seemed to guarantee yet another mismatch this summer.
But Westmeath are a stubborn pack and they came again.
Kieran Martin put a 40-metre shot between the posts on sheer will alone, while Heslin added a free before the players disappeared under the Hogan Stand.
An eight-point lead became six a minute after the break thanks to two strikes by a substitute, John Connellan from Athlone. They kept pouring forward.
“Look, different lads stood up on different days, different lads stood up against Louth and Wexford,” said Egan.
“So look, we’re not relying on one or two players.
“The subs who came on — I thought Jamie Gounod did brilliant when he came on in the full-back line — and the new lads who have come onto the panel just elevated the whole thing as well.
“Honest to God, it was just that everyone stood up in the second half.”
The entire county stood up with them.
“I suppose it’s after stemming from that under-21 team that lost the final a few years ago to Dublin. There’s 10 of that team starting now so the talent has always been there.
“We’re finally producing it now. We don’t want to go to a Leinster final to compete, we want to go and win.
“You might think that’s naive or how would we stand a chance, but we beat nearly every team in Leinster this year. Beat Kildare, Laois, Meath. Wexford and Louth as well.”
But Dublin on July 12th, this Dublin, feels like an impossible task for Tom Cribben’s men, the same men who were recently relegated to Division Three.
Provincial final
“We’re the only Division Two team at the moment that’s after reaching a provincial final [Division Three team Sligo are in the Connacht final].
“That’s why I was really frustrated as we should have been staying in Division Two minimum.
“I could see the quality in team and all the players. It’s just getting them to gel as a unit. They were there the Tuesday night [after relegation], they worked really hard and here we are.
“That was our goal of the season, to try to get to a Leinster final, break the hoodoo.”
