Westmeath's three simple steps to heaven

Saturday July 21st, 2001

After his county had defeated Mayo in the final qualifying-round of the football championship, Westmeath county chairman SΘamus Whelan stood outside the dressing-rooms and traced the narrative of the football season's big story.

"This has all been in the scheme of things," he said with mock deliberation. "We won the All-Ireland minor title, then the under-21 and now we are progressing at senior."

It was intended to be an ironic rationale. But it was also unarguable. The most striking aspect of the county's football revolution has been its breadth.

The team may have won All-Irelands at minor and under-21 in 1995 and '99 and followed with this year's League Division Two title but the personnel have been changing constantly.

This championship's achievement isn't built on the shallow foundations of simply one successful team. It has evolved over the years.

The one constant has been manager Luke Dempsey.

Sunday September 17th, 1995

All-Ireland MFC final

Westmeath 1-10, Derry 0-11

It was to be a straightforward assignment for Derry in the middle of the best decade the county had ever experienced. Their minors had defeated a strong Galway team in the semi-final whereas their opponents Westmeath were first-time Leinster champions and had beaten surprise Munster representatives Tipperary.

A critical goal before half-time gave Westmeath the lead against the wind and in the second half they altered tactics to take advantage of the elements.

Johnny McBride, Derry captain: "That was the match that brought them into the big time. It started them on the road to the under-21 All-Ireland although, personnel-wise, the teams were different. That minor win did it for football in the whole county.

We couldn't get rid of the favourites tag. They were a county in the shadow of Meath and Dublin and had beaten Tipperary who wouldn't be a big football county either. Maybe we thought we had it won. I was totally shell-shocked by their performance and didn't realise fully that we were in a game until half-time. You find yourself deeply involved in a match and suddenly realising, 'I'm not really prepared for this'.

"I remember their celebrations were plain mad, bigger than the senior game (Dublin-Tyrone) after. Your minor experiences stay with you and I've always kept an eye on them since. I originally thought they would be a flash-in-the-pan because their football tradition wasn't the best but, when they won the under-21, I knew it would be only a matter of time before you saw them at senior. Luke Dempsey's provided the link and they have such self-belief."

Westmeath: A Lennon; D Phelan, K Hickey, F Murray; M Murtagh, K McKinley, S Deering; D Gavin, J Casey (0-2); J Deehan, T Cleary (1-5, four points from free), T Stuart-Trainor (0-1); D Martin (0-1, a free), C Keane (0-1), K Glennon. Subs: C Lyons for Martin (57 mins).

Derry: D Hopkins; J Heaney, M Kelly, E McGilloway; P McFlynn (0-2), C McNally, P Diamond; J McBride, G Doyle; G Coleman, E Muldoon (0-5, all frees), A McGuckian (0-1); G Cushenan (0-1), J Cassidy (0-2), G Cassidy. Subs: D McGrelis or Coleman (half-time), Wilson for Doyle (40 mins), E Farrell for Cushenan (57).

Saturday May 15th, 1999

All-Ireland U21 FC final

Westmeath 0-12, Kerry 0-9.

Westmeath's arrival on this stage was a little peculiar because the majority of the minor cohort of 1995 were no longer under-21. They had beaten favourites Laois in Leinster and overcome Monaghan in the All-Ireland semi-final. Kerry were the defending under-21 champions and pursuing a fourth All-Ireland in five years.

The match was dour and hard-fought and the teams level at the interval. In the second half, Westmeath took a narrow lead and launched a concerted rearguard action to protect it. Cathal Mullin saved a penalty from Ian Twiss and a last-minute effort from Tommy Griffin was scrambled away.

"I knew very well after that day that they'd do well at senior," says Johnny Cullotty, a Kerry selector that day. "Jack O'Connor (Kerry manager) knew Luke Dempsey well - I think they were at Maynooth together - and said he was a good organiser and a good manager.

"We were expecting to win after the previous year. think they were afraid of us a bit and pulled fellas back into defence.

"They were very defensive, not at all like they played against Meath last weekend. Look at them now, they've more natural players than Dublin and play to their strengths.

"I remember Dr Eamon O'Sullivan (legendary Kerry trainer) never made any mention of the opposition, he just trained his own team. Even before the 1955 All-Ireland against Dublin, he never made plans to counter Kevin Heffernan who was very influential then.

"If you look at any county with some sort of an interest in football, with the right back-up and proper fellas in charge they're capable of making a breakthrough."

Westmeath: C Mullin; P Mullen, J Galvin, F Murray; B Lambden, A Canning, M Burke; K Burke (0-1), D O'Shaughnessy; S Deering (0-1), F Wilson (0-1), R Browne; J Fallon (0-5, four frees), M Ennis (0-1), D Dolan (0-3, two frees). Sub: D Heavin for Galvin (22 mins).

Kerry: K Cremin; S O'Sullivan, T O'Sullivan, M McCarthy; S Hegarty, T ╙ SΘ, E Galvin; T Griffin, J Sugrue; N Kennelly (0-3, two frees), A MacGearailt (0-5, four frees, one 45), T Kennelly; P Galvin, L Murphy, I Twiss (0-1). Subs: S O'Sullivan for P Galvin (35 mins), M D Cahill for Twiss (54 mins).

Sunday 29th April 2001

NFL Division Two final

Westmeath 3-11, Cork 2-13.

Later on this afternoon, Mayo beat Galway to win the Division One title. Three months on, Westmeath would defeat Mayo in one of the summer's most memorable qualifier matches. This win over Cork was the team's second in the league campaign. It was the county's first national trophy at senior level.

"We played them in March and I was very impressed with them that day," says Cork manager Larry Tompkins. "In the Division Two final they seemed to have great belief in their ability and teamwork. They are a disciplined and talented team. That belief and structure has been nurtured from under-age. It comes when an individual gets it into his head: 'Where do I want to go from here, what do I want to get out of this.' They are as good as Dublin or Meath."

Westmeath: C Mullin; D Murphy, D Mitchell, F Murray; D Gavin, D Healy, J Keane; D O'Shaughnessy (1-0), P Conway (0-1); B Morley, F Wilson (0-3, all frees), M Ennis; J Fallon (0-2, both frees), D Dolan (0-1), G Heavin (2-2, one free). Subs: D Heavin (0-1) for Keane (22 mins); M Flanagan (0-1) for Fallon; D Hughes for Gavin (both half-time); R O'Connell for Wilson (60 mins).

Cork: K O'Dwyer; J Miskella, G Canty, A Lynch; M O'Donovan, O Sexton (0-1), M Cronin; N Murphy, M O'Sullivan; M Cronin (1-0), C O'Sullivan (0-3), A Cronin; P Clifford, C Corkery (0-6, five frees, one 65), A Dorgan (0-3). Subs: F Murray (1-0) for A Cronin (2 mins); B O'Sullivan for M Cronin (42); S ╙g ╙ hAilp∅n for O'Donovan (45 mins); K Daly for Clifford (60 mins); D Kavanagh for O'Sullivan (65 mins).