Boom returns as Westmeath bandwagon is westward bound

Westmeath won their first ever Leinster title at the apex of the Celtic Tiger and the boom is certainly back for the county's footballers as their newly-swelled fanbase descends on the western seaboard.

Pearse Stadium sees a rare sellout for this fixture, with Irish Rail forced into providing extra services from Athlone to Galway.

Tickets for the Westmeath-Cavan game sold out so quickly that some of the more commercially-minded folk within the GAA were probably regretting they didn't experiment with dynamic pricing.

There's been much performative confusion about the new All-Ireland championship format - "are they out yet, so?" - but among the Westmeath fairweather types, some of that puzzlement had reportedly been genuine.

"There's some bandwagon supporters in Westmeath trying to figure out how we're playing Cavan in a provincial final," Dessie Dolan said on the RTÉ GAA podcast in the wake of the draw for Round 1 of the All-Ireland series, which, contentiously, preceded the provincial finals.

(Regarding the Westmeath bandwagon, I do know of a case of one former student from Mullingar who spent the entire college year of 2004-05 walking around in a maroon 'Greville Arms' jersey. The following summer, Westmeath were 20 minutes into their title defence against Kildare and our hero poked his head around the door to ask what was on TV. On being informed of the stakes, he paused and uttered the never-to-be forgotten words "Give us a shout if they're winning" and promptly left the room.)

Westmeath's Leinster title and Arsenal's Premier League triumph did spark a mini bout of 2004 nostalgia.

That summer too, Bertie Ahern was having a rough time in elections, the Americans were sucked into a quagmire in the Middle East and the Republic of Ireland football team had been drawn to play Israel.

Their 2004 Leinster triumph has been well served by the documentary medium. Most famously, we have 'Marooned', the documentary crew accompanying Páidí Ó Sé on his memorable sojourn in the midlands.

Páidí cut a brooding, borderline depressed figure in the opening scenes of the documentary. He had just been deposed as Kerry manager and had taken the news hard. The footage of him endlessly walking the beach in Ventry called to mind the shots of his political hero Charlie Haughey walking along Dollymount Strand after the Arms Trial.

"I remember Páidí saying 'I'll never again manage anyone else. Ever,'" said Tomás Ó Sé in the Legacy documentary on his uncle. "Three or four days later, he was above in Westmeath (laughs). He was a gas man, like."

Not alone is there Marooned, there's also the 'Hanging with Hector' episode with Ahern, during which the Taoiseach attends the Dublin-Westmeath game. The match itself carries on in the background, the camera zooming in on Ahern grimmacing as his beloved Dubs flounder in front of him, while Hector complains he wasn't allowed sit beside the suits in the Ard Comhairle section.

"That was an ambush in that quarter-final," Dolan remarked on the podcast. "I felt sorry for Tommy Lyons that day..."

Ciarán Whelan, on the Donnybrook couch, interjected, "Did ya not feel sorry for the rest of us? We got lashed out of it as well!"

Westmeath's first ever Leinster senior title, after over 100 years of trying, will always be special. However, their second was won in a more buccaneering and thrilling style.

After missing out on an expected promotion from Division 3 in the final seconds in Wexford, Mark McHugh's side regathered themselves for championship and have rattled off an unprecedented five victories in a row.

There are shades of his father's achievement in Cavan in 1997, Martin McHugh leading the one-time aristocrats to a first Ulster title in 28 years. Surprisingly, he never got the nod to take over his native county.

It had been widely expected at the outset that it was Meath's time to win a first provincial crown in 16 years. Once Westmeath accounted for them, many reckoned that Louth were in position to do back-to-back.

After those hopes fell by the wayside, it was glumly assumed by the 'culchies' that the 'most democratic Leinster championship in years' would, ironically, end with Dublin regaining possession of the Delaney Cup.

It wasn't until the second half of the final, when Westmeath continue to pour forward in waves, that people believed that the Division 3 dwellers were about to come out of leftfield and claim their second provincial title.

It's all the more impressive given that they lost their star forward Luke Loughlin to a season-ending injury in the wake of the Meath victory, The Downs player having been relied upon for the vast majority of their scores in 2025.

That teed up a fairytale story in the return of retired great John Heslin. Their most celebrated - and most frequently name-checked - player of the 2010s, Heslin had played out his entire career between 2011 and 2024 in the shadow of the Dublin empire.

The notion of winning even a provincial title was reduced to the status of a pipe dream, the kind of that provoked a snort.

He had been instrumental in leading Westmeath to successive Leinster finals in 2015 and 2016 though it was accepted that this was the height of their ambitions on that front and there was little sense they were in danger of winning the province. Such was the mood of the era.

By the time of his 'retirement' in January 2025, the Dubs had won every Leinster title in which he had lined out as a player over 14 years.

His dramatic reintroduction with nine minutes of normal time remaining in the Leinster title added another layer of sweetness to the provincial victory, all the more so when he swung over a two-pointer in the second half of extra-time.

Across the campaign generally, its been an ensemble effort, with Matthew Whittaker, Sam McCartan, Brandon Kelly, Ronan Wallace, Ray Connellan and Shane Corcoran to the fore at different times. The Baker brothers, Senan and Tadhg, sons of former Clare hurler Ollie, have increased in stature.

Giddiness abounds. Westmeath have racked up 14 goals in their five championship games and the optimists are pointing to Galway's concession of three in their loss to Roscommon in a Connacht final classic.

Westmeath have won the only championship meeting of the sides in Salthill back in 2006, winning by a point against an aging Galway side, in what turned out to be Michael Donnellan's last appearance for the county.

Galway have won two group stage games against Westmeath in Mullingar in recent years, albeit not without a struggle against a very defensively-orientated home team, who were then deploying two sweepers under the old rules.

As Dolan, the chief marksman back in '04, conceded on the RTÉ GAA podcast this week, the away match in Galway represents their toughest challenge of the campaign so far.

Galway's typically dreadful injury profile looks healthier than it has for a couple of years. Their array of weapons in attack and in the middle third is very intimidating. Damien Comer is waiting in the wings again, wearing No. 26, and will presumably be launched into the fray at some stage.

There's only Matthew Thompson, laid low by a basketball injury from his J1, who still occupies the treatment table.

Westmeath required an additional 20 minutes to get the better of Kildare, which hardly bodes too well in light of the latter's effort in Salthill in Round 1.

None of that will quell the hype this afternoon as an unpredictable Westmeath descend on the Atlantic coast.

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