by James McMahon
In total, the counties have met in the Championship 15 times, with the Wee County victorious on eleven occasions. Their last meeting was two years ago when Louth booked their place in a Leinster final. Prior to that, they clashed in an All-Ireland qualifier in 2001, where the midlanders ran out winners by a goal.
Louth 1-15 Westmeath 2-10 – Leinster SFC semi-final, 27 June 2010
Much jubilation on Jones’s Road as Louth clinched their place in a Leinster decider for the first time since 1960.
Peter Fitzpatrick’s charges entered the match on the back of an impressive win over Kildare in the previous round and were installed as warm favourites to prevail.
The two-point winning margin did flatter them, however, as Westmeath were below par throughout. Second-half goals from Paul Bannon and Martin Flanagan gave the scoreline and undeserved air of respectability.
For Louth, Paddy Keenan gave a masterful display throughout and helped himself to three exquisite points. No 6 Michael Fanning marshalled a defence which, in truth, was never extended to keep the Westmeath advances at bay.
Dennis Glennon and Dessie Dolan were having on off-day with their shooting and the Lake county’s cause wasn’t helped either when Derek Heavin had to go off midway through the first half with an ankle injury.
Colin Judge got the Louth goal their general play deserved, and while they did have to withstand a late surge from their rivals, Judge was on hand to kick over the crucial last point of the day.
There was much celebration on the field of play afterwards from Louth supporters, both young and old. RTÉ cameras, however,had to leave the action abruptly, with Argentina v Mexico following quickly at the World Cup.
Heartbreak for Louth followed a fortnight later when a controversial Meath goal from Joe Sheridan dashed their hopes of provincial glory. They subsequently exited the championship at the hands of Dublin in Round 4 of the qualifiers.
Westmeath were drawn at home to Derry in their back-door game, but went down to a three-point defeat in Mullingar.
Westmeath 1-13 Louth 0-13 – All-Ireland Round 3 qualifier, 7 July 2001
It was the first year of the backdoor and Páirc Tailteann in Navan played host to this clash involving the Leinster counties.
An entertaining contest saw Westmeath get over the line, with Martin Flanagan’s second-half toe-poked goal proving the difference. Louth were ahead by 0-10 to 0-09 at the time, yet the concession of that green flag gave their rivals the added impetus to take the spoils.
It could have been so different if the Wee county had taken the many chances that came their way early in the second period. Midfielders Séamus O’Hanlon and Martin Farrelly dominated the sector for long stages, supply the type of ball the inside forward line could not make count when it mattered most.
The Westmeath attack were that bit more clinical, with the tightly-marked Ger Heavin bagging 0-03, and Fergal Wilson top-scoring with 0-06. Ultimately, their corner-back John Keane was their saviour as he cleared a Seamus O’Hanlon punt off the line in the dying moments.
Both sets of players received a standing ovation at the end of the match, before a crowd of 14,000 at the Navan venue.
Westmeath went on to defeat Mayo in Round 4 of the qualifiers before Meath beat them for the second time that season after a replay in the All-Ireland quarter-final.
