A summer Saturday evening in Dublin 11 years ago. Inside Croke Park, the tension is building as Westmeath lead Laois by two points in the closing stages of the Leinster football final replay.
A first ever provincial title is within reach. Six minutes of additional time does little to calm the nerves.
Westmeath supporters in the front rows of the Hogan Stand position themselves near a gate leading out to the pitch. A young steward watches warily.
The referee's whistle finally signals the end of the game. A tidal wave of maroon flows from the stands onto the grass. Our faithful guardian, possessed of a rare combination of dedication and foolhardiness tries to hold the delirious hordes back. Good luck.
One Westmeath supporter, maroon and white cowboy hat slipping off his head in the struggle, roars in anguish: "We waited 116 years and they're trying to keep us off the pitch!".
The steward relents and steps aside to let him join the rest. This is Westmeath's moment and they cannot be denied.
"We were getting slapped so hard on the back that most of the lads were going around with big red marks on them after the game," recalls Dessie Dolan fondly.
"People had so much emotion in them that they were thumping you. It was great but then it got to a point where it started to get sore!"
Dolan, Westmeath's marquee forward and an All-Star winner that year, has fond memories of 2004, which marked his county's last appearance in a Leinster final until this weekend's date with Dublin.
Anticipation had been rising in the county after unprecedented under-age success, he tells RTÉ Sport.
"We had got to an All-Ireland quarter-final in 2001. We won an under 21 All-Ireland in '99 and a minor All-Ireland in '95.
"So there was a feeling around that time that Westmeath had a decent team, with a lot of good players coming through."
Westmeath had gone close to recording a first championship win over neighbours Meath the year before, drawing 2-13 apiece before losing the replay by nine points. They exited the qualifiers to Monaghan and manager Luke Dempsey stepped down after the county board signalled their intent to make him re-interview for the job.
Westmeath would play in Division 1A of the league the following season and would have been regarded as a team with potential but little pedigree. Nobody expected them to land a ten-time All-Ireland winner (eight on the field) as manager.
Páidí
The late great Páidí Ó Sé was appointed by Westmeath in October 2003, just over a week after he was sacked as Kerry boss. He made an immediate impression on the players.
"When Páidí came in, obviously there was great excitement," says Dolan. "He was just that type of lad, very charismatic.
"It definitely gave the county a lift and gave the players a lift. Any time people mention Páidí I smile. He was a very infectious character and very knowledgeable about the game. We had a great time working with him.
"He probably didn't get as much credit as he deserved as a manager. He was an extremely clever man, who thought about football an awful lot."
Ó Sé took Westmeath to a new level in terms of preparation, according to the RTÉ analyst.
"His levels of professionalism [were] impressive. Based on what he did with Kerry previously, winning All-Irelands and Under 21s, as a player he had an incredible record.
"He was trying to change the mentality of the players. It had to hurt, it had to mean something"
"He put a bit of extra pressure on the county board to look after the players a bit better: going away for training weekends, going to nice hotels, getting nutritionists and weights people in.
"Just simple things like that that he would have demanded as the norm for players. All these things we might have fallen down a little bit on but when Páidí came he expected it to be a certain way because he had come from a Kerry background.
"It's hard to put your finger on [the difference] exactly. Luke Dempsey was with us before and Luke was a great manager. He was with us for a long time and deserves an awful lot of credit for that success.
"Páidí might just have given us that little bit more belief when we needed it to cross the line. Having him on the sideline definitely inspired a lot of players to put an extra bit of work in.
Changing attitudes
Transforming Westmeath's fortunes wasn't an overnight job. Despite just about surviving in the top-flight in spring, Ó Sé and his assistant manager Tomas Ó Flatharta had a struggle on their hands to reverse the mental consequences of a long barren history.
"He changed us from a team that probably didn't think we could win something to a team that could win something," says the Garrycastle man.
"There was the nucleus of a very good team there. What Páidí did was get us working as a unit.
"There were hard times as well. We played league games where we were very poor and got defeated.
"There was one occasion where we got on the bus and we were laughing and joking after getting hammered by Tyrone.
"He got on the bus and said 'What are ye like? Ye just got hammered, ye should be ashamed of yourselves'. He was trying to change the mentality of the players. It had to hurt, it had to mean something.
"And the lads really did buy into it. That's one of the big things that he did for Westmeath football."
Championship pace
It wasn't until the serious business of championship began that the Westmeath panel saw the Kerryman's true enthusiasm for battle, however.
"What appealed to Páidí most was that Westmeath play in Leinster," says Dolan. "Every game we played that year was in Croke Park.
"It was nearly a struggle to get him to go to league games because he was going up and down the country to bad venues, at a bad time of the year.
"But when we started the championship, every game was in Croke Park and he had the shorts on about a month in advance.
"He togged out with us and used to kick the ball around before training. He was a different man.
"The fact that we were going to Croke Park was what he loved. That was where he thrived, as a player and a manager.
"He used to get the metal bin and put it in the middle of the floor. He'd thump it around the place and get fellas going."
Westmeath 0-11 Offaly 0-10
Leinster SFC first-round, 23 May 2004
Páidí's men issued a statement of intent with their first win over Offaly in 55 years, holding off a Faithful comeback in the second half. This came in spite of losing star midfielder Rory O'Connell to a red card for the final 25 minutes and playing against the breeze.
"Offaly are our neighbours. We had seen them winning Sam Maguire. They always had something over us," reflects Dolan.
"They were a big strong physical team with plenty of good players as well, the likes of Ciaran McManus, Cathal Daly and Niall McNamee.
"Any win the championship, and in Croke Park, was going to be massive for Westmeath and the fact that it was our neighbours as well gave us a massive lift."
Westmeath 0-14 Dublin 0-12
Leinster SFC quarter-final, 6 June 2004
If beating Offaly had raised the eyebrows of the GAA world, then dumping the Dubs out of Leinster made sure everyone was paying attention.
Westmeath reeled in a three-point half-time deficit thanks to points from Dolan, David Mitchell, Dennis Glennon and sub Joe Fallon, before an excellent save from Jason Sherlock by goalkeeper Gary Connaughton secured a famous victory.
"Playing Dublin is like no other team. You're not going to play in front of 70,000 people every week," Dolan tells us.
"Looking back, I feel Tommy Lyons' time as Dublin manager was coming to an end. The mood in the camp mightn't have been as collective...
"They weren't as strong a team as they were previously orr subsequent to that game. We got them at a very good time.
"They just jumped out of the blocks. We couldn't get near them for the first 15 minutes. We were really were struggling but they didn't do so much damage that we couldn't get back at them.
"Gradually, we settled into the game, and once we settled and got into our rhythm the cracks started to appear in the Dublin team.
"Jason Sherlock was very good that day. We couldn't get a hand on him at all.
"Sometimes when the Dublin lads start playing well against you, it's extremely difficult. It's their pitch, their environment - all the odds are stacked against you.
"But the big thing I can remember from that game is Paul Conway jumping up between three or four Dublin lads, catching the ball and kicking a point.
"That was a a real statment of intent at a crucial time of the match."
Wexford 1-14 Westmeath 2-15
Leinster SFC semi-final, 27 June 2004
Only Wexford now stood between Westmeath and a first Leinster decider since 1949.
It was a more open affair than of the Lake County's other provincial games that season, the only one of five games when they either scored or conceded a goal.
Wexford fought back to within two points after trailing 0-09 to 0-04 at half-time but Dessie Dolan and sub Shane Colleary raised the green flags that booked their place in the final.
Dolan insists that the possibility of defeat had never crossed the players' minds: "You kind of felt 'We beat Offaly. We beat Dublin. We're not going to let Wexford stop us getting to a Leinster final."
"It was a bit of shootout between myself and Mattie Forde (0-08, 4f). He was a class footballer. I got a goal and seven points I think that day.
"We started extremely well and were flying it and then all of a sudden Wexford came back at us.
"But it shows the belief we had in each other. We came again with another late rally and won the game convincingly in the end.
"Previous to that, as a Westmeath team, we might have faltered and lost the game but we had so much belief at that time that we got the result.
The final countdown
Ó Sé's soldiers were on the brink of glory. But as Leinster final fever took over from Mullingar to Athlone and everywhere in between, the players were keeping their heads down.
Dessie: "Supporters get more excited than players with big games. The Westmeath lads last weekend got out of the county and that's what we used to do as well.
"Between every championship match, we went down to Sligo. We'd go out on the beach, chill out in the water, get up the next morning and train hard.
"Have a good feed, do a bit of chatting and then get on the road home. It got people away from talking about football. It got the group together and it focused us one the games we had to play."
Reigning Leinster champions Laois were Westmeath's opposition in the final. They were managed by Ó Sé's former Kerry bainisteoir Mick O'Dwyer, and the narrative of pupil versus apprentice quickly took hold.
"There was a bit of a sideshow with Páidí and Micko but we were just focusing on the job at hand," insists Dolan.
"The two boys were trying to get one over on each other before the game even started but I'd say Páidí was thrilled to bits that he got one over on him to win that game that time.
"Páidí was brilliant at distracting attention from us. He'd go out and drop a few bombs before games just so he'd take the flak and take the attention away from the players."
Westmeath 0-13 Laois 0-13
Leinster SFC final, 18 July 2004
In what was to become a familiar pattern, Westmeath started the big day slowly and trailed 0-5 to 0-2 by the 20th minute.
"I suppose it was a bit of stage fright. We were trying to force it too much and take scores that weren't on," says Dolan.
They fought back, however, 19-year-old Dennis Glennon leading the line on the way to scoring five points from play, and the sides were level at half-time.
"We definitely were struggling for scores a bit but as soon as we got on the board we settled down and kicked a couple of quick points before half-time. There wasn't much in it."
Athlone man Joe Fallon made another big impact off the bench to send Westmeath two points clear with 15 to play but Laois captain Chris Conway kept his cool late on to force a replay.
"They came back at us to get the draw. Laois were a great team. Tom Kelly, Darren Rooney, Ross Munnelly... all these guys were really classy footballers and they were the previous year's champions."
Westmeath 0-12 Laois 0-11
Leinster SFC final replay, 24 July 2004
Dessie: "The one thing you took from the replay was that there was nothing between the teams. Laois could easily have beaten us the second day rather than us beating them"
Westmeath were even slower out of the blocks in the replay, failing to score until the 23rd minute when Alan Mangan landed the first of his four points on the day.
The Lake Men were two up at half-time and led by 0-12 to 0-06 with 20 minutes to play. They looked to be cruising to the title.
"Laois were very organised, quite similar to ourselves. They had a lot of good defenders but once we got going the likes of Dennis Glennon and Alan Mangan were brilliant.
"Guys cropped up on different days. It wasn't the same lad all the time.
"Dennis came into the team at 19,20. He had pace to burn and was hungry and keen. He took on Colm Byrne at full-back every time he got the ball and really set the tone. Alan was an extremely gifted player, with his left or right, and could take any score."
Westmeath failed to score again though as Laois came roaring back and in the 71st-minute Kevin Fitzpatrick was presented with a goal chance to level the scores.
"It broke perfectly for him. You could see the corner he was trying to tuck it into. He was a really classy footballer and he hit a lovely shot but it just grazed the post. It was the closest shot I've ever seen not go in and that was kept us ahead at the end. So fair play to Kevin, I'd like to thank him for that one!"
"Westmeath were just that bit hungrier. Laois had done it the previous year and when you do it and cross the line it's a hard thing to keep the hunger going."
The Promised Land
Westmeath had finally claimed the Leinster football title, leaving Fermanagh and Wicklow as the only counties never to win their province.
"To get our hands on the Delaney Cup was incredible," recalls Dolan. "The scenes and the emotion from players, fans and family were amazing.
"It was a special day for Westmeath people. For people that don't win things, they really got behind us that time.
"It doesn't happen enough in GAA that a total underdog comes to win an All-Ireland.
"We were one of three teams in the country that had never won anything at senior level up until then."
Legacy
Westmeath went on to lose their All-Ireland quarter-final to Derry by two points, a defeat of which Dolan admits: "We probably weren't as focused as we had been going into the Leinster final. It was disappointing. Looking back on it now it was definitely a missed opportunity".
He surely never anticipated it would take 11 years for the county to reach another Leinster final?
"I remember Paidi saying in the dressing-room after that this should inspire kids and inspire the players to get back there next year," he muses.
"We lost a couple of lads the year after, they stepped away with commitments, and once you're losing two or three of your main guys it has a massive impact on a panel of players.
"It's a pity we didn't compete at a higher level and get to more finals"
"We definitely struggled to compete in the championship after that. We got to a couple of [Leinster] semi-finals but not back to a Leinster final, which is disappointing."
"Looking back on it, from 1999, for seven or eight years there were an awful lot of good players.
"Rory [O'Connell] got an All-Star, John Keane, Gary Connaughton, myself. Lots of lads got nominations and you had great young players like Dennis Glennon and Alan Mangan.
"When you're a province with Dublin and they dominate the way they have, it's difficult, but it's a pity we didn't compete at a higher level and get to more finals."
The next generation
What does Dolan make of the chances of this year's crop of finalists, who at odds of 25/1 to beat Dublin are considered not so much underdogs as chihuahuas in the lions' den, despite a stirring comeback in the county's first ever championship victory over Meath.
"If they play like they played in the second half [against Meath] you never know, they'd give any team a game. But they definitely need to start a bit better.
"They're a great bunch of lads. I trained with them up to last year and they trained so hard that I had a feeling they would succeed.
"The average age of that team is about 23 or 24 at the minute. They're young, they're keen and the fact that they've won three games to get to the final is a massive plus
"Once things are going well and they're winning games and on the up the sky is the limit. You can't underestimate the power of winning.
"For a county like Westmeath, when you're low on confidence, it unites a team. They're good young lads and they'll have a great chance.
"I'm just happy that they're in a Leinster final and they're getting the rewards for the hard work they've put in."
