Dolan’s miss will be talked about forever and a day

LUKE DEMPSEY must sense he has been here before: in the bowels of Croke Park, trying to explain how his team managed to let championship victory over Meath slip from their clutches.

After Mick Curley had penalised Hank Traynore for lifting the ball off the ground, Westmeath’s support must have started dreaming. Dessie Dolan had just sliced over a really difficult sideline ball. A 20 yard free should have posed little trouble.

What happened is now history, soon to be consigned to all the tough luck stories built up in Westmeath over the years of facing their next-door neighbours. In the aftermath though, Dempsey was bursting with pride.