Injured Westmeath star Luke Loughlin still played his part in Leinster glory

"He was less than a day out of surgery and he saw us off from the Annebrook Hotel," revealed Sam McCartan. "It was probably against all orders from the doctor!"

Luke Loughlin missed Westmeath's Leinster SFC final victory over Dublin due to a grade 4C hamstring tear and tendon rupture suffered earlier in the competition. Pic: Ben McShane/Sportsfile

Given his personal backstory and the outrageous form he's displayed for Westmeath in recent seasons, it's tempting to feel sorry for Luke Loughlin.

Westmeath's marquee forward missed out on perhaps the county's greatest ever achievement in football after all, Sunday's Leinster SFC final win over Dublin. Pity, according to teammate Sam McCartan, is not required. In fact, it's not even the case that Loughlin actually missed out on one of the most memorable weekends in the county's history.

Sure, he was only just out of surgery after a grade 4C hamstring tear and tendon rupture but that wasn't going to stop him joining the squad, for a while at least.

"He was less than a day out of surgery and he saw us off from the Annebrook Hotel," revealed McCartan. "It was probably against all orders from the doctor! It means everything to him. The medal in his pocket is the same as everyone else's and he's a massive part of it.

"No, I wouldn't say I feel sorry for him because Luke is still a part of our team. Nothing really changes barring he's not playing and that is really tough for a fella like him but you could never say you feel sorry for him because he brings the same energy on or off the pitch and he's a massive part in driving us on."

Westmeath manager Mark McHugh probably didn't need to do much to motivate the players after that impromptu appearance from Loughlin.

"It was gas, he showed up at the hotel and he comes through the door on the crutches and we were like, 'Oh lad, you need to get back to bed'," said McCartan. "I think he'd been told he was to go very easy with himself for the next few days, but that's not the type of fella he is. He'd be mad to give us any kind of lift he can at any time."

McCartan was speaking in Croke Park less than 24 hours after a powerful personal performance there, securing just a second ever Leinster SFC title for the county. He even got out on the pitch again, for a photoshoot to mark the extension of Avonmore Protein Milk's partnership with the GAA/GPA by five years.

The morning after the night before, he looked surprisingly fresh.

"It was crazy," said McCartan of the official homecoming party in Mullingar. "It was like a scaled-up version of the Tailteann Cup celebrations when we won that in 2022. There were people hanging out of the windows of hotels and people standing in the rain for an hour before we even arrived. It meant a lot, seeing how happy people were, it really put it in perspective what we did."

A video did the rounds afterwards of John Heslin making his way through the crowd and being hailed a 'goat' by one young supporter. McCartan's clubmate probably wouldn't have been plucked from retirement had Loughlin not been sidelined. And Heslin made a valuable contribution on the day, scoring three important points and providing vital experience in the middle third.

"I'd been watching John obviously for the club and he was still playing at a speed above everyone else," said McCartan. "You can just see his thinking is above what everyone else is doing, so I knew there would be no issue with him playing the game."

Just imagine next season, when Loughlin is back and Heslin has a Championship under his belt, and with Senan Baker, McCartan, Brandon Kelly and the rest of their stellar cast all vying for places. Success certainly looks sustainable for a county that also beat Dublin in the Leinster minor and U-20 championships this season. At post-primary schools level, Westmeath produced both Leinster finalists this year and Coláiste Mhuire, Mullingar went on to win the Hogan Cup outright.

"It's a hard thing to practise but you need to practise winning, to be able to then bring that into a team, so I think if we can keep that going in underage, it'll go a long way for us," said McCartan.

The shorter-term focus is on Cavan, in under a fortnight, when Westmeath will return to the foot of the ladder in the All-Ireland SFC. Mark McHugh has suggested that Westmeath could go far, as they are capable of beating anyone, although McCartan isn't taking the bait on that one.

"We'll be back training on Wednesday," he said. "We didn't look ahead of Longford, Meath or Kildare or Dublin. The only focus now will be on Cavan and that's it."