As a flourish, Jack Duncan was alert to a rebound off the post from Adam Treanor\u2019s shot in the dying seconds, took the ball around Evan Comerford and stuck it in the net for an eight-point win. If you were grousing, you\u2019d ask what took them so long to put away a match they had dominated for long periods, but it was emphatic in the end.<\/p>\n
They kept Dublin scoreless in the first half of extra-time and put up 1-4 \u2013 the goal an attempted two-pointer from Brian Cooney which dropped under the bar.<\/p>\n
Ronan Wallace, captain and an inspirational presence on the field, spoke of his team achieving \u201ca flow state\u201d and the work they had done on Dublin\u2019s kick-outs and to force them long.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re probably lacking in the long kick-outs. We addressed that during the week and we just said if we can nullify their shorts, we\u2019ll break the ball and just get under the breaks,\u201d said Wallace.<\/p>\n
Often, underdogs open up at the end of a contest when it is obvious that they are about to win. But Westmeath were so measured and relentless that the one crisis point they endured was negotiated, when trailing by a point with 100 seconds on the clock impressive replacement Senan Baker \u2013 brother of team-mate Tadhg and son of Ollie, of Clare hurling fame \u2013 shot the equaliser after they had gone scoreless for 13 minutes.<\/p>\n
Dublin will have huge regrets about that. They had surrendered a five-point lead, built during their best phase at the start of the second half, and were outscored 0-2 to 10 in the 11 minutes that followed. They could make no inroads on the deficit, which was stretched to four by Baker until the dying minutes.<\/p>\n
![\"Westmeath’s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/K5LQDRC4GBSPKYMSI43WKMLCIY.jpg\")
Westmeath\u2019s Jack Duncan celebrates his side’s opening goal. Photograph: James Crombie\/Inpho <\/p>\n
Se\u00e1n Bugler and Ciar\u00e1n Kilkenny trimmed it to two and Cormac Costello landed a two-point free before Dublin won the kick-out and David Byrne, well away from home at corner back, was on hand to point his team into the lead.<\/p>\n
All they then had to do was compete hard enough not to yield a scoring chance but Westmeath cut through them like laser and the Leinster final was level after 70 minutes for the first time since 2004 when the Midlanders won their first title after a replay against then champions Laois.<\/p>\n
It was a match of phases. Westmeath opened well but didn\u2019t make it count beyond two-point leads. A deep-set Dublin frequently repelled their attack by forcing them to turn in possession so that the chance was lost and at times turned over for some speedy counterattacks.<\/p>\n
The defending was disciplined. No frees were conceded within range, whereas Costello kicked three in the first half as Dublin took charge. Shane Allen was on advantage in the 26th minute when he went for a two-pointer, which soared over the bar and effectively rebooted Westmeath\u2019s challenge.<\/p>\n
Trailing by two at half-time, they slipped further behind but the power plays that rehabilitated their challenge combined accurate shooting and domination of their opponents\u2019 kick-out. Dublin had sustained a troublesome loss in the 16th minute when Peadar \u00d3 Cofaigh Byrne, who was catching plenty of ball, fell and hurt his shoulder. He was replaced.<\/p>\n
In his absence Westmeath were dominant. Ray Connellan and Brian Cooney competed in the air and their team-mates outhustled Dublin in the ground battles for breaking ball.<\/p>\n
Matthew Whittaker, who had been an ankle injury concern, was outstanding as his team took hold of the match, kicking a two-pointer to cut the margin to two in the 45th minute.<\/p>\n
![\"Dublin’s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/CDB7YIZMO7COLHXR53FHYO6CVA.jpg\")
Dublin\u2019s Brian Howard and Ronan Wallace of Westmeath compete for the ball. Photograph: James Crombie\/Inpho <\/p>\n
His manager Mark McHugh paid tribute. \u201cThat\u2019s a man that really, really wants to play for the jersey and he was absolutely phenomenal out there \u2013 and the amount of stuff that\u2019s probably in his body right now from numbing that ankle, it\u2019s going to be sore tomorrow!\u201d<\/p>\n
McHugh also acknowledged the team that the late P\u00e1id\u00ed \u00d3 S\u00e9 had brought to the county\u2019s inaugural Leinster 22 years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat a guy, what a person he was. I actually was looking back at photos during the week \u2013 I met him only a few months before he died [in 2012], would you believe?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dublin had no excuses. The absence of their captain Con O\u2019Callaghan was sorely felt but interim manager Dean Rock said he hoped to have him back for the first All-Ireland match, a rerun of their Leinster semi-final win over Louth.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we showed massive resolve and resilience at the end of normal time to dig it back in to get the extra-time. It wasn\u2019t looking likely but after 63 or 64 minutes, to be fair to them they did, but we just never got to the pitch at the start of extra-time.\u201d<\/p>\n
WESTMEATH: J Daly; C Dillon (0-0-1), C Drumm, D Scahill; T Baker, S Allen (0-1-0), R Wallace (capt) (0-0-3); B Cooney (1-0-0), R Connellan; K O\u2019Sullivan (0-0-2), S McCartan (0-0-2), M Whittaker (0-1-2); S Corcoran (0-0-1), J Duncan (1-0-1), B Kelly (0-0-4).<\/p>\n
Subs: A Treanor for Scahill (18 mins); R Forde (0-0-1) for Duncan (h-t); S Baker (0-0-4) for Corcoran (44); S Ormsby for Whittaker (59); J Heslin (0-1-1, f) for Dillon (61); S Corcoran for Kelly, J Duncan for Allen (both e-t); E McCabe for Connellan (83); I Martin for T Baker (84); T Molloy for Cooney (86).<\/p>\n
DUBLIN: E Comerford; T Clancy, N Doran, D Byrne (0-0-2); S McMahon, C McMorrow, E Kennedy (0-0-1); P \u00d3 Cofaigh Byrne, B Howard (0-0-1); S Bugler (0-0-2), N Scully (capt) (0-0-2), C Kilkenny (0-0-3); P Small (0-0-2), K McGinnis, C Costello (0-1-6, tpf, 3f).<\/p>\n
Subs: L Breathnach (0-0-1) for \u00d3 Cofaigh Byrne (16 mins); L Smith for Clancy (59); S Guiden (0-1-0) for Breathnach (61); G McEneaney (0-0-2) for Kennedy (65); C Murphy for McMorrow (75); C O\u2019Connor for Scully (79); E Dunne for McMahon (85).<\/p>\n
Referee: D Coldrick (Meath).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leinster SFC final: Westmeath 2-28 Dublin 0-26 (aet) Inversion day in Croke Park. Westmeath, the country\u2019s most upwardly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":454367,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2179,110979,42,43,40,38,41,39,74467],"class_list":["post-454366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-dublin-gaa","tag-football-championship","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-westmeath-gaa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/454367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}