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2004 Leinster Senior Football Championship final
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Final Gaelic football match of 2004 in the Leinster province of Ireland
December 2020
December 2020
2004 Leinster Senior Football Final 2004 Leinster Senior Football Championship Laois 40px 0-13 Westmeath 40px 0-13 18 July 2004 Croke Park Dublin Pat McEnaney (Monaghan) 2003
2004 Leinster Senior Football Final Replay Laois 40px 0-10 Westmeath 40px 0-12 24 July 2004 Croke Park Dublin Mick Monahan (Kildare) 2005
The 2004 Leinster Senior Football Championship final was the final football match of the 2004 Leinster Senior Football Championship (SFC), contested by Laois and Westmeath over two games in Croke Park, Dublin. The first game finished level so a replay occurred. Westmeath won their first ever title at senior level, leaving Wicklow and Fermanagh as the only other counties yet to achieve this. The season also saw the emergence of Denis Glennon.http://www.hoganstand.com/Westmeath/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=52841 Glennon makes his mark Hogan Stand 27 May 2005 27 May 2005 A virtual un-known outside his native Tyrrellspass at the start of 2004, Denis Glennon emerged as one of the brightest prospects in Gaelic football during an unforgettable summer for Westmeath football. Despite being overlooked for the Young Player of the Year award last November, most GAA followers would acknowledge that Glennon was the ’Find of 2004’. His performances at full forward belied his tender years and were central to Westmeath’s historic Leinster championship success.
Pre-match
Westmeath had only ever appeared in two Leinster SFC finals in their history: in 1931 and 1949.http://www.westmeathindependent.ie/sport/gaa/articles/2010/06/23/3998142-both-westmeath-and-louth-eye-great-chance-to-claim-leinster-final-spot/ Both Westmeath and Louth eye great chance to claim Leinster final spot Westmeath Independent 23 June 2010 23 June 2010 They went into the 2004 Leinster SFC bidding to win their first ever title at senior level, with the only other counties still to achieve this being Wicklow and Fermanagh.
Westmeath midfielder Rory O'Connell was banned for 12-weeks for stamping on Offaly's Pascal Kellaghan during Westmeath's Leinster SFC win on 23 May 2004. This threatened O'Connell's participation in the final. Kellaghan submitted a letter saying the offence had not happened.http://www.breakingnews.ie/sport/oconnell-to-appeal-ban-tomorrow-156725.html O'Connell to appeal ban tomorrow BreakingNews.ie 12 July 2004 12 July 2004
Reaction
Commentators hailed Westmeath's win as monumental, with the Irish Independents Eamonn Sweeney, 'Richard Stakelum famously greeted Tipperary's first Munster title in sixteen years with the words, "The famine is over." What Westmeath have endured makes the famine of other counties look more like minor spells of peckishness. There was a song a few years back which described the failures of the English soccer team as "thirty years of hurt." Thirty years? How about one hundred and twenty years of hurt. And those years never stopped Westmeath dreaming either.'Eamonn Sweeney http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/end-of-120-years-hurt-482432.html End of 120 years' hurt Sunday Independent Independent News & Media 25 July 2004 25 July 2004 Colm O'Rourke said it was "one of the greatest days ever in Croke Park and must have given rise to the biggest street party ever in [the Westmeath capital] Mullingar last night".Colm O'Rourke Colm O'Rourke http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/pid-guides-midlands-army-to-glory-482427.html Páidí guides midlands army to glory Sunday Independent Independent News & Media 25 July 2004 25 July 2004
Aftermath
Westmeath player David Mitchell later joined Longford.http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-football/westmeath-ace-to-join-longford-70670.html Westmeath ace to join Longford Irish Independent Independent News & Media 28 November 2006 28 November 2006
See also
Marooned, documentary which followed Westmeath in their Championship winning season
References
Leinster Senior Football Championship Final
Category:Leinster Senior Football Championship finals
Category:Laois county football team matches
Category:Westmeath county football team matches
Category:GAA finals at Croke Park
Category:2000s in Dublin (city)
Category:July 2004 in Ireland
Category:July 2004 sports events in Europe