Louth’s first championship win over Dublin in 53 years was inspired by Westmeath’s recent Leinster SFC final victory over the Metropolitans, according to Gavin Devlin.

The Wee County avenged their recent provincial semi-final loss to the once-mighty Dubs with an historic 4-18 to 1-24 victory that was a testament to their staying power.

“We'd done a lot of work in chatting about mentally, the mental side of it,” the Louth manager told the assembled media in Croke Park.

“We know the way Dublin play and they can blitz you; the scoreboard can change really quickly.

“Westmeath found themselves in it a few times in the Leinster final, where they were five points down, but they were able to just dig in. When that would come our way, could we do the same? Could we learn from that? Thankfully, today we did, and we didn't go anywhere.

“We stayed present and true and took it down the stretch. When you take it down the stretch, then you can get the rub of the green.

“I felt we did get the rub of the green. We worked so hard for it. Boys in that second half putting their bodies on the line, block after block, fighting for scraps and chasing and harrying.”

Devlin added: “It wasn't a perfect performance behind the stretch. We made mistakes and things that we know we could do even a lot better.

“But in terms of desire and will to win fighting for that Louth jersey, you couldn't ask any more of them. They're just a special group of lads.”

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